A Perfect Getaway (2009)
Directed by David Twohy
For their honeymoon, newlyweds Cliff and Cydney head to the tropical islands of Hawaii. While journeying through the paradisaical countryside the couple encounters Kale and Cleo, two disgruntled hitchhikers and Nick and Gina, two wild but well-meaning spirits who help guide them through the lush jungles. The picturesque waterfalls and scenic mountainsides quickly give way to terror when Cliff and Cydney learn of a grisly murder that occurred nearby and realize that they're being followed by chance acquaintances that suspiciously fit the description of the killers.
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One conversation includes a reference to Natural Born Killers, and when Nick warns of "lots of twists and turns ahead," you know he's not talking about the trail.
Writer-director David Twohy has a few twists and turns up his sleeve, and even if you see them coming from a mile off, he handles this popcorn-movie rehashing of Natural Born Killers with the kind of light touch we’d expect from, say, Howard Hawks.
This “Getaway” doesn’t really take off into a mashup of “Deliverance” and “Natural Born Killers” until the final third of the movie.
Within minutes the talk turns to movies - "Natural Born Killers" comes up - and the men begin subtly needling each other using script-jargon like "Act II twist."
Natural Born Killers meets Lost when newlyweds Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich arrive at a Hawaiian paradise only to learn that a killer couple is butchering honeymooners.
There is a scene in David Twohy 's A Perfect Getaway in which, after hearing about some gruesome murders, one of the characters is reminded of the film Natural Born Killers .
As the writer and/or director of such cult faves as Warlock, The Arrival and Pitch Black, Twohy already has a reputation for making movies that are more engaging than their lowly trappings would suggest.
Writer/director David Twohy ( Pitch Black ) puts so much effort into obfuscating the truth that he inadvertently reveals it.
Because they're usually so badly made, B-movie thrillers rarely merit more than a chuckle and a roll of the eyes, but with A Perfect Getaway, writer-director David Twohy (Pitch Black) strikes the proper balance between the genre reverence for and a loopy subversion of the film's "terrorized romantic couple" formula.
What's The Deal: While you're waiting for the killer to start killing everyone, maybe you could play along with the game the filmmaker (David Twohy, director of Pitch Black) is laying on you.
DAVID Twohy ("Pitch Black," "The Chronicles of Riddick") returns to his B- movie roots for "A Perfect Getaway," a not-bad little thriller about a serial killer on the loose on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
“A Perfect Getaway’’ is proof that a dumb idea can be brought to life, however briefly, by smart people, and writer-director David Twohy (“Pitch Black’’) is nothing if not clever.
As the writer and/or director of such cult faves as Warlock, The Arrival and Pitch Black, Twohy already has a reputation for making movies that are more engaging than their lowly trappings would suggest.
Writer-director David Twohy keeps carrying the B-movie torch, with movies like Pitch Black, The Arrival, and Below serving as ingenious correctives to blockbuster bloat.
Luckily, the film was written and directed by David Twohy, whose previous films (including “The Arrival,” “Pitch Black” and “Below”) have all demonstrated what can happen when unabashedly pulpy material is put in the hands of talented enough to make something interesting out of it instead of merely following the usual clichés.
That said, Twohy, who also made the underrated "The Arrival" and the Vin Diesel-fueled "Pitch Black," has a feel for dialogue and some novel situations (although a slow and arty third-act flashback drags things down).
Long before he chronicled Vin Diesel's Riddick, Twohy was churning out pseudo-exploitation fare, such as The Arrival ("You'll believe Charlie Sheen is a radio astronomer!"), while simultaneously penning the script for the big-budget seafaring wipeout Waterworld and (sort of) mainstreaming his career.
David Twohy is a veteran of Hollywood genre fare, having tried his hand as screenwriter or writer-director on thrillers of all stripes—on land (The Fugitive, G.I. Jane), by sea (Below, Waterworld), and from outer space (Pitch Black, The Chronicles Of Riddick, The Arrival).