DOWN TWISTED

US, 1987, 84 minutes, Colour.
Carey Lowell, Charles Rocket.
Directed by Albert Pyun.

Down Twisted was directed by Albert Pyun, who worked with Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. However, his output of films has been popular (and somewhat pedestrian despite the imaginative settings): Sword and the Sorcerer, Radio Active Dreams, Cyborg.

This is a variation on Romancing the Stone, similar to such films as Miracles (with Tom Conti, Teri Garr). It has a touch of The Maltese Falcon - a sacred vessel allegedly stolen and replaced, the various crooks trying to recover it. A young girl, inadvertently caught up in the adventures, travelling to South America - all because of her roommate's connection (and apparent assassination).

The screenplay is fairly complicated, difficult to follow. The heroine is conventional - a nice girl who struggles against the enemies, gets mixed up with an ambiguous hero (played by Charles Rocket in a deadpan style). Eventually, of course, everything is resolved.

Charles Rocket is the Indiana Jones, Michael Douglas type hero - though not so heroic. There are some ugly villains who get their comeuppance.

Familiar material, all in all a step down derivative from the enjoyable originals.