Madhouse (1981)

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Madhouse is thematically (and sometimes visually) similar to the Canadian slasher Happy Birthday To Me, but it goes about telling its story of sibling slashing in a very different way.Shot in Georgia, but using an Italian creative team, Madhouse has a strange sense of time and place. Where is this exactly? It it in the past? Is it now? It's one of those things you'll only get when you mix and match crews and locations like this.The acting from lead Trish Everly is quite good and she makes for a sympathetic heroine who just wants to be left alone by her sociopathic, deformed sister who just escaped from a loony bin and has brought her vicious dog with her.At this point, pretty much everyone in our heroine's life is fodder for her sister's knife blade and dog's sharp teeth, which leads to some very creepy moments of victims wandering around a spooky Georgia mansion and getting picked off one by one. It all culminates in the nastiest corpse birthday party since...well, Happy Birthday To Me. The ending even got a real jolt out of me.If I had any complaints, it would be that the reveal of a 2nd killer mid way through the film is accompanied by a lifeless, suspense-free chase scene that goes on far too long. It's also at that point that the film becomes a bit too campy due to both the killer and victim's performances.The visuals are stunning, the music score is super weird, and there's enough gore to satisfy gore hounds, but not turn off more sophisticated viewers. Definitely worth your time!

Didja ever watch a movie and afterward get the uncontrollable urge to track down the people who made it and, when they answered their door, to just punch 'em right in the head?Just asking.ME: Your Honor, I present the following evidence in my defense.Exhibit A: Exploiting a genetic condition and equating it with mental illness.Exhibit B: Characters who do stupid time-wasting things while waiting to get killed.Exhibit C: Characters who talk to each other as if they were talking to 2-year-olds.Exhibit D: Killers who sing nursery rhymes while killing.Exhibit E:JUDGE: (Bangs his gavel) That's enough. Sentenced to time served. You are free to go.

The plot..a school teacher for deaf children, Julia(Trish Everly), whose life has developed swimmingly since detaching herself from a malicious, demented twin sister, Mary(Alilison Biggers), must contend with the crazy, diseased bitch when she breaks from the mental hospital which held her. It seems this freak kills anyone who is associated with her sister in any way..the poor maintenance worker, for instance, or even a deaf male child she wishes to adopt. This twisted psycho is preparing for their birthday, and has this mean-ass rottweiler which tears the hand off/throat out of the asylum security guard, in turn allowing her to escape.Oh, and Julia has this relative, a priest, Uncle James(Dennis Robertson), always preaching to her about the treatment towards her wackjob sister, as if the terror she was put through as a child should be brushed aside. Father James also seems little concerned with Mary's departure from the asylum, as if it wasn't anything to worry about. Along with James, Julia's boyfriend, surgeon Sam(Michael MacRae) doesn't buy into her frightening theory that Mary's behind the murder of student Sasha(Richard Baker).Like other movies, Julia seems all alone in her suspicions, worried about her safety. There's even one of those scenes where Julia gives strict instructions to not open her door to her best gal pal, Helen(Morgan Hart), and guess what she does anyway? Helen decides to even walk up stairs to find an escaped cat, and so fill in the gruesome details. There's quite a twist, regarding a third character involved in the madness, seemingly sane, and anything but.The lush cinematography(camera work and lighting are top notch) by Roberto D'Ettore Piazzoli, provides this movie with a fantastic look, the impressive wide-screen transfer only compliments Madhouse..simply put, technically this is superior to many of it's ilk. I think many slasher fans will have problems with the pace. Director Ovidio G. Assonitis seems interested in applying a more methodical approach, building suspense(..when will strike and how long does Julie have before sis makes her presence known?). There are knife stabbings and vicious rottweiler attacks which should appease the slasher faithful, although the predatory attacks(..or two specific ones)are rather lengthly. I was quite amused at how the screenplay adopts it's strategy for providing Julia help when it appears she's in deep, deep trouble. This has one of those maniacal finales where the "birthday celebration" commences and Julia is treated to it, unprepared for what awaits her. This finale, set in the basement where the "party guests" are present, with Julia and Mary meeting face to face(..along with another who was also important in setting up the festivities), is beautifully lit with candles and blue Christmas lights, off-setting the macabre atmosphere of it all. Dog lovers may find a particular scene rather grueling.

There Was a Little Girl often falls into the Giallo category, and while there are definitely Giallo elements in the film; I personally would say it's more of a twisted psychological thriller. The influence from Argento is clear, as the film features all of the absurd lighting of one of Argento's masterpieces, and the stylish way that many of the murders are presented reflects this also. This is the first film I've seen from director Ovidio G. Assonitis, and based on the strength of his directorial work here, I'm definitely interested in seeing his Jaws rip-off 'Tentacles', and his Exorcist rip-off 'Beyond the Door'. The plot follows Julia Sullivan; a young woman who is a teacher at a special school. Her childhood memories are haunted by her maniacal sister, who now resides in a mental institution. When visiting her sister for the first time in years, Julia discovers that she has been hideously deformed by a skin disease. Her visit to the hospital happens around the same time as a couple of murders, apparently committed by an insane dog; the same dog that Julia's sister apparently had control of as a child… My main problem with There Was a Little Girl is that it just doesn't feel much like an Italian film; and this isn't helped by the fact that the majority of the cast is made up of American actors. The production values are very good, however, and the cinematography is crisp and clear; and a delight to watch overall. The film does feature a fair amount of blood, although the murders aren't as shocking or as nasty as the ones featured in a number of other popular Italian films, and this makes it rather odd that There Was a Little Girl was a part of the DPP's infamous Video Nasty list back in the eighties. As you might expect given the plot line, a lot of the action centres on the sickness of it's main characters; but the best thing about this is the fact that even though the film presents it's murderer right from the beginning; there are still some surprises contained within the plot, and the film also manages to stay away from becoming too convoluted, and while the final twist requires the viewer to stretch their imagination a little; it just about makes sense. The locations used flatter the plot line in that they're morbid and macabre, and while this film is certainly no masterpiece; it's still worth seeing.