Twixt

Francis Ford Coppola returns to his B-movie roots with a playful and simply plotted horror whodunnit that evokes his 1963 low-budget film, Dementia 13. Inspired by a dream, this experimental quirkfest throws Val Kilmer's "bargain basement Stephen King" into the heart of a small-town murder mystery while promoting his latest book. The bizarre crime sparks off the waning author's new project, but when writer's block amusingly strikes, he looks to his artily shot dreams and their ghostly guide, Edgar Allan Poe (Ben Chaplin), for ideas. Feeling like a mash-up of David Lynch and latter-day Tobe Hooper, this divisive and sometimes pretentious mix of gothic horror clichés, goofy humour and thinly veiled personal references is Coppola at his slightest and yet most liberated. Ultimately, it's pure fun that drives the transparent events, a fact emphasised by the mischievous in-jokes and exaggerated performances, particularly from Bruce Dern as an eccentric local sheriff.