The Keeper (1976)

The Keeper of Underwood Asylum has the mental patients of the wealthiest families in British Columbia. The rest of the family members have been dying under mysterious circumstances, so ... See full summary »

Director:

T.Y. Drake

Writers:

David Curnick (based on a story by), Donald Wilson (based on a story by),

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Tell Schreiber, Sally Gray

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lee	...	The Keeper
Tell Schreiber	...	Dick Driver
Sally Gray	...	Mae B. Jones
Ross Vezarian	...	Inspector Clarke
Ian Tracey	...	The Kid
Bing Jensen	...	Danny
Jack Leavy	...	The Biggs Twins (as Jack)
Leo Leavy	...	The Biggs Twins
Malcolm Britton	...	The Homicide Squad
Michael Meade	...	The Homicide Squad
Burke Lundy	...	The Homicide Squad
David Engleman	...	The Inmates
Wendy Who	...	The Inmates
Victor Mallia	...	The Inmates
Laura Thaw	...	The Inmates

Storyline

The Keeper of Underwood Asylum has the mental patients of the wealthiest families in British Columbia. The rest of the family members have been dying under mysterious circumstances, so Biggs hires private investigator Richard Driver, who puts his assistant, Maybelline, in the asylum pretending she is his cousin and that they came from a family where the parents were all first cousins to each other and they decided to keep their love platonic for genetic reasons. Then he tries to get Inspector Clarke to check him in as a narcoleptic who didn't wake up with his body. They all know what the keeper has been doing, but it is a matter of proving it, and avoiding the hypnotized Biggs twins and Danny, who he is able to keep catatonic with his machine. Inspector Clarke gives driver a lot of trouble, and the kid giving shoe shines looks down on everybody, knowing more.

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Plot Keywords:

asylum | twins | detective | mental institution | loot | 

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Taglines:

Christopher Lee, master of the macabre, takes you and his patients to the brink of insanity.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Folie controlée

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 135,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate Productions, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

"Mr. Gray's Street Ensemble--The Good Time Shop" (Gray is the leading actress)

User Reviews

T.Y. Drake's The Keeper

Christopher Lee, who proved he would take any acting part in the

1970's, fails again in this really dumb Canadian suspenser.

Lee is the title character, who runs an insane asylum. He likes to

hypnotize his patients, and he is making sure their families all

meet tragic ends so he will be the guardian of their money. Enter

our hero (and I use the term loosely), private investigator Dick

Driver. He is hired by an anonymous client and puts his female

partner undercover at the mental home. Driver has many run ins

with the local "funny" (I use the term loosely) police inspector. A

local shoeshine boy is Driver's eyes and ears, feeding him

information, and overbuffing his loafers. It seems the police also

have someone undercover in the asylum. The anonymous client, a

Mr. Biggs, also has a twin brother in the asylum. With all these

planted people in the asylum, it is surprising that Lee has anyone

left to hypnotize out of their money.

The police always seem to have a cop on the grounds, but they

never seem to see anything that would warrant an arrest. Lee

uses a small locked room for his experiments on his patients,

complete with disco lights, a two way mirror, and an electroshock

chair, much like Hugh Hefner's boudoir. The film takes place

sometime in the 1940's or 1950's, but you only know that when old

cars suddenly appear. I have, however, seen better special effects

in the 1940's and 1950's, as here all we have to indicate hypnosis

are psychedelic images and silly twirling animation.

Tell Schreiber, as Dick, is awful. His idea of acting is to point at

whoever he is talking to. Lee looks completely lost here, the film

makers give him a cane to lean on, yet there is no explanation for

his character's handicap. His final look into the camera is

supposed to be scary, it comes off as pleading and helpless.

This is amateur film making at its worst. I have seen better pacing

and production values on "America's Funniest Home Videos"

entries. Drake's direction is awful. His cowritten screenplay has no

idea how to proceed forward in time, giving us long boring

dialogue scenes that do nothing but pad the film.

This is terrible stuff, as if the film's cast and crew did not care. This

translates into a stiff, boring, cheap film that features a respected

actor slumming in a role that was probably written on a napkin.

Very sad. This ain't a Keeper.

This is unrated but probably equivalent to a (PG), and contains

some physical violence and some gun violence.