MANCUNIAN MAN: THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF CLIFF TWEMLOW IS NOW STREAMING! WATCH IT TODAY ON TUBI, YOUTUBE AND GOOGLE PLAY.
Bouncer. Novelist. Composer. Screenwriter. Producer. Star. To ‘80s UK audiences, Cliff Twemlow was all of these and then some. For more than a decade, in fact, Twemlow was the UK’s most prolific indie filmmaker. But in Manchester, he was – and remains – a legend.
Between 1982 and 1993, Twemlow gathered a devoted team of local doormen, martial artists, variety performers, club DJs, models, girlfriends, gym friends, family members and B-listers to create his own cut-rate Hollywood empire. Shooting on early pioneering video technology, composing all the music himself, and working on nearly nonexistent budgets, Twemlow and his unlikely ensemble of misfits crafted gangster films, horror movies, spy thrillers, sci-fi epics and beyond. Perhaps best known for 1983’s ultra-violent G.B.H. (GREVIOUS BODILY HARM) – which was banned as one of the notorious Video Nasties – Cliff Twemlow’s unbelievably true story is now told by Jake West – director of the documentary VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP & VIDEOTAPE as well as the features ’RAZOR BLADE SMILE and DOGHOUSE – and Severin Films through exclusive interviews, insane film clips, rare behind-the-scenes footage and more.
“Cliff didn’t see any hurdles,” says producer David Gregory. “He knew that he could write a script, say the lines, and stage an action scene. Twem always aimed way higher than his resources, which was an admirable trait no matter how awkward the results could sometimes be.”
Ultimately, MANCUNIAN MAN is the portrait of a man who not only grabbed the Hollywood dream by the bollocks but squeezed until it (sometimes) agreed to his modest terms. “Cliff was unafraid to get it wrong,” West says, “and there’s something intrinsically British about that kind of heroic failure. But audiences will discover somebody they have no idea even existed, accomplishing things he and his friends could only dream of. And there’s something wonderfully inspiring about that."
