The Twisted Mile pilot - Printable version

This article is about the pilot episode. For the series, see The Twisted Mile (Series). For the 2001 film, see The Twisted Mile.

The Twisted Mile was the pilot episode of the half-hour dramatic series of the same name. It was recorded on MiniDV format media in August 2006.

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Synopsis

Benedict Hass and Michael Pitch murder a friend from school named Tommy Famn. They are swiftly placed under citizen's arrest by Famn's cousin, David Rap. David Rap, with the help of Vincent Puck and Fr. Juarez Bell, holds a closed trial and sentences Hass and Pitch to death.

Rap hooks Hass to a Nintendo 64 system running on Nintendo Power to carry out the death sentence by electrocution. However, Hass is unaffected by the current and attempts a prison break. When this fails, Fr. Bell releases Hass and Pitch from the prison by opening fire on everyone present. Bell is sentenced to death by electrocution for their presumed deaths.

History

In August 2006, Ted Phillips began uploading Cracked Egg Studios movies to YouTube. However, he saw that the video from the 2001 version of The Twisted Mile was of too poor quality for Internet publication; there were bands across the bottom of the screen in the video and there was much static. Ted suggested remaking The Twisted Mile, using the same actors and the same scenery. He wanted to keep the production values low and recreate the same mistakes that had been used in the original, because the purpose of the remake was merely to make the video palatable for the Internet and not for artistic improvement.

Joseph Justus did not reprise his role in the remake because he considered acting to be a phase he had grown out of. His stated reason at the time was that all his characters in The Twisted Mile were killed. Two of his roles were divided between Tom Fulgione and Vinny Meenan. Justus later regretted his decision and reprised his other role of Chris Suck, who had been written out of the pilot, in later episodes. Ted Phillips surrendered the role of David Rap to James Corbett.

The remake was released on YouTube on August 25, 2006. On September 8, 2006, a promotional DVD containing the pilot and a blooper reel called The Twisted Outtakes was released. Free United Club of Kids was included on the DVD as an Easter egg.

On September 15, 2006, Ted Phillips announced that the studio had decided to make The Twisted Mile into an episodic series, and that this would serve as the first episode.[1]

On May 7, 2008, Nick Phillips entered The Twisted Mile into the Feer film festival at Fairfield University. According to his reports, it received positive reviews and was awarded third place.[2]

On May 17, 2009, the pilot was removed from YouTube and became a Cracked Egg Studios web site exclusive.

Prior to the relaunch of the Cracked Egg Studios web site in early 2022, while reviewing and regenerating previously uploaded videos, Ted Phillips determined that several prior fair use assertions for audio tracks in the pilot were tenuous at best, and elected to re-score the entire pilot. Clips from the Full Metal Panic, Resident Evil 4, and LOST soundtracks, as well as the Dimmu Borgir song Hybrid Stigmata, which had been used as the end-credits theme, were all replaced with appropriately licensed stock music. Some improvements were also made to the overall video quality, as well as the visual effects, finally meeting that series goal that Ted Phillips set on January 2, 2007.[3]
This edit of The Twisted Mile was released on March 14, 2022.[4]

Cultural References

• At the beginning, Tommy Famn hums the tune of the opening song to The Smurfs.
• David Rap's relation to Tommy Famn reflects a recurring theme from Nick Phillips's screenplays. In The Dream, a man confronts his brother's assailant after having witnessed the crime.
• David Rap says "Have fun, ladies," in a similar fashion as Kurt says, "Don't care, ladies!" in the 1997 film Good Burger when Dexter and Ed infiltrate Mondo Burger dressed as women and discover the triampathol.
• "Case septendecillion forty-six" refers to the number "kazillion forty-six" that is repeatedly mentioned in an episode of Franklin.
• When Rap introduces Fr. Juarez Bell, he quotes a scene from the 1993 film Last Action Hero.
• Fr. Juarez Bell is based on the character Fr. Juarez from Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair.
• When Benny and Mike refuse to leave their cell, this mimics the scene from Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair in which Jack Cavello climbs up the bars and acts like a child.
• Rap's line "Give it up, you hassholes! Get down, now!" is taken from Screw's line "Give it up, Cavello! Get down, now!"
• Fr. Juarez's speech here is taken from Fr. Juarez's Director's Chair speech in Jack's cell.
• Benny's line "I'm nauseous" refers to Filbert's catchphrase in Rocko's Modern Life.
• Rap's line "Let's go, now" is exactly Turnkey's line in Director's Chair from the master shot of Jack Cavello meeting his mother.
• Fr. Juarez's reading is similar to Psalm 23, which is usually read to prisoners walking down death row, as done in Director's Chair.
• Benny's monologue on the way to the execution chamber is a parody of Jack Cavello's monologue in Director's Chair, where he lists off the reasons why he should not be electrocuted.
• In his monologue, Benny mentions the New York baseball team, the Yankees.
• Vincent Puck and Rap use Nintendo 64 controllers to strap Benny into the electric chair.
• Benny's line "I'm gonna kill you in Bell" is a reference to the line from the 1973 film The Exorcist, in which the little girl says, "Your mother sucks cocks in Hell."
• While Benny is electrocuted, the television shows a glitch from the Nintendo GameCube game Super Mario Sunshine, called "Mario Goes to Space," involving the Super Spin, Low Gravity, and Low Gravity Spin Action Replay codes.
• The Delfino Plaza theme from the Nintendo GameCube game Super Mario Sunshine plays during the electrocution.
• When Laurie calls Rap during Fr. Juarez's electrocution, this is similar to the conversation between the warden and the governor in Director's Chair.
• The audio of Benny and Mike over Fr. Juarez's death is taken directly from the 2001 version of The Twisted Mile.
• Benny and Mike's lines "Now we can commit all the crimes we want to" and "and bother people all over the world" approximately quote Milkman from the Superdude sketch on a season one episode of All That.
• When Mike Pitch laughs, he imitates both Santa Claus and Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers films.
• "See ya later, boys" and "Thanks for the pizza, guys" are from the Nintendo Power Star Fox 64 promo video.[5]
• When Fr. Juarez shoots the camera, it is reminiscent of the title sequences from the James Bond films.

References

1. ^Phillips, Ted (September 15, 2006). "The Coming of Thor". Cracked Egg Studios. Retrieved on May 17, 2009.
2. ^Phillips, Nick (May 8, 2008). "The Twisted Mile received well by Fairfield audience!". Cracked Egg Studios. Retrieved on May 17, 2009.
3. ^Phillips, Ted (January 2, 2007). "The Coming of Thor". Cracked Egg Studios. Retrieved on February 8, 2022.
4. ^Phillips, Ted (March 14, 2022). "Twisted Mile: Episode 1 - Remastered". Cracked Egg Studios. Retrieved on March 14, 2022.
5. ^Star Fox 64 (NTSC) [VHS cassette]. Nintendo Power. Retrieved on May 17, 2009.