The Mafu Cage (1978) User Reviews

unexpected, indeed.

[yuukimaiko · 7/10 · 12 June 2001]

While perusing the 50cent rental section at the local video store, I came across "The Mafu Cage." Reading the flipside of the box led me to believe that this would simply be a run-of-the-mill 70s horror flick. However, it was hardly that; And very perversely bizarre. Cissy falls into the depths of insanity and general crackness while living with her older sister after her ape/monkey researching father dies...

Riddled with tribal music, inferred incest and a living room converted to a jungle, I'd recommend "The Mafu Cage" to any who desire a high weirdness factor in their movies.

Grim and uncomfortable.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 18 April 2020]

This adaptation of a play by Eric Wesphal stars Lee Grant and Carol Kane. They're cast as sisters who live in an old mansion; Kane is clearly very disturbed and is also very childlike. She pitches fits when she doesn't get her way and also resorts to emotional blackmail. Grant has a very tough time playing nursemaid to her younger sibling, but had made a promise to their dying father that she always would take care of her. When Grants' co-worker (James Olson) expresses a romantic interest in her, the thought of a man coming between them drives Kane even further into insanity.

Kane always has been a unique and remarkable performer; "eccentric" would be a kind way to put it. This independent, now somewhat obscure feature showcases her to great effect. In fact, she's all too convincing, in a role that was improvised to an extent, and which requires her to work extensively with an orangutan named Budar. Grant is no less impressive, as the kind of character that naturally earns some sympathy. It can't be easy looking after someone like Kanes' character. (Although it must be said that leaving Kane to her devices at a crucial point was a disaster waiting to happen. This viewer realizes that it's an essential part of the plot, but still doesn't exactly ring true.)

A highly engaging Will Geer, as a character named Zom, and Olson provide fine support, but "The Mafu Cage" is first and foremost a vehicle for the two talented ladies at the centre. It's also decidedly unpleasant in its psychological approach (characters take turns being victimized in the title location), and it must be said that people who take exception to animals being mistreated on film (even if the scenes had to have been simulated somehow) will want to give this film a pass.

Notable assets are the production design / set decoration (the main room of the abode has an African jungle theme), and the striking, atmospheric score composed by Roger Kellaway. This was an interesting venture for the director, Karen Arthur, who made only a few feature films over the course of her career. It even touches upon such taboo subjects as incest. Overall, it's something unusual for seekers of cinematic curiosities.

Six out of 10.

It was great in the theatre

[damien-16 · 5/10 · 11 July 2010]

It seems to me all reviewers refer to the DVD when reviewing the film. That's a pity. In the theatre release, which I was fortunate enough to see, the colours are warm and rich, the lighting is subdued but atmospheric, and the acting, of course, is excellent. Especially Mz Kane, who could be whining and annoying in other films but does a great job here. It would be an error to simply see this movie as a horror flick. If you do so, you will be disappointed. This is a psychological thriller that draws on our archetypical fears. It thus presents us with a highly interesting content, but also the form is interesting. The unity of space, the closedness of the oppressive interior, contribute to the feeling of unease.

Very fine work

[cdimdb · 31 August 2003]

Nobody going to say a word about Carol Kane's extraordinary performance? She was working with a series of animals, and having to ad-lib her character continuously. An amazing job by this superb and often overlooked actor.

Regarding the film itself - boggle. It's been years since I saw it, but it blew me away at the time. Here's hoping some noble figure will step up and put it on DVD soon.

Weird!!!!!

[sugar-bear · 5/10 · 25 June 2005]

This movie was flat out weird. Carol Kane plays Cissy, a woman who dresses in African-type clothing and has literally turned the house into a jungle. Cissy lives alone with her older sister, Ellen. They only have each other and you can tell right from the back that Cissy has issues!!! She loves her sister dearly and longs to spend time with her. She sleeps with her sister at night as if she's a child and does things that maybe not many women do to their sisters. For instance, there's this one scene where Cissy is sleeping with her sister in a hammock and then Cissy begins to kiss and touch her sister while she's asleep and then you see the hammock turn over. Don't know what the heck that was supposed to mean. Then this other night, Cissy is telling her sister how she loves to be naked next to her and how she's the only person that's touched her breasts and all that stuff. Then Cissy is pouring hot oil over her sisters back and giving her a sexual back massage. WEIRD!!!

