And When She Was Bad (1981)

Julia, a teacher in a school for the deaf, has a hideously deformed and deranged twin sister that resides in the local looney bin. She escapes to gate-crash a surprise birthday party for ... See full summary »

Director:

Ovidio G. Assonitis (as Oliver Hellman)

Writers:

Ovidio G. Assonitis (as Oliver Hellman), Stephen Blakely

Stars:

Trish Everly, Michael MacRae, Dennis Robertson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Trish Everly	...	Julia Sullivan
Michael MacRae	...	Sam Edwards
Dennis Robertson	...	Father James
Morgan Most	...	Helen (as Morgan Hart)
Allison Biggers	...	Mary Sullivan
Edith Ivey	...	Amantha Beauregard
Richard Baker	...	Sacha Robertson Jr.
Don Devendorf	...	Principal
Jerry Fujikawa	...	Mr. Kimura
Doug Dillingham	...	Golden
Joe Camp	...	Hospital Guard
Janie Baker	...	Sacha's Mother
Huxsie Scott	...	Secretary

Storyline

Julia, a teacher in a school for the deaf, has a hideously deformed and deranged twin sister that resides in the local looney bin. She escapes to gate-crash a surprise birthday party for Julia by murdering all the party guests with the help of a giant killer Alsatian dog, which gets its comeuppance when lobotomized by a power drill, in a scene that will offend most animal lovers.

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Plot Keywords:

twins | dog | birthday party | school | power drill | 

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Taglines:

Julia thinks she lives alone... she doesn't!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

(Banned)

Details

Country:

Italy USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 1981 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

And When She Was Bad

Filming Locations:

Savannah, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ovidio G. Assonitis had to fire and subsequently fill in for the original director who was hired to do this film ten days into the production of this movie.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! Part 2 (2006)

User Reviews

A mixed bag.

As co-written and directed by Ovidio Assonitis ("Beyond the Door", "Tentacles"), "There Was a Little Girl" (a.k.a. "Madhouse") is a mostly tedious affair running through the standard slasher paces adequately but without any real style. For its first two thirds, it actually plays more like a drama with some horror moments than an out and out horror film. It's too bad it got labelled as a Video Nasty, as it's never really that gory, at least not until the end. The good thing is that the performances are better than expected, and things do get marginally more interesting in the final third, with a plot development that some horror fans may see coming and some may not.

Trish Everly stars as Julia, a teacher in a school for deaf children whose birthday is nearing. In the days leading up to it, her deformed, demented twin sister Mary (Allison Biggers) escapes from the hospital. It seems that Mary had dominated and terrorized the meek Julia during their childhood, and now Julia is more than a little concerned. Mary had had a spooky canine companion when the two women were young, and now there's a bloodthirsty dog adding to the weirdness.

For around an hour or so, this is just a little too dull, although Assonitis succeeds in building some atmosphere. But the story becomes more fun upon its one true big reveal. Eventually, this bears some strong resemblances to the Canadian slasher "Happy Birthday to Me", although it's hard to say whether one movie ripped off the other or not. The beautiful Everly does an okay job in the lead, the equally lovely Morgan Most is fine as her friend, and Michael MacRae is acceptable as Julias' psychiatrist / lover, but the person who steals the show is Dennis Robertson as the friendly Father James. The animal work is good; trainer Joe Camp plays the ill-fated hospital guard. However, during the finale, when the crazed dog comes through a door, a special effect is employed, and it's laughably horrible.

Overall, a decent shocker redeemed to a degree by its last act.

Five out of 10.