Masterful Movie

Beautiful, moving film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

OK, so you probably already know it's not on the leader board for best movies of the decade. But, really, it is a fun movie. If you like campy comedies you will really like this one. Sure its a bit predictable, sure it doesn't have a-list stars, sure it requires willing suspense of disbelief, but come on, if you look at the cast and director, what more can you expect. Charles Rocket does a fine job as the bumbling hero and everyone else fills in the necessary protagonist and antagonist roles. Give it a chance. You remember Evil Dead? Stakeout? Big Trouble in Little China? As long as your expectations aren't too high you won't be disappointed.

Prolific film-maker of low-grade cheapies Albert Pyun provides the audience with a tolerably haywire, if blotchy little action adventure escapade with "Down Twisted" aka "Treasure of San Lucas". A billionaire art collector hires some international thieves to steal a religious artifact the crucible of San Lucas where they would switch it with a replica and fly the real one back to Los Angeles. However they find themselves being double crossed. Suddenly a waitress finds herself caught in the middle and being abducted when her roommate confesses that she and her boyfriend have gotten themselves mixed with these smugglers. This grungy low-rent Cannon fodder by Golan Globus might be remembered for Courtney Cox's debut performance, where she gets a bit of screen time in a throwaway part. But outside of that distraction, this is an agreeable outing with flavoured Mexican locations and amusingly fine performances by some Pyun regulars. Charles Rocket plays it suave as ever, still with a clumsy edge with the amount times his character gets knocked out. You know, for comedy purposes. Thom Mathews sticks out as the bleached blonde thief with a killer instinct and so does Linda Kerridge as a fellow partner in crime. Carry Lowell's unlucky waitress character Maxine who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time might have gotten on my nerves at times with her constant wailing, but no wonder with the amount of times she asked about the key that she doesn't have. Also showing up is Norbert Weisser and Nicholas Guest. Pyun's style is not fancy, but sturdily achieved with some hip touches as the eventful story's framework is a twisty chase formula with a contemporary noir quality and a snappy soundtrack back it up."Oh, the deal's going down... but it's going down twisted."

"The deal is going down…But it is going DOWN TWISTED!" Perhaps this quote from the movie will help to explain the confusing title.From the title onwards, things get more and more muddled. The plot involves Maxine, a waitress with big dreams (Lowell-star of "Dangerously Close") who inadvertently gets mixed up with a gang of smugglers who are trying to get their hands on a stolen artifact called "The Crucible Of San Lucas". They almost get it in the beginning of the movie, but are double-crossed by an associate of Michelle, Maxine's roommate. The baddies believe Maxine has a key to a locker which contains the artifact. She's drugged and kidnapped and placed on a boat to San Lucas with a guy named Reno Mars (Rocket). During a scuffle they fall in the ocean and escape their captors. Now they must dodge the baddies, the military group in red berets that run the island, and other pitfalls. Plus Maxine has a job interview to get to and she has no passport to get home. Who is double-crossing who? The allegiances are constantly changing. "Twisted" tries to be peppy but it is actually sluggish. The banter between Maxine and Reno isn't that funny and the main problem is the over-reliance on cutesy humor. For example, during Carnival, Maxine dresses up as a chicken and Reno dresses up as a woman. The intention here was probably to drum up some "laffs" but sadly none are forthcoming. The main bad guy is named Deltoid…..yes, Deltoid. All characters say the name with a straight face. Unfortunately, the rest of his gang (featuring Thom Matthews of "Dangerously Close" fame-See review) are not named after muscles in the human body. This could've been a pre-"Reservoir Dogs" situation: Instead of Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, or Mr. Orange, there could have been Mr. Deltoid, Mr. Hamstring, and Mr. Tricep. Sadly, this was a missed opportunity, one of many, with "Down Twisted". Hawaiian Albert Pyun has a long and varied career which such gems as Cyborg , Dollman, Captain America, The Charles Sheen vehicle Postmortem, Crazy Six with Rob Lowe and Burt Reynolds, The Nemesis series, Urban Menace and The Wrecking Crew with Snoop D-O double G and the punch-fighter Bloodmatch (an upcoming review) and "Ticker" among many, many others.Get "Down" with your bad self and watch this classic tonight!Comeuppance Review by: Ty & BrettFor more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Great 80's verité (like Miami Vice). A low-budget but likeable caper movie.A wealthy industrialist hires six thieves to steal a valuable relic from the fictional country of San Lucas just before the annual parade celebrating the relic. He gets double crossed by his own team of thieves, most notably Charles Rocket (SNL, Earth Girls Are Easy). Carey Lowell (Law & Order, Sleepless in Seattle), the baddest Bond Girl. is an innocent bystander dragged into the plot.Keep an eye out for Courteney Cox at the beginning of the movie.