Anyway, Cissy kills her pet monkey and threatens to commit suicide when she can't get another one. After cutting her wrist, her sister gives in and gets her another one. One day Ellen hears Cissy screaming and sees her beating the monkey to death with a chain. ISSUES!!!!!!!!!!!! Cissy then kills her sister's boyfriend, whom she hated. She then causes her sister to go crazy and eventually the sister dies. The quality of the DVD was very weak and dark. You can hardly see much of the movie but other than that....it was good!!! Once again, KUDOS to Kane!! She's excellent!!!! Every movie I've seen her in so far she blows me away. She's really good!!! I especially love it when she plays psycho characters like this one and the one from 'Office Killer'.

The Sound Of Simka Screaming

[mamamiasweetpeaches · 1/10 · 16 June 2005]

Wow. This movie gave me a headache. I had seen the box for this movie in Mom & Pop video stores over the years and always wanted to rent it but never got around to it. It's now on DVD and I'm disappointed. Both by the quality of the DVD and also less than pleased with the movie itself. I think the whole premise of these gals living in a house that is part African jungle, complete with caged ape, with loud tribal music blasting and Carol Kane walking around in Afro-centric clothes complete with tribal make-up is just too surreal. Don't the neighbors MIND??? And how is the sane sister even sane having to live this way? this is explained away by the fact their father was an explorer in Africa who raised them like this. But he'd dead now. Yet they continue to live this way in "modern day" America. Well, anyway: the older sister (Lee Grant) works and watches over the younger crazy sister (Carol Kane) who plays with pet monkeys and illustrates them. When she gets mad she kills her pet monkey "MAFU!" and demands a new monkey. Like buying a new lipstick at the drug store within days a new pet monkey is provided her. Really? Can anyone order up a pet monkey and get one? Is it that easy. When not playing with (or killing) monkeys Carol also likes to play dress up, drink wine and dance around and spoon in bed with her sister. The rest of the time she's pitching a fit and screaming, screaming and screaming some more. "Mafu, Mafu, Mafu!" I swear if I ever have to hear the word "Mafu" again someones gonna get it. I respect them for trying to do something different.....but different doesn't always mean "Good". Avoid like the plague.

Wow! Unexpected great movie!

[blackthirteenstudios-44606 · 8/10 · 8 March 2017]

I recently acquired a Wizard Video VHS copy of The Mafu Cage in a large lot of tapes I received. I instantly knew it looked right up my alley and interesting, so I set it aside to view later. Two nights later I popped it in the VCR...Wow! I was shocked that I had never seen or even heard of this interesting, bizarre, yet original flick. It's hard for me to say anything bad about this movie except for the fact that it seems to be a "lost" or "set aside" piece of cinema that not many have seen. (not sure if it has been released on DVD or not) Everything from the rich colors, the acting, and the story line lead to a film that seems to depress the individual as a previous review stated, haha. I personally enjoy when a movie, music or any piece of art actually makes you "feel" emotions. This is one of those movies that should not be missed or taken lightly. Carol Kane is amazing in her role as Cissy.

A pointless, unpleasant waste of time.

[Groverdox · 3/10 · 8 November 2018]

"The Mafu Cage" is a boring and pointless trudge through god knows what. It was mislabeled a horror movie, which is okay by me - I'm fine with drama, especially those adapted from plays - but lord. What was the point of it?

The plot is something to do with two sisters whose explorer father dies, and leaves them a house which comes equipped with a jail cell with chains he apparently used to tie up an orangutang (?). The younger sister, played by Carol Kane, is mentally ill, though the hows and whys of her illness are unexplained and unexplored.

The elder sister is an astronomer.

One day, some guy brings an orangutang into the house and they chain it up. The crazy sister kills it, in an unpleasant, if not graphic, scene.

I can hardly even bring myself to explain any more about this movie.

