In Twixt, a "bargain-basement Stephen King" writer (Val Kilmer) visits a small town on a going-nowhere book tour only to find himself very much a part of a real mystery containing a haunted belfry, ghosts of dead children, and a corpse with a stake through its heart. It's a movie chock full of atmosphere and unease, and it's really well done. Good movie for this time of year.
Kilmer plays Hall Baltimore. He drinks a lot. I mean a lot. At a quiet book signing, the local sheriff Bobby Lagrange (played with absolute zeal by Bruce Dern) slyly mentions that he himself is a bit of a writer and would Mr. Baltimore care to collaborate? Why, Sheriff Bobby even has a story all ready to go. Has to do with missing and/or murdered kids, or maybe the aforementioned belfry (it's haunted!) and probably everything to do with those kids who live across the lake, the ones who look like they practice Satanism or some such.
Meanwhile, Baltimore has money woes. His wife (played by Kilmer's real-life ex, Joanne Whalley) pressures him to get another advance from his publisher (David Paymer) so that she can pay off their mounting debt, even threatening to sell his priceless copy of Whitman's Leaves of Grass. This is kind of what gets Baltimore to agree to a sort of collaboration with the sheriff.
One night, Baltimore has one heck of a dream. He wanders through a forest, where he is joined by an ethereal girl in braces (Elle Fanning). They converse, and their path leads them to an old hotel - one that's not open when Baltimore is awake. The girl refuses to go in; Baltimore does, and he learns some things about missing children and the secrets of the town. He wakes up. But was it a dream? Coppola strikes just the right tone with this movie, and the casting is superlative. Kilmer is fine - perhaps even better than usual - and Dern is terrific. Love that guy. Alden Ehrenreich (the new Han Solo, plus the guy from Beautiful Creatures) and Don Novello (yes, Father Guido Sarducci from SNL) are both a real treat. The ending both comes out of nowhere and makes all the sense in the world, just the kind of ending you want in a horror thriller.
Kilmer plays Hall Baltimore. He drinks a lot. I mean a lot. At a quiet book signing, the local sheriff Bobby Lagrange (played with absolute zeal by Bruce Dern) slyly mentions that he himself is a bit of a writer and would Mr. Baltimore care to collaborate? Why, Sheriff Bobby even has a story all ready to go. Has to do with missing and/or murdered kids, or maybe the aforementioned belfry (it's haunted!) and probably everything to do with those kids who live across the lake, the ones who look like they practice Satanism or some such.
Meanwhile, Baltimore has money woes. His wife (played by Kilmer's real-life ex, Joanne Whalley) pressures him to get another advance from his publisher (David Paymer) so that she can pay off their mounting debt, even threatening to sell his priceless copy of Whitman's Leaves of Grass. This is kind of what gets Baltimore to agree to a sort of collaboration with the sheriff.
One night, Baltimore has one heck of a dream. He wanders through a forest, where he is joined by an ethereal girl in braces (Elle Fanning). They converse, and their path leads them to an old hotel - one that's not open when Baltimore is awake. The girl refuses to go in; Baltimore does, and he learns some things about missing children and the secrets of the town. He wakes up. But was it a dream? Coppola strikes just the right tone with this movie, and the casting is superlative. Kilmer is fine - perhaps even better than usual - and Dern is terrific. Love that guy. Alden Ehrenreich (the new Han Solo, plus the guy from Beautiful Creatures) and Don Novello (yes, Father Guido Sarducci from SNL) are both a real treat. The ending both comes out of nowhere and makes all the sense in the world, just the kind of ending you want in a horror thriller.