Twin Peaks (1991)

By the time Twin Peaks finally limped off the ABC schedule last June, it had become a mannered art-boy joke, lost in dumb whimsies like Nadine's amnesia and deputy Andy's sperm count. But this videocassette reworking of the original two-hour pilot (previously available only in Europe) not only has a new finale with a different solution to Laura Palmer's murder but also reminds the viewer why this powerful, otherworldly Peyton Place was special to begin with. It's fun remeeting the many characters for the first time (we know the futures they don't), and director David Lynch's attention to detail pays off with a soundtrack that's an eerie delight on headphones plugged into a VCR. The new footage is both intriguing and frustratingly opaque, in keeping with the director's serene surrealism. Only Lynch could so neatly tie up a plot this complicated while still leaving everything unanswered. B+