Let me say straight-up that I am not a fan of Francis Ford Coppola. I know a lot of people revere him, but honestly, aside from Apocalypse Now, The Godfather films, and The Conversation are boring. Not ashamed to say that, at all. But after watching Twixt, I am more intrigued than ever to see his smaller, more personal films. I have a theory that Coppola was a talented craftsman who got swallowed up by the studio system, but has since found his way back. After all, he got his start working with Roger Corman, and Twixt is a film that would make Corman proud (hell, he probably is). Hal Baltimore is the "bargain bin" Stephen King, who writes cheap horror novels about witches and drinks way more than he should be. But when he arrives in an idyllic small town for a book signing, things begin to take a turn for the bizarre. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe is one of the main characters in here. A lot of people hate this film for being a rough and tumble potpourri of clashing elements, but that is precisely why I loved it. At last we see Coppola making a film entirely for himself, allowing his imagination to run wild, without the fear of satisfying studio bosses, or having to break even, because there is always more money from the vineyard when he wants to make a new movie. I loved the shameless silliness of the whole affair, and the posturing, smug acting. Sure, this may not be a good film, but it certainly is a fun one!
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