Here's one thing: Carol Kane, who plays the crazy younger sister, is the only performer in the movie who has any kind of presence, and leaves any kind of impression on the viewer at all. I guess it could count as a positive that it's not a horror movie, since I don't know if she's work in that role, but she was obviously born to play quirky, eccentric, and even mentally ill women - if not really violent ones.

So why doesn't it work? The fact that none of the other actors work at all? They're not bad actors, just not very watchable. The fact that the movie doesn't get into the heads of any of the characters? The fact that you can't believe the situation - what was the point of the cell, exactly? That was just a bizarre contrivance coming between you and the movie.

I just couldn't wait for this movie to be over. With any luck, I'll forget about it soon.

An absolute gem

[domialenic · 10/10 · 8 November 2022]

Maybe it didn't deserve a straight 10 rating, but certainly 9 . I didn't watch this movie as the ratings weren't very good and some of the feedback was downright abysmal. How wrong they are . And although this movie dates back to 1978 which makes it nearly 45 years old by now it still was captivating by today's standard. It certainly is not a horror movie , but a very well made psychological thriller. The performance by Carol Kane as the mad sister Cissy was absolutely convincing. And for once the ending was not open for interpretation by the viewer, but completely in line with the story. I just regret not have watched it before. Highly recommended.

I Can't Un-See It!

[Nemesis7293-1 · 1/10 · 2 November 2010]

An insane woman serially kills her multiple pet apes, has sex with her sister, murders the sister's boyfriend, then the sister dies and everyone but the nut-job ends up buried in the back yard....the end. It is a criminal pity that such a cast - Grant, Olson, Geer, and especially the brilliant Kane should have been wasted in this dire, depressing, profoundly ugly little movie - who's "high point" is the unspeakably vicious, brutal beating death of a captive orangutan - which I deeply wish that I could scrape from my memory as one scrapes dog excrement from the sole of one's shoe. Anyone who could derive any entertainment or enjoyment from this could sit smiling through a snuff film. Utterly irredeemable trash to be avoided at all costs.

Out Of Africa...

[azathothpwiggins · 28 August 2020]

THE MAFU CAGE is one of those magnificently strange movies that come out every so often. Cissy (Carol Kane) is a mentally disturbed woman who lives with her overwhelmed sister, Ellen (Lee Grant). Cissy is beyond challenging, and Ellen has been taking care of her since their father died. They moved stateside after many years in an unspecified region of Africa, where Cissy spent her entire life.

Now, Cissy is unable to cope with this new, outside world. Therefor, the interior of their suburban home is a re-creation of Cissy's African memories, including a living room "jungle", continuous tribal dance music, and various primates.

Unfortunately, Cissy is lost, and can't accept her new surroundings any more than she can face the death of her father. Add to this scenario that Ellen decides to start a relationship with a co-worker (James Olson), and Cissy's already fragile mind goes into full survival mode. Obviously, Ellen could / should have consulted a good therapist for Cissy long ago, but then, that would be an entirely different movie. So, Cissy degenerates into psychological oblivion, and deadly horror ensues. If you enjoy disturbingly bizarre movies, then a visit to the MAFU CAGE is highly recommended...

Huh?

[anxietyresister · 1/10 · 30 December 2005]

If you're going to make horror picture, you should make sure of the following:

1. It has an understandable plot.

2. It is scary.

3. It should filmed in enough light for you to know what's going on.

This film follows none of the above criteria. In fact, the words "PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER" on the front of the DVD box must be the biggest lie in the English language. So what as it got to offer? Well, no attractive women, Carol Kane and whoever plays her weird sister in this are as ugly as sin. What they wear is quite nice, perhaps because they moved from Africa at the start of the film. Why do I mention this? Because the plot seems to revolve around the younger sister missing her old home to such an extent, she plays tribal music full blast all day long, and walks about in outfits that wouldn't look out of place on a shaman's wife. Eventually she hears voices in her head(?) and decides to kill and torture a few people in a cage they have built into their house. There is a rather grim ending. And that's it. I was seriously freaked out by this surreal movie, which I doubt even made sense to its director. What was she hoping to accomplice? If it was giving me a hernia, her efforts were an unqualified success. 0/10

