Twisted Issues

Twisted Issues embodies the DIY ethos of punk completely. The film started as the director Charles Pinion filmed house shows in his local scene in Gainesville, Florida, stitched that footage together with a plot about a local skater teen who gets killed by another gang of skaters, who gets Frankensteined back to life and seeks revenge on his murderers. The movie itself is a fun time, the gore is fantastic and inventive, the actors are having a great time, and the house shows filmed put you right into the Gainesville punk scene. 

This is one of those horror movies that feels like a warm, gross, gory hug. The skating and punk culture in this movie make me nostalgic for several reasons; the skating makes me nostalgic for the times when I would skate around town with my brother and our friends, the house show scenes make me miss going to house shows in college, and this film is dripping in VHS culture. 

There’s a somewhat meta plot point that I find fascinating. There is a couple that are holed up in their apartment watching tapes and TV that flashes a montage of violent news footage, a strange doll accompanied by a face telling commanding orders, and on occasion, they’re watching the movie as it unfolds along with the audience. The most interesting part is how this couple is in an endless loop of killing each other in exceedingly gruesome ways, and once they’ve died, they reanimate as if nothing happened and go back to watching TV. This portion of the film is well done, not only for a movie of its low budget and ethos, but most times when a young filmmaker wants to add a sense of delirium in their movie, it usually ends up falling flat or, at worst, goofy. 

Pinion succeeded in making this fun, low-budget horror film while keeping the DIY spirit. Twisted Issues is weird and funny. The gore effects are low-budget and cheesy, but still effective. The acting is passable, but you don’t expect an Oscar performance from this type of picture; in fact, bad acting adds a charm to the experience. Twisted Issues is well worth throwing on during a late-night hang with your skater friends.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
Twisted Issues storms onto Blu-ray physical media as a single-disc release from Saturn's Core via OCN Distribution. The disc is housed in a standard clear case with reversible artwork. If you ordered from Vinegar Syndrome, you got to pick up an exclusive slipcover. Also included is a 28-page booklet.

Under the supervision of the director Charles Pinion, this restoration of twisted issues looks as good as a film shot on tape could be. The film still looks like it was shot on tape, mind you, there are still some parts that are hard to see, but daylight shots look good. My favorite part of this movie is the lighting, though there are some great lighting effects throughout where the director fixes some visual issues of shooting at night by just waving colored lights in the actors’ faces, creating a spooky effect, especially during the revenge scenes. Overall, the restoration looks good, but the original copy still has some muddying.

The audio in this release is DTS-HD MA 2.0. The audio of the original copy of this film does have some parts that are filmed with the in-camera microphone, and sometimes dialogue gets lost in the mix. But for the most part the restoration does make most of the audio pretty clear, but it is expected from this style of DIY film from the 80’s, the audio comes through clear enough where you can tell what's going on, the concert scenes sound ok, but I don’t think it’s possible to get better sounds from a house show. Overall, solid but not the best.

The supplements included in this release are solid, the three commentary tracks are interesting, and it’s fun to learn why Pinion made this movie, coming out of documenting his local scene. The behind-the-scenes footage is charming, and the essays and podcasts also provide some good info about the making of the film. The booklet included features, great little blurbs from Heather Drain, Vincent Albarano, and filmmaker Mike Watt, with a foreword by director Charles Pinion. I always enjoy the love and care that goes into the supplements from Saturn’s Core and Vinegar Syndrome. 

• Audio commentary with writer/director Charles Pinion, moderated by Mike Hunchback
• Audio Commentary  with actors Charles Pinion, David Peck, Victor Wilkinson, Debra Fetzer, and Lisa Soto
• Audio Commentary with writers Charles Pinion, Steve Antczak, and James Bassett
• “The Twisted Truth” - an interview with writer/director Charles Pinion (SD 10 mins)
• “Horror is the Punk Rock of Cinema” - Director Charles Pinion in conversation with S.A. Bradley of the Hellbent for Horror podcast (SD 17 mins)
• “Painting with the Blood of False Gods” - a visual essay by film writer and author Heather Drain (SD 8 mins)
• “Blood & Laughs” - Behind the scenes footage (SD 12 mins)
• “Twisted Singles” - 9 unedited live music performances from Twisted Issues (SD 31 mins)
• Full 1987 live set by Mutley Chix (portions of which are featured in Twisted Issues (SD 18 mins)
• Full 1987 live set by The Doldrums (SD 36 mins) 
• Charles Pinion trailer vault (SD 12 mins)
• 28-Page Booklet

This release of Twisted Issues is a great time. The film lends itself as a great addition to any late-night movie rotation. The movie itself is very entertaining, complete with cheesy acting, solid concert footage, goofy gore, and a simple plot that gets lost as the film goes on. Interesting lighting choices and meta scenes make this movie something more than just another 80s shot-on-video DIY horror movie. This release from Saturn’s Core is well Worth A Look, especially for those who love DIY cinema and horror.