Madhouse (2004)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

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 drug "Risperdex" mentioned in the movie is reference to the real drug "Risperidon". However, Risperidon is an antipsychotic and not an antidepressant.

Goofs:

Continuity: In love scene, Clark takes off Sara's shirt. Next shot, shirt is still on. Next shot, it's off again.

Cheap horror-wannabe.

I am only going to summarize the plot in a single sentence since there isn't much of a plot. An young male intern starts working in a mental facility finding out there's strange things going on...

There's not much that's working in the film, so let's start with the few good parts. The manager is played by Lance Henriksen. His performance is the only acceptable one, nothing stellar but when he's around you almost think for a second that this is an actual movie not a laughable pseudo-film. Something else that almost works is the gore, we are not talking Georg Romero, Dario Argento or Lucio Fulci here, but the few parts where there is a bit gore, it's not bad, it's even almost convincing.

Let's take the bad then. The visual arrangement manages to summon a single word that will be repeated inside your head during the whole movie: cheap. The dialogue is better in the beginning but somewhere after the first 20 minutes it mutates into something that would come from a 10 year old's mind. The dialogue is so incredibly bad, I kept rolling my eyes during most of the film. Ditto for the acting, if you can call it that...

A good horror movie creates an uneasy atmosphere and tension. A good horror movie can keep you scared after the movie has ended. Madhouse manages none of that, instead it relies on a few cheap shock moments that could possibly startle you. That is, if you decide to watch it that far despite the bad cinematography and the horrible dialogue and acting...