The gross out version of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

[MyMovieTVRomance · 3/10 · 5 December 2023]

The movie is very well made. It's a quality picture, it's just that I didn't particularly find it enjoyable. I found it transfixing, which is proof of its quality. But I didn't particularly like what I was seeing. Which I guess was the point of the film, you're supposed to be horrified. But I didn't like being that horrified. Plus, I found Carole Kane's character to be more grotesque than I was expecting. I thought she would be far more likable than she was. This is not commentary on her really, so much is the character. I just thought the character should have been committed at the beginning of the film, after her first horrible act was made clear! So, that's one of the frustrating things about this movie is that the sister of her character protected her in a way that actually ended up hurting both of them. If she had committed her early on, then she wouldn't have been so guilty later.

Carol's character reminded me of the girl in recent Amazon prime miniseries called Swarm. So, just to give you an idea, that's almost the level of insanity and viciousness we're dealing with here. In fact, there were times when I couldn't figure out whether or not her character was the victim of her own insanity and she was basically innocent in all of it, or if she was downright intentionally cruel most of the time. It's so hard to tell, and that's another part of this movie that I found very frustrating. But again, it's not about how the movie was made, it's very engrossing and good. It's more about the story being just a very frustrating one!

This is what Whatever Happened to Baby Jane would be if it was a gross out film. The grossest thing in that movie was the dinner scene where Joan Crawford takes the lid off and finds a dead rat on her plate or something. But other than that, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is mild and simply entertaining because of the two leads. It isn't disturbing, it's just engrossing and surprising - and yes, by the end, rather shocking, but again, not in a gross out way. That's what I was hoping this movie would be, but it wasn't. Although, make no mistake, this film definitely feels like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, but if that movie was made over to be an actual horror film rather than just suspense.

So, by my review, you probably think it's a good movie, it did what it set out to do. And yes, by that measure, it's a good movie- if you like that sort of thing. I just didn't. But then again, I had an inkling that I wouldn't because I usually don't like anything that focuses heavily on animals, africa, tribal things, and I don't watch Animal Planet, so that was my first clue. Oh wow, it wasn't a waste of almost 2 hours. I did enjoy seeing it, but I didn't enjoy it - if you know what I mean.

Unfolds like a Greek tragedy

[drownsoda90 · 8/10 · 23 January 2022]

"The Mafu Cage" follows two sisters (played by Lee Grant and Carol Kane) who reside in a dilapidating mansion in the Hollywood Hills, built by their renowned anthropologist father. The younger sister (Kane) is mentally imbalanced, spending her days in the company of various monkeys, while the elder (Grant) attempts to live a somewhat normal life. Naturally, conflicts begin to arise.

While marketed as a horror film, "The Mafu Cage" is more of a psychological thriller with shades of horror--in truth, it is a character study, and a rife exploration of a strange, insular world crashing against "normal" society. The central plot here is a power struggle between two sisters who grew up in highly unusual circumstances, and who are unable to reconcile their circumstances with the everyday world--one of them, because she simply does not want to, and the other, because her sister is holding her back.

The film plays out with all the trappings of a Greek tragedy, and even when it goes a more salacious route, it is remarkably well-acted. Lee Grant is fantastic as the elder sister stuck between two worlds, while Carol Kane is riveting as the disturbed younger sister who cannot function outside of her deceased anthropologist father's lair of artifacts and primates. The crumbling Los Angeles mansion in which most of the film unfolds has a stark California gothic look, obviously inspired by "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?".

Overall, "The Mafu Cage" is a potent, unusual film. It excels as a psychological thriller, largely because its lead performers are completely keyed into the material. Though not particularly pleasant, "The Mafu Cage" is disturbing and thought-provoking. 8/10.

Actually its a clever study of the human psyche under captivity and dependency.

[imdwhispersbook · 9/10 · 4 April 2010]

Actually, I rather liked this film. I was lucky enough to find the DVD edition on a shelf in my local Pound Shop. The lighting/filming techniques were behind those of the day and I think that was intentional - as it adds to the mystery of the whole story. You don't really understand the whole story until you've seen the whole film, sat for a while, thought about what it was about, watched it again and then finally formed a thesis around what and why the story went the way it did.

