Simply Perfect

Powerful

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

The acting in this movie is really good.

MADHOUSE is a piece of trash horror film that seems to want to be the next GOTHIKA, although it's so cheaply made and poorly-shot that it's a bit of a chore to sit through. It's also one of those films made in the early 2000s that looks incredibly dated for modern audiences, amazing really when it's only 12 years old as of my viewing. Compare it to similar produce from the 1990s or even 1980s and you can instantly see how dated it looks.The film features BLAIR WITCH PROJECT actor Joshua Leonard in the lead role and you quickly realise why he wasn't in many films (clue: he isn't very good). He plays a young intern who arrives at a creepy old mental institute and soon becomes involved in the usual run of weird goings-on amid the staff and patients. The patients do their best to be weird and disturbing but when one of them is a Divine rip-off they just come across as quite sad. Supporting cast members include one-time popular starlet Jordan Ladd (CABIN FEVER) and old-timer Lance Henriksen stuck in the clichéd role of the institute director. The worst thing by far about MADHOUSE is the horribly cheap direction from a guy who has made GINGERDEAD MAN 3: Saturday NIGHT CLEAVER. I think that says it all.

Well, confused would be the word I'd choose to summarize my 1 and a half hour experience with this movie. I mean watching it was pretty tolerable but on the other hand I believe it will be one of the very few movies that I'll immediately erase from my mind. The environment is good. Or at least promising. The introduction to the mental facility is decent and intriguing. Plot is also average. Acting is just OK. Some inmates appear pretty interesting too. But on the other hand I expected way more from an "asylum troubles" movie. Our protagonist is an ice cube, really. He shows no emotion, stays down when more dynamic characters talk and although this may be partially explained in the end, it stills slows down the movie and gets the viewer frustrated by his inability to cope with the environment.Also most (=all) characters aren't sketched thoroughly.Especially some of the "hardcore" inmates could and should be engaged in longer interactions. But the main push-back in the movie is lack of atmosphere. I mean guys we are talking about a MENTAL facility, an ASYLUM, you should be able to make something out of it. I want to follow the characters and feel the pain this place holds in every step they make, I want every little noise to get me on my toes, I want some action to the environment surrounding the main building. Scenes which where probably meant for some nice flicks are literally to laugh for. Concluding, if you expected a nice mental facility horror thing similar to "Session 9" or even "Fragile" seriously do not bother. I don't even know if it's worth seeing in a 3 am hangover situation. I believe it will leave you as empty and as confused as it left me. 4/10 greatly gratituous and mostly because of gorgeous Jordan Ladd

This movie was just a filler for one of my major movie renting experiences. Knew nothing about it, and this may sound stupid, but I had a bad feeling about it. I know, I know. Kinda stupid to rent something and worry about it sucking after spending the money on it. Well, finally I decided to watch it and wow! Opened up with a bang! The many freaky images are just crazy! And thankfully it never let down! That ghost boy was just unsettling, ditto on the madhouse! You'll never catch me going down to that room alone.The cast was wonderful too. The lead is Josh Leonard, who I just found out was one of the Blair Witch kids! Good to see he's still getting work after that movie. Then there is the cute as a button Jordan Ladd, who I can just watch in just about every movie. God, she's cute! Natasha Lyonne gives an awesome performance as a crazy girl, but her role is quite small in the movie. And last but certainly not least, Lance Henriksen. Just like Jeffrey Combs, Udo Kier, and Robert Englund, no horror movie will seem complete with guys like these.The down part of this movie? Well, I was a little disappointed it took the slasher route. Don't get me wrong, I love slashers as much as the next guy. But this would've been a great haunted asylum movie. I mean, Lance is reading books about hauntings in this movie. Don't tease us like that! Oh and the ending just kinda leaves you wanting more. *sigh* Can't anyone get endings right? Oh well.But other than that, this movie was quite a pleasant surprise for me. Why did this go straight to DVD? Watch this and see if you agree with me

The reason why this movie got into my hands was simply me having to buy for a certain amount of money to get my hands on another movie. New horror has continued to disappoint me, so, naturally, I thought this one would as well. I have to say that I was wrong.Clark Stevens is the name of our hero, doing his practice at at Cunningham Hill, a mental hospital which seems more like a place to keep the insane instead of helping them. This is, at least, what Clark thinks and he's more than eager to change things. A murder, a mysterious boy and an equally mysterious patient later, making changes in hospital policy becomes a secondary problem. You probably get the idea, this is a classic plot, classic character and all the classic twists and turns. And no, it doesn't make this film worse, it makes it better. Because for some reason, I get an old-school vibe watching this history unfold. There are scares. There is some blood. And there's actually some frightening scenes (especially a dream-sequence). In these Saw-horror days, it's really refreshing to see a movie that doesn't try to be something it's not. This movie doesn't try to outsmart you. You can probably figure out the end pretty quickly, but that doesn't keep you from wanting to see what happens. In other words; this is a good, plain horror movie. Well worth the 3, or so, dollars I spent buying it.