Madhouse

1981

Action / Horror

14
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 27% · 2 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 27% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.5/10 10 2877 2.9K

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Plot summary

A woman is pursued by her murderous, psychopathic twin sister in the days leading up to their birthday.

Director

Ovidio G. Assonitis Photo
Ovidio G. Assonitis

Top cast

Dennis Robertson Photo
Dennis Robertson as Father James
Doug Dillingham Photo
Doug Dillingham as Golden
Joe Camp Photo
Joe Camp as Hospital Guard
Allison Biggers Photo
Allison Biggers as Mary Sullivan
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
848.03 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 32 min
Seeds 3
1.55 GB
1920*800
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 32 min
Seeds 6

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by drownsoda90 6 / 10

Atmospheric slasher mired by an anemic conclusion

"Madhouse," also released under the titles "And When She Was Bad" and "There Was a Little Girl," focuses on Julia, a teacher in Savannah, Georgia whose twin sister, Mary, has spent most of her life in a psychiatric institution. After an overdue visit to see her, Julia becomes increasingly paranoid about her sister's ominous warning that she will take revenge on her, and as their mutual birthday approaches, people in Julia's life start dying.Co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Ovidio G. Assonitis (who several years prior directed the fever-dream "Exorcist" ripoff "Beyond the Door"), "Madhouse" is a halfway decent slasher film that draws on a confluence of contemporaries, but doesn't quite manage to live up to what it sets out to do. The film has been credited by genre fans for its atmosphere and photography, and that is most definitely where I feel the film excels as well. The house it's set in is wildly eerie and the Georgia setting lends an additional layer of Southern Gothic atmosphere that is at times intoxicating.At times the film feels like a straightforward slasher; at others, it seems like it's edging into the territory of the supernatural, and this lack of transparency keeps the audience on their toes for the first half. The film begins to lose this balancing act though in the last thirty minutes with a premature slipshod reveal and a conclusion that feels uninspired and lazily unfurled. It doesn't necessarily go where you expect it to—I'll give it that— but it's less about the nature of the revelation and more about how it's broached in the narrative. The film was notoriously banned in the UK during the "video nasty" era, and it does boast some considerable gore, though I did feel the bulk of the killings relied a bit too much on the canine dispatch (which itself seems to be a riff on "The Omen" and "Suspiria"). The cast is mostly made up of unknowns, but the performances are decent for a film of this type.Overall, I found "Madhouse" to be a bit underwhelming, mainly because it sets itself up for greatness, and then handles its conclusion in a way that feels lazy and uninspired given all that precedes it. As sluggish as the last act is, I do have to praise the film for its curation of atmosphere and the moody cinematography. There are some truly unnerving scenes in the house that are memorable, and the film does manage to establish a sense of foreboding before it nearly undoes itself. 6/10.
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Reviewed by kevin_robbins 6 / 10

This isn't a classic or all time great horror movie but was an above average addition to the genre

Madhouse (1981) is a movie I recently watched for the first time for free off Tubi. The storyline focuses on a sister going through psychological evaluation and trying to mentally stabilize as her birthday approaches. Little does she know her sister, currently locked in a mental asylumn, is about to escape and come home to wish her a happy birthday as well. This movie is directed by Ovidio Assonitis (Piranha II) and stars Morgan Most (The Man Who Wasnt There), Michael MacRae (Summer School), Edith Ivey (Robocop 3) and Jerry Fujikawa (Chinatown). The storyline for this is fun to watch unfold and there were some kill scenes I couldn't wait to happen, like the repair man, and some that were plain outstanding, like when the dog gets killed. The dog only growling and never barking was a funny aspect of the movie. The ending was worthwhile and brings the movie full circle. This isn't a classic or all time great horror movie but was an above average addition to the genre. I'd score this a 6/10 and recommend giving it a viewing.

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