Mandie and the Cherokee Treasure (2010)

Even though the first Mandie movie was bad in a way that's not terribly entertaining, I hate myself, so I decided to sit down and watch the second one as well. This is actually a big improvement over the first movie, but that was so bad that that doesn't really say much. People still change accents on a dime, and when Haley Mills finally makes her appearance in the last 10 minutes, she looks like an Oscar winner. What really struck me as I watched this was how unlikable they made all the characters (except Uncle Ned). I don't think the folks making this really get what the appeal of the Mandie books was. She's supposed to be daring and clever, not dumb and whiny, and no one wants to watch a mystery adventure film about a bunch of kids acting stupid until they finally stumble into success. Unless they're me, apparently.

1 character from the first film inexplicably dressed in drag out of 5.

TWISTED NERVE [1968]

Director Roy Boulting reunites his two leads from his lighthearted romantic comedy The Family Way, Hayley Mills and Hywel Bennett for his suspensful thriller, Twisted Nerve.
From a script by Peeping Tom scribe, Leo Marks and Boulting we are treated to a deliciously evil little film that builds and builds with dread. Starting out rather pleasant and light it slowly leads into a truly sadistic and disturbing finale.
Bennett is the highlight of the film as the psychotic manboy who you can't help but be drawn to. Mills is really nice to look at and suitable for the part but doesn't hold up against Bennett's performance.
While the film is offensively outdated in subject matter, it still managed to delight with the performances and how everything unfolds in the end. A must see for anyone who enjoyed Hitchcock's thrillers of that time. Great fun, if not a little twisted.

4 hatchets to the head out of 5