Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon (1973) User Reviews

Not exactly torture

[Zeegrade · 6/10 · 18 February 2010]

I kinda like this bizarre Mexican flick which was a mix of "Hearts of Darkness" and "The Island of Dr. Moreau". Anyone familiar with these types of movies made south of the border in the seventies know that coherent plots are not to be expected. Gaston LeBlanc has come to witness the revolutionary treatments of Dr. Maillard in his spacious sanitarium. When he is introduced to the Doctor and his lovely niece Eugenie he is taken on a tour which begin an array of odd encounters with the patients who seem to roam free. As Gaston beholds the increasingly eccentric methods of Maillard's "soothing system" he begins to question the mental stability of the doctor. Chicken Man would of had me running out the front door long ago but I guess that's just me. After one of the Doctor's religious ceremonies involving Eugenie almost comes to a murderous end if not for Gaston's intervention she is taken away for punishment which for what he's witness can be just about anything. Gaston saves Eugenie, whom he has fallen for, and she tells him that Maillard is actually an escaped convict named Fragonard who led a revolt by the inmates imprisoning the real Dr. Maillard and his staff. With Fragonard's system for controlling anyone he sets out for, what else, world domination!

I can see how "Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon" can turn people off. If you are expecting a gory exploitation/torture horror film you will be sadly disappointed. This is actually more of a comedy than anything as the sheer lunacy of some of the scenes inspire some serious laughs. Claudio Brook as Maillard/Fragonard is especially entertaining as his rantings and constant cackling convinced me that nobody is more crazy in this asylum than him. It does have some slow moments when the dialogue gets a little to wordy for me but the occasional pair of naked breasts made up for that. I don't know what director Juan Lopez Moctezuma's fascination with bird people was but he definitely had an ample amount in this movie. Not everyone's cup of tea but nonetheless a movie that kept me entertained for most of its 82 minute run time which is a lot more than I can say for most of the other titles in this "Chilling Classics" collection. Give it a shot.

Visitors to an asylum

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 18 April 2011]

The Mansion Of Madness is a Mexican production of an American story with a French location. It's based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story The Torture Garden Of Dr. Tarr and if not top rate at least it's interesting.

Mexican star Claudio Brook plays the infamous Dr. Tarr who is actually both a master criminal and has a personality that has stepped over the line. He led a revolt of inmates who have taken over the asylum from the real staff. As the asylum is deep in the Ardennes Forest in France the chances of visitors are slim to none. And when visitors do come they get the treatment that the visitors in this story get.

One thing you've got to love about these films is that it gives players a chance to overact outrageously and keep within character. The Mansion Of Madness has to be among the top ten films with overacting as the norm.

Watching this film also made me realize where the plot of a certain Star Trek episode in which Steve Ihnat played a Dr. Tarr like character who took over a futuristic prison came from.

I think fans of Edgar Allan Poe will like this production.

Disappointing

[Maciste_Brother · 4/10 · 9 January 2007]

I've waited a long time to see DR TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON and after I watched it, I was really disappointed by it. It's not the Baroque film I expected it to be. The trailer (which I saw on a Something Weird DVD) is much better than the entire film, which is remarkably forgettable. There are almost no stand out scenes in it and the look and feel is interesting but it doesn't even come close to other Baroque styled movies out there, from Fellini or Jodorowsky. The characters are dull and there's almost nothing dramatic going on, even though we see rape, crucifixion, insanity, etc.

The main problem with DR TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON was the fact that it was a talk-a-thon more than anything else. It was almost like watching a book. I just wanted the film to have moments of silence or mood or something, instead we see/listen to the main characters chit-chat endlessly about dull stuff.

A missed opportunity.

Electro-sphinx would make a great name for a band.

[BA_Harrison · 2/10 · 24 October 2021]

If Terry Gilliam and Alejandro Jodorowsky joined forces and made a film while tripping on acid, the result might look like Mansion of Madness, directed by Juan López Moctezuma (producer of Jodorowsky's equally bizarre El Topo).

The film stars Arthur Hansel as journalist Gaston LeBlanc, who is sent to write an article on the ground-breaking psychiatric work being done by Dr. Maillard at his remote sanatorium. On Hansel's arrival, it's abundantly clear that the man who introduces himself as Maillard (Claudio Brook) is every bit as mad as his patients, and that the lunatics have taken over the asylum, yet the journalist seems oblivious to this fact and takes a tour of the madhouse. Maillard spouts unintelligible nonsense about his radical treatment (which he calls 'the soothing method') while introducing Hansel to various occupants of the hospital, including his pretty daughter Eugénie (Ellen Sherman), a man who thinks he is a chicken, and an old codger called Dante who is chained to a cross in the dungeon.

