Madhouse (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring Richard James Baker, Allison Biggers, Trish Everly, Jerry Fujikawa, Morgan Hart
Directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis
Distributed by Dark Sky Films
Know what I love about movies from the Seventies and early Eighties? A lot of the horror film directors would do whatever they could to keep their films creepy and atmospheric. There weren’t many one-liners thrown around, and the cast didn’t have to be young or hot; they just had to be there to be slaughtered. This is what I refer to as — the good old days! Another thing that was all the rage back then were films about evil twins, and Madhouse, or There Was a Little Girl as it was originally known, sports itself one hell of a pair.
Julia (Everly) and Mary (Biggers) are not your ordinary twin sisters. Usually twins share a Corsican-like bond, but these two? Not even close. The main reason why is because Mary is resentful of Julia because she has to share given attentions with her. Disgruntled over never having a birthday or a holiday of her own, Mary decides that she’ll hurt her sister by torturing her. Of course when Julia blows the whistle, everyone assumes she’s just acting up.
Fast forward several years, and Julia has a great life of her own. Once she was old enough to make her own decisions, she told the wicked Mary to screw off, but now fate has brought them back together. Fate … or should I say tragedy? Julia finds out from her uncle that Mary is suffering from a disease that has severely disfigured her. Distraught over the thought of Mary suffering, Julia visits her as a means to make amends. The only trouble? The sight of Julia makes Mary freak out, and before you know it, Queen Bitch Evil escapes from her hospital and begins slaughtering Julia’s friends just in time for their upcoming birthday.
A giallo through and through, Madhouse is as spooky as they come. It’s riddled with all manner of disturbing imagery and dripping with the kind of violence that you’d expect from a movie of the early Eighties. Mary is one menace that I wouldn’t be messing with, and Biggers’ performance as this bloodthirsty witch has the same “keep the fuck away from me” quality as Andrew Hubatsek’s did as Zelda in Pet Sematary years later.
In terms of special features we don’t get much. Only a still gallery and an interview with writer/producer/director Ovidio G. Assonitis, but you know what? Even if there was nothing here, I’d still have to recommend the purchase of this veritable ride into madness!
Madhouse was once deemed a Video Nasty in the UK, and Dark Sky Films has done a stellar job of bringing this little seen flick home to American home video audiences to revel in, and we should be happy they did. Here’s to another meaty bit of cinematic obscurity! Bravo!
Special Features
4 out of 5
Special Features:
1 1/2 out of 5
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