Madhouse is one of the more obscure titles to make the famous Video Nasties list in the UK in the 80's and also one of the least likely to cause that much offence these days. The story revolves around Julia, a teacher at a deaf school for children who is plagued by memories of her hideously disfigured and demented twin sister Mary, who, with the aid of their completely twisted and almost unwatchable uncle, sets about hunting down and killing Julia. The pacing of the film is often very slow, but the Fulci inspired scope photography and the City Of The Living Dead/Beyond esque locations give the film a mildly poetic feel. Throw into the mix some wildly erratic Cannibal Holocaust inspired music from Riz Ortalani and a bizarre scene involving a rottweiler breaking through a door Jack Nicholson style and getting a powerdrill through the head for it's troubles and you've got quite an odd little film.
Madhouse (or, There Once Was A Little Girl as some publications call it)is available in a few different Dvd incarnations, but I must say, the edition from Film 2000 has one of the worst dialogue tracks I have ever heard on a film, so perhaps avoid this version if you are planning on checking it out as it's highly frustrating and was only properly audible on headphones.
No comments:
Post a Comment