Hansel finally cottons on to the fact that something isn't right and tries to escape, taking Eugenie with him. The writer learns from the woman that the man who calls himself Maillard is actually a brigand named Raoul Fragonard who has taken the sanatarium by force, released the patients and locked up the staff, including the real Dr. Maillard, who is Eugenie's father. While on the run, Hansel is reunited with his friend Julien Couvier (Martin LaSalle), but the trio are soon captured and taken to be sentenced by Fragonard...

Hardly a frame goes by without something incredibly weird happening, the abject lunacy accompanied by a score that would be best suited to a kids' Saturday morning cartoon (comedy drum rolls, xylophone glissandi, a penny whistle). The whole thing looks and feels like a demented comic-book, with over-the-top performances to suit, but it's all so relentlessly delirious and in-your-face that it winds up being extremely irritating as a result. I think I have a fairly high tolerance for surreal cinema, but this one was just too much for me, with patients lurking in chimneys, random nudity, a band playing bizarre instruments, people trapped in glass boxes, a nutter riding a sheep carcass, a dance routine from three weirdos covered in feathers, a man hidden by celery, and Fragonard being shot whilst wielding a turtle.

horror meets strange European art cinema, should have been a classic

[horrorbargainbin · 10 July 2003]

Not as much a horror movie as the (real cool) Magnum video case lets on, it can be pretty scary and disturbing. Kind of like Gilliam's Baron Munchausen crossed with Fellini Satyricon crossed with any movie where the inmates run the asylum. I'd say it had a pretty high budget and a large cast. I figured it would be some Al Adamson type of film in a cardboard dungeon. Well the atmosphere is great and the shots are cool and very European. Based on a Poe story so the concepts and dialogue are pretty memorable. There are really creative sets and props I never would expect to see. I wonder why more people have not heard of it?

A Surrealistic horror film that is mostly talk, talk, talk!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 23 June 2007]

A stupid rich guy circa about 1800 wants to visit a nearby mental asylum to see how a famous doctor cares for his patients. Despite an initially hostile response, he is soon cordially invited in and given a tour by the good doctor. And, as the doctor shows him about, he talks and talks and talks!!! And as he talks, loonies run amok here and there doing nothing especially productive. While there is SOME action here and there (and some of it quite disturbing), it's amazing how dull and cerebral the whole thing is--lacking life and energy, which is odd for a horror flick. Even a guy who thinks he's a chicken and dresses like one becomes rather tiresome. The further this tour takes the guest, the more disturbing it becomes until ultimately you realize that the inmates have taken over the hospital and are torturing their keepers. Yet again, despite this twist, the film is amazingly lifeless in many places--particularly when it moves very slowly as a bizarre ceremony is taking place or people are just wandering about the set. Only when the workers from the asylum found in a prison cell, starving, does the film have any real impact. Considering this plot, it sure is hard to imagine making it boring, but the people who made this cheap exploitational film have! Now with the same plot and competent writing, acting and direction, this COULD have been an interesting and worthwhile film.

You know, now that I think about it, this was the plot of one of the episodes of the original "Star Trek" TV show! You know, the one with "Lord Garth--Master of the Universe" and Kirk and Spock are held prisoner by this madman and his crazed followers.

A final note: The film has quite a bit of nudity here and there and includes a rape scene, so be forewarned--it's not for kids. In fact, considering how worthless the film is, it isn't for anyone! However, with the version included in the "50 Movie Pack--Chilling Classics", the print is so incredibly bad that it's hard to see all this flesh due to the print being so very dark.

Weird, wacky, and worthless..sort of.

[konajinx · 4/10 · 17 April 2005]

I got this in the DVD 10 pack CURSE OF THE DEAD. You gotta love those bargain packs. For even if they don't feature true remastering, restoration and all that hoo-ha, and the films are generally in full-frame pan and scan format, there's no denying that there are always a few gems included. And by "gems", I mean there's always some good crap to be seen, especially if the films are from the '70s as The Mansion of Madness is.

My copy is called Mansion of Madness, but when the title screens roll it's Poe's Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon. Doesn't matter, really, as crap is crap is crap, no? Yes! But saying this film is completely worthless is not true at all. There are some funky elements here and there, and obviously the flick did have a decent budget.

