Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Twixt’

Written by Scott Edwards 

Getting ideas for a new project can be a difficult thing for anyone that works in the creative sector, and that can be complicated further when the artist needs to leave the comforts of their area to find inspiration for their new concept. Sometimes writers are the worst when it comes to this this as what they are trying to put down on paper is something that they personally have never experienced before. Coming up with the right idea may be easy enough but getting the feeling down of your new characters could end up being very difficult if you have never felt their emotions before.  

Writer Hall Baltimore is driving through the country trying to promote his new book that has just come out. He has been working on the same series of witch novels for many years and is getting very tired of the story line and is looking for something else. Hall feels that he has been wasting his talent on these books, and although they provide him with a steady paycheck, he needs something more to get his creative groove back. With the loss of his daughter a year before, Hall is trying his hardest to feel like he is someone of meaning once again but being belittled by his wife over their current financial situation, he has to succumb and promise his editor that there is another witch novel on the way.  

Arriving in a small town that does not have a book store for his signing, Hall sets up in the local hardware store. Noticing the clock tower in the center of town has seven faces, Hall is approached by the local sheriff that has an idea for a book of his own. Although Hall does not give the sheriff much credit, he listens to the tale of a murdering spree that happened in the town many years ago and comes up with a new idea. Passing out in his hotel, Hall has a dream where he meets a young girl named ‘V’ who goes for a nighttime stroll with the struggling author. Finding out that the town was once visited by Edgar Allen Poe, Hall walks to the hotel where his idol had once slept, but finds something very disturbing happening in the abandoned building, in that, it is open for business once again.

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With ‘V’ refusing to enter the old establishment and Hall feeling very uncomfortable in his present confines, he leaves, but sees a group of children leaving the house as well. Hall is told a story that all of these children were buried under the floor of the hotel and killed by someone that they truly trusted. The writer in Hall is awakened again and now he has an idea for a new story that could put him back on the map. Overstepping his authority, Hall snoops around the town to find out all of the history behind the murders of the children and finds out that there is something more sinister going on. With the sheriff being afraid of the kids across the lake who worship the devil and the devil that lives inside of the clock tower, there is much more to the murders than he could have ever imagined.  

Twixt is the story of a down on his luck writer that is looking for a new story to tell. Not being allowed to come up with his own stories anymore and being directed to write what works, Hall Baltimore is tired and needs a change of pace. When talking to the local sheriff, Hall finds out that the small town he is held up in has a history that runs much deeper than anyone could imagine, along with the fact that his idol, Edgar Allen Poe, stayed in an abandoned hotel here many years ago, and he realizes he might be able to come up with something special. Having dreams that rival his reality, Hall is trying to find out what really happened in the town so many years ago, along with a new story that will end his reign as a witch novel writer. Finding out the secrets of the town and experiencing more than he bargained for, Hall is now faced with the problem of knowing what is real and what is just a dream.

This is one of those movies that you have to watch carefully to understand fully. With all of the changes that are going on with your main character, it is a fun ride that might have you question if what you are seeing is part of his story or just a dream. Movies about authors always end up sucking me in as I have battled with the creative process time and time again and it brings a smile to my face to see someone that has to go through the same struggles that I have. There's enough story line to keep you intrigued and a group of devil worshipers that may have more power than believed could be enough, but you also have a staking death of a little girl that starts the story and you are not allowed to know why she dies until the very end. Stay Scared.

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