Twice Under

TWICE UNDER (1990)

Directed by: Dean Crow
Screenplay: Charles Joseph
Starring: Ian Borger, Ron Spencer, Amy Lacy & Jack O’Hara

Ah, the 80s. Only in this decade of high concept and low budget naffness could Twice Under be made. A crazed Vietnam vet (Spencer) who was left for dead by his squad out in the jungles of war is terrorizing the sewers (yep, that’s right: the sewers!) killing off workmen in a bid to lure drain expert man and his former CO in Vietnam (O’Hara) into the sewers to get revenge. The two former soldiers were tunnels rats in Nam and this could have led to some fun tunnel based action as the two use their skills and knowledge of tight spaces to face off in a battle underground. Unfortunately, this doesn’t really happen. Instead we get the most overacting and annoying bad guy to possibly grace a B-movie, tension goes awol thanks to the very dated (but admittedly kinda funky) 80s soft rock soundtrack and the plot mainly focuses on the main protagonists whiny son (Borger) having to man up and venture into the sewers to rescue his girlfriend: who, oh yeah, the bad guy also decided to kidnap.

So what could have been a tense slasher/action thriller set underground is instead your typically cheesy 80s independently produced schlock fest. And seriously this flick is so 80s the 1980’s probably looks at it and goes “damn this is cheesy.” So instead of tense action and slick thrills we get an overacting douche of a villain (who insists on wearing night vision goggles despite the fact that everyone, including us the viewers, can see everything clearly in the “dark” tunnels!), lots of dated 80s soft rock (which, and I’m not ashamed to say, is actually kinda groovy) a hero who has not one or two ghetto blasters but a about fifteen which he listens to all at the same time (but they do play a pivotal part in the plot) and quite possibly the most 80s scene of all time: our hero, listening to his walkman, dances oh so funkily (to that soft rock) in a car outside his house, only for his girlfriend to join in dancing and then for him to get out of the car and dance all the way to his house, kicking it to his funky beats. This scene goes on for what seems like 10 minutes and is pretty much a whole decade summed up in one ridiculous scene. Boy sure can dance though.

For these reasons (and I’m not ashamed to admit: well, maybe a little) and the fact I enjoy most B-movie flicks that feature crazed Vietnam vets going on a rampage, Twice Under was actually kinda enjoyable. No really. Maybe the nostalgia I have for these flicks or the sewer setting or the weird thing to do with rat skulls (ok, maybe not that: that was just naff!) or the climactic duel between hero and villain with manhole cover openers (!) made me enjoy this film more than I should. Whatever the reason, Twice Under is certainly enjoyable on a so-bad-it’s-good level. Well, sort of.

Pretty sure it’s the only homicidal Vietnam vet stalking the sewers and killing people flick out there and for that reason, and if you are a lover of weird (and bad) cinema, check it out. Or not.