The opening title sequence is cool with its colored negative run through a cheap TV look. The dialogue is always hilarious. Near the beginning of the film, the horse and buggy driver gets out to move a dead tree stump in the middle of the road. "WHAT STRENGTH!" says Our Hero. Funny, then, that this dude should later not be able to fight off the wacky woodsmen when they come to make freaky fun. You'll completely forget that this guy was even in the movie until he crops up again later near the end. That's how memorable these characters are.

The best part about Mansion of Madness, however, has to be the wacky music and screwball hijinks that the good guys have to endure. It's like bad cartoon music that a three year old would find enjoyable. And why all the weirdo slapstick, anyway? I'd say my fave moment had to be when the horse and buggy is ambushed by the forest freaks when they pull a stupid looking homemade ghost up by a stick in the middle of the road and make the buggy stop. What the hell? Oh yeah, there's plenty of boobies to be seen, too, for those of you that dig such things. Boobies, bad dialogue, and wacky music. That best sums of Mansion of Madness for me. It's well worth at least one viewing, and may be a lot better if you've had a few to drink or whatnot. I can't say I was ever bored watching it, but I can't deny that it's also a barrel of poop. Kinda like Magical Mystery Tour but with a plot, but not. Hmm.

And Mr. Chicken PWNZ.

More like mansion of weirdness!

[NateManD · 7/10 · 24 July 2005]

"The Mansion of Madness" is a long forgotten surreal horror comedy from directer Juan Lopez Moctezuma. Most notorious for "Alucarda". "Mansion of Madness" contains a couple cast members from "El Topo" including cinematographer Rafiel Corkidi. The movie is loosely based on a short story from Edgar Allan Poe. The plot concerns a weird and deranged insane asylum where the patients take over and make up their own rules. Doctors out of the way! There's rooms full of crazy lunatics including people who act like chickens. Actor Claudio Brook is in charge of the madness. Fans of Jodorosky, Arrabal, Fellini and Ken Russel will definitely find this film enjoyable. It's also known as "Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon". Not to worry, there's more surreal art than torture in this flick. So why not check in, to the mansion of madness?

Offbeat Mexican madness

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 12 August 2011]

This is a Mexican adaption of the Edgar Allan Poe story 'The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether'. It tells the tale of a journalist who travels to a sanatorium to report on eccentric medical techniques practised there. This is frankly a really bizarre feature. Right from the get go this is odd. It is sort of a horror film yet its atmosphere is almost quirky a lot of the time. The music reflects this by being spectacularly inappropriate throughout. I suppose with a central idea of the lunatics taking over the asylum, the general off-kilter strangeness is imbued in the music and general mood. There is a multitude of oddball characters that feature throughout the picture, culminating in a finale involving menacing chicken people. No, seriously.

I guess this movie can best be described as a surrealist film. Seeing as its Mexican and made around the same time as Alejandro Jodorowsky was making movies this makes more sense. There must've been something funny in the Mexican tap water back in the early 70's. So I suppose it will probably appeal more to those who appreciate weird art films rather than anyone after a Gothic horror yarn, which to be honest this film really isn't. While it's certainly a memorably nutty film, it would be remiss to not mention that it's a little rough around the edges as well. It's really a mixture of quite bad film-making with some pretty impressive moments. The overall strangeness is probably ultimately its chief selling point though. So if you have an interest in the bizarre then this certainly will tick a few boxes for you on that score.

Strangely fascinating trash!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 4 February 2005]

Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon (the more appealing a.k.a of this film) surely is one of the most bizarre films I ever saw. But then again, it qualifies as Mexican exploitation and you never know what to expect from these guys… I would love to summarize the plot a little but that's nearly impossible considering this is an incoherent series of absurdity, sleaze and semi-psychedelic stuff. The closest I can get is describing how the story takes place in a French asylum hidden in the woods, where doctor Tarr and professor Feather feast their most perverted barbarities on the poor and helpless patients…and yet they like it! My personal favorite is a guy – referred to as Mr. Chicken – who lives in a pen, alongside the other poultry. You should see how happy he is!! The screenplay is supposed to be adapted from an Edgar Allen Poe story but, even though I haven't read it, I suspect that the premise is replenished with many elements from the makers' own wicked imagination. As often the case with this type of cheap exploitation films, it features a surprisingly stylish cinematography and many addictive elements. Especially the mesmerizing opening sequence, with its wonderful blaze of colors, immediately draws your attention. The use of silly music is hilarious and you can only feel sympathy for the actor while they're attempting to rattle their exaggeratedly complex dialogues. This is the kind of cinema that normal human beings refer to as crap and complete rubbish. Only the people with a macabre sense of humor love it and regret that there aren't more films like this to find. I, for one, am proud to have it in my cult-collection.

