SCORE: 6.5/10

Three twisted tales. A man stalks the hypnotist that gives his wife a “hypno-orgasm”; a film producer who drugs and rapes aspiring actresses is targeted for revenge by witches; and a kinky hotel rendezvous ends in death and bloodshed.

REVIEW:

Horror is one of the favorite topics of anthology films, and Twisted Fiction is a cut above the usual junk we might anticipate from a low-budget movie.There are three tales of terror in this flick.

The acting, direction and production design are all pretty solid, while the special effects are hit-and-miss. But it’s likely you’ll find entertainment in at least one of these three stories, and with online movie-watching powers, you’ll find your time (and mouse-button finger) well spent with Twisted Fiction.

Some viewers may find it a bit weird seeing several of the same performers playing different characters in multiple stories. But apart from that, there’s little to complain about in Twisted Fiction, it’s a good trio of stories that should keep fans of anthologies, or twisted fiction in general, happy.

TRAILER:

Twisted Fiction is a collection of three of the four episodes, the fourth is available on Tubi, of the web series of the same name. While there isn’t a wraparound story, the segments do have a thematic link, all three of them involve sexuality and relationships taken to places that are far from healthy.

Written and directed by Marc Fratto (Strange Things Happen at Sundown, Hell Fire), the first segment carries the attention grabbing title “Mind Fuck” and is about Tina (Jackie Adragna, Terrifier 2, Abnormal Attraction) and her husband Tim (Johnny Capuano) who have decided to go see a hypnotist at a local club. Not just any hypnotist but The Great Xaxxo (Mark K. Simmons) whose specialty is putting audience members under and having them orgasm on stage every time he says his name.

Despite saying that it wouldn’t bother him, Tim is not happy when Tina ends up writhing on the stage with the other volunteers. He’s even less happy when she gets a call at 2AM and starts sleepwalking, or sleep driving, to the hypnotist’s house. Is something going on, or has jealousy bushed his mind over the edge?

This segment ends up going off in an entirely unexpected direction and features some surprisingly effective creature effects towards the end.

The second tale of Twisted Fiction is “The Sole Motel” once again directed by Mark Fratto, this time from a script co-written with Joseph Menghi (Grill Check, Street Lure). At a motel in the middle of nowhere, some kinky shit is going on. In one room, a guy is caught off guard when his partner tells him to stick his gun in her mouth, and I’m not talking metaphorically.

On the other side of the wall, Carol (Nikki Silva, The Only Woman in the World, Lyco) and Paul (Joseph Baquet, Old Fashioned, Bound by Debt) seem to be playing out some kind of humiliation role play. She’s very energetically chocking him out as she screams abuse at him. Unfortunately, she gets a bit too into the role and actually strangles him. So much for the afterglow.

She decides to make a discreet exit, but avoiding the manager (Gaetano Iacono, Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn, Twists of Fate) and finding the exit turns out to be more difficult than she expected. But it can be done, but she might not like the price.

The shortest of the three segments, “The Sole Motel” is a Twilight Zone type of story with a twist that you might see coming, but is still amusing.

The last of Twisted Fiction’s twisted tales is also the most serious. “Witches Brew”, again directed by Fratto and co-written with Menghi, is about Howard Castinoff (Leo Goodman, The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan 2, Shame the Devil). He’s an Oscar winning producer. With some nasty habits, like drugging and raping aspiring actresses. Like a cross between Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.

But this time he’s picked the wrong victim, because Sofia (Koko Marshall, The Man with My Husband’s Face, Her Counterfeiter) is a witch. And with some help from her coven, she’s going to get her revenge.

Another solid segment, this has a few good effects that add to a story of well deserved revenge that has a nasty sting in the tail so to speak and take Twisted Fiction out on a high note.

With a running time of just under two hours split among three segments, all three stories have enough time to be told fully and effectively. And that alone makes it a better choice than an anthology that tries to shove as many ultra short, half-assed, segments in as possible.

The mostly unfamiliar cast and crew do a good job, and it’s rather surprising this seems to be the only credit for several of them, especially Ryan Myers and Matt Galli who created the creatures for “Mind Fuck”.

Some viewers may find it a bit weird seeing several of the same performers playing different characters in multiple stories. But apart from that, there’s little to complain about in Twisted Fiction, it’s a good trio of stories that should keep fans of anthologies, or twisted fiction in general, happy.

Twisted Fiction is available on DVD as well as on Digital Platforms. You can check the Jagged Productions Facebook Page for more information.