To answer a previous post; they don't appear to have any neighbours as such as they live in an old dilapidated manor house and its quite clear that any friends they do have are of the open-minded, scientific type who are'nt that interested in why someone may need something unusual.

It's a sort of 'what if' scenario where the extremes of entrapment are explored and it is quite clear why the two sisters are so psychologically deranged - if you have a little bit of insight in to the human psyche.

There are also two levels of captor/captee that maybe many miss.

The younger sister is actually captee of the older sister who is her provider of food/water/bedding/...and pets.

And the younger sister becomes captor through learnt behaviour from watching her father at his 'study', which is why she copies him and sketches her captives in the same way.

There is also a suggestion that hypnotic musical rhythms help to strengthen these psychotic pathways of the brain(hence the African rituals).

Her general behaviour is childlike, not grown up and illustrates that even though she has taken on the responsibility of captor she is not prepared mentally to accept this and care for her captees - which is why her psyche revolts. But at the same time she is trying to understand how the captee feels because she gets locked in the cage herself.

If you understand what I've said here, then you'll also see the similarities with 'The Cell'.

Quite an intelligent story I thought, though admittedly I originally bought it for a horror flick night in. I'd have given it a 10 if there was more explanation in the film of how it all started.

Great Movie

[wertufar · 25 January 2006]

The review previous is wrong in every judgment. It was a terrifying movie but a movie of substance. The lighting was dark but terribly effective. There was a seventies look to the color and pacing but I think that is a good thing. And if such things concern you, Carol Kane was phenomenally beautiful and sexy and Lee Grant was also very attractive in a real person sort of way. James Olson was charming and acted well but he is one of those guys so ugly you are amazed there is a place for him in the industry. The acting by all was superb, truly superb. The use of stillness and quite speaking was wonderful... the person above most just not appreciate 70's cinema. This was a film not a movie... It would be terrifying to you if our buddy above had indicated he was a spoiler. This film is on my short list of great movies.

Wow!

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 15 January 2022]

Karen Arthur worked with screenwriter Don Chastain to loosely adapt Eric Westphal's play Toi et Tes Nuages, which she had seen in Paris in 1975, to create this movie that even today, nearly fifty years after it was made, seems unhinged.

Ellen Carpenter (Lee Grant, Valley of the Dolls) is an astronomer who shares her home - a ramshackle house in the Hollywood Hills that they inherited from their anthropologist father - with her sister Cissy (Carole Kane), an adult child devoted to her mafus, which are pet monkeys which she keeps in a cage in the living room. There's a problem though. The mafus never last long as Cissy tends to kill them. And oh yeah - Ellen is in love, real love, incestual love, with her sister.

Now, Cissy wants another monkey and Ellen refuses. There's been enough death. But then their godfather Zom (Will Geer, The Waltons) gets Cissy an orangutan from his zoo. And at the same time, Ellen is finally finding love - she's as emotionally stunted as her sister is developmentally - with David, a fellow astronomer (James Olson, Amityville II: The Possession). She's not ready to let him into her life, as when Cissy finds out, she beats the orangutan into oblivion.

When Ellen goes away on a work trip, David comes to visit. As she's not there, Cissy lets him in and tells him how the mafu cage was brought into the house and used by her father to keep doing his research when he wasn't in the jungle. She locks David in the cage and begins to study him as her subject, finally flying into a rage and beating him into the next life too. She buries him in the garden, but keeps painting him, which leads to Ellen locking herself in the bathroom and Cissy finally having a nervous breakdown.

I don't want to ruin any more of this movie, which is surprising at nearly every turn. Arthur, unfortunately, dealt with some bad luck making films - Lady Beware is one example - and The Jerry Gross Organization tried to sell this an exploitation movie, changing the name to Don't Ring the Doorbell.

Carole Kane is absolutely the greatest in this movie, playing a character quite unlike anything else she'd ever do in her career. Lee Grant is, as always, perfect. This movie is really something else, one I'd been waiting to watch and I was rewarded for my patience.