Mexican Mayhem

[kzintichmee · 2/10 · 1 November 2005]

All the other comments already said what I was going to say, here goes anyway. I thought this was Italian at first, sorry about that, Italy. I wasn't bored because I kept waiting for something to happen. Who did that song about Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather way back when? Was it Alan Parsons? Saw this on a Brentwood 10 pack and the quality was as expected, terrible. Full of streaks and stuff. The movie was an incoherent mess. Goofy music and clueless characters. The main guy should have known in the first minute that the doctor was nuttier than the patients. I thought the "doctor" directing the "battle" scene was never going to end. Had some good looking babes though. It seems these dumb ass movies always throw in a naked chick or two and that gets you hooked. I gave it a 2 for the nekkid women. That bird people dance made me want to pull out my own eyeballs. Poe probably did about 3,000 rpms in his grave when this thing came out because it was loosely based on a story of his.

An excellent Eurotrash Poe adaptation.

[roganmarshall · 8/10 · 26 January 2001]

Among the lesser known Poe stories, a personal favorite, for me, has always been "The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather," which uses role reversals in a country asylum as a leaping-off point for pseudo-comedic, proto-surreal flights of fancy. This film adaptation uses a more-or-less faithful adaptation as the framework for Eurotrash erotic horror, with results that come off like what you might get if someone like Rollin or Franco directed "King of Hearts." Within these parameters, this movie is perfectly self-assured, and if it sounds like something you might be interested in seeing, you are, and you'll love it.

South-Of-The-Border Poe

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 28 March 2011]

It was the grisly demon-possession flick "Alucarda" (1978) that first made me aware of the talents of the late, underrated Mexican director Juan L. Moctezuma. Anxious to see more, I popped in the DVD for Moctezuma's first film, 1973's "The Mansion of Madness" (also, fortunately, on the Mondo Macabro label), and was pleased to discover that it is another winner, although much less disturbing and intense a horror outing than "Alucarda." The film nicely captures and expands Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 short story "The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether" (one of many that Roger Corman never got around to adapting!), and shows what can happen when the inmates of a madhouse literally take over the asylum. In the film, we make the acquaintance of a young man named Gaston Leblanc who has recently graduated from journalism school in 19th century America, and played by hunky dude Arthur Hansel (who looks a good 20 years too old for the part). Leblanc returns to his French homeland to do a story on a mental institution run by one Dr. Maillard (Claudio Brook, the doctor turned demon slayer in "Alucarda"), whose innovative "soothing system" of letting his inmates run free has been causing quite a stir in medical circles. But shocking surprises await Leblanc as he enters the titular "mansion of madness"....

This film, I should say, starts out very strangely, and Maillard's initial tour of his institution may cause some viewers to shake their heads in bewilderment. My advice would be to stick with it, though, as several plot twists serve to both clarify matters and ratchet up the suspense. Novice film director Moctezuma gives the viewer something interesting to look at in virtually every shot, especially toward the picture's conclusion. That banquet sequence is a literal phantasmagoria of oddball characters doing unusual things, the frame filled with hyperkinetic wonder. Kudos also to cinematographer Rafael Corkidi, especially for his stunning work outdoors. A welcome addition to the Poe story here: a romantic subplot of sorts featuring an inmate named Eugenie, played by beautiful Ellen Sherman. And speaking of "beautiful," Susana Kamini, who played the gorgeous Justine in "Alucarda," can be seen in this film as well. Look sharp: There she is, playing the topless inmate on the receiving end of that fishing pole! Opening with a pensive voice-over amongst lovely country scenery and concluding with a seeming homage to--of all people--"Little Caesar"'s Rico Bandello, the picture is a fascinating experience from beginning to end. Thanks again, you Mondo Macabro maniacs!

Marat/Sade Without the Class

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 25 January 2007]

I feel much less generous with this film than others of its ilk. The portrayal of madmen in this century is always done with them being so totally bizarre as to be a different species. Their antics are so outrageous as to be totally fictionalized. Everyone is Napoleon or some other historical figure; or they have a fascination with chickens. They are on the make or beating each other up. It's as if the scriptwriter said, what can I make up for them to do, without an sense of what insanity or even mental illness is. Watch the wonderful human portrayal in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" where the illnesses are believable and real. I once worked in a State Mental hospital. I didn't see any of these guys. These are too smart and calculating to make them come to life.

