Madhouse (2004)

Director:

William Butler

Writers:

William Butler (story)
Aaron Strongoni (story)

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Let the insanity begin.

Plot:

A young psychiatric intern unearths secrets about the mental health facility in which he works.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Medication | Escaped Patient | Psychiatry | Electrocution

Cast

Joshua Leonard	...	Clark Stevens
Jordan Ladd	...	Sara
Natasha Lyonne	...	Alice
Lance Henriksen	...	Dr. Franks
Dendrie Taylor	...	Nurse Hendricks
Leslie Jordan	...	Dr. Morton
Patrika Darbo	...	Betty
Christian Leffler	...	Drake
Newell Alexander	...	Dr. Douglas
Dan Callahan	...	Dr. Hendricks
Mark Holton	...	Mr.Hansen
Aaron Strongoni	...	Carl
Todd Stites	...	Trannie
Rosemary Alexander	...	Grace
Muffy Bolding	...	Polly Bond

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence/gore and some sexuality.

Runtime:

Germany:91 min (Fantasy Fim Fest) | UK:87 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Norway:15 | Malaysia:18SG | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Ireland:15 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Lakeshore Entertainment

Trivia:

The building seen at the very end of the film is "Stites Mental Facility", obviously named after Todd Stites, the post-production supervisor and the actor who played the "Trannie".

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Clark is first in Dr. Franks office, he looks over the books on the shelf. One of them is labeled "Psychoterapy Pratctices" by Dr. Jess Williams." Obviously it should be spelled "Psychotherapy Practices."

Movie Connections:

References "Wheel of Fortune" (1975)

Surprisingly Good

I first rented this movie, expecting only the typical cheesy low budget B-movie, but was surprised to discover a good movie that could have played first run in the theaters. Basically, a young psychiatric intern comes to this backwater rundown mental hospital and discovers a chamber of horrors. There is a mysterious kid/ghost running loose in the hospital (unfortunately, this actor's name was missing from the credits) and a string of murders taking place, as the intern attempts to piece together what is going on. There were several recognizable stars (such as Lance Henrickson) in the movie, most of whom had small parts in favor of the lesser known actors. There was a fair amount of bloodshed in this movie, and a very good turn around in the plot towards the end of the movie that makes all of the previously hard to follow elements crystal clear to the viewer as the identity of the killer is realized.