Horror for academic chin scratching bores

[Bezenby · 15 August 2011]

This is a 'quirky' (crap) seventies horror film that's eccentrically filmed (the director was on drugs) which idiosyncratic tendencies (penchant for goofy hippy shenanigans)but visually pleasing, in the aesthetic sense (please be drunk before you watch this one), the acting is almost academic in its execution (the actors are so wooden you can buy them from B&Q), the script titillating (like someone tugging your scrotum with a fish hook), and the pacing of the plot erratic (so bad I had to review this one 'live') see below: ...okay now someone's naked...and dancing...no wait she's not naked it's just so dark...why has that woman got a football strapped to her head?...is that a fish?...WHAT IS THIS RITUAL ABOUT?...no wait it's a knife...can't see a thing now...it's a law in the seventies to use xylophone soundtracks when someone has been drugged...?????????...right someone talking Poe again...sounds like that Arthur Pym one...it would help if I could see what's going on...now he's walking up a corridor he just dreamt...and I'm none the wiser as to what I'm meant to see here...'you have three shadows even though you refuse to believe me'...darkness again...that chick's covered in grapes....there's almost a story now...more 'zany' xlyophones...nothing of interest has happened for 20 mins...there's a lot of bare bums in this film...and a naked chick on a horse...wait a minute Peter Greenaway nicked this scene for Prospero's books!...now there's a band where a guy's playing a crab...and people dressed as crows...won't the torture end?

Feel the PAIN!

[doc_hartman · 1/10 · 8 January 2008]

I read reviews on this movie and decided to give it a shot. I'm an open minded guy after all and I’ve given good reviews to some pretty bad flicks. As the end credits rolled on this one I searched for meaning and something nice to say. Here goes: "This film was mercifully short." That's all I got.

Okay, Okay. The sets and visuals were well done and the music helped lend to the mood of asylum life but the film was painful to watch and the endless dialogue took away from the good bits. I did find myself laughing at this film but the way you laugh at your best friend who just embarrassed himself in front of a large crowd.

By the time of the "chicken dance" at the finale I had just decided to tuck and roll with the film and let the bodies fall where they fall. I don't know what could have salvaged this film. The acting was not bad and it looked like it had a budget but there just wasn't any way to make it watchable; not even the presence of beautiful bare breasts. Maybe I should have sparked a doobie or drank a LOT of beer to get the full experience of the film. Either way, I'm not watching this film again unless I'm really depressed. Then I can tell myself “At least I wasn’t in ‘Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon.’ I’m better than those guys."

No One Whines Like Gaston

[BaronBl00d · 2/10 · 24 November 2005]

Absolutely dreadful Mexican film supposedly based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe about a newsman wanting to go into the confines of an asylum hidden in the woods to write a story about how it works, etc... When our hero, Gaston, is given the grand show by Dr. Maillard, head of the asylum, we see all kinds of things which are suppose to be horrific, such as men hanging around long in a dungeon, and comedic, such as our hero being joked upon by soldiers as he climbs down a ladder hanging over the side of a building. Then there is one sight which might have been meant to be both: a human man dressed as a chicken, yes, that's right a chicken, that pecks around the ground for chicken feed. The scene was to be a comedic highlight of the film, but, at least for me, it was the film's low point and really most revolting when you considered that grown men and women thought this might even be remotely entertaining. Ah! That is indeed the real horror that is Dr. Tarr and his Legion of Name Changes. And that brings me to this salient fact about the film which is most films that undergo multiple title changes usually have some kind of serious problem. Yes, this is obvious, but some have distribution problems and others, of which this is one, have numerous title changes so that someone might unsuspectingly buy the same garbage more than once. This is definitely garbage. It has very little going for it. The only performer worth having a look at is Claudio Brook as the head of the asylum. He is one huge slab of ham as he laughs maniacally, bellows orders, sashays with sword in hand, and praises the chicken. I got so tired of hearing him talk about the "soothing system" as his means to cure the mentally sick. What a bunch of ludicrosity(Hey, a film like this with a script like this deserves this kind of word). It won't take you long to figure out what is going on in the asylum nor will it be any more interesting. Cinematic chicken scratch!

Garbage

[elilichtenberg · 1/10 · 1 January 2007]

If this movie were any worse, it would have been directed by Uwe Boll. This nonsensical mess makes Ed Wood look like Hitchcock. It has been a while since I have seen this steaming pile , but I do remember that I wanted to do grievous bodily harm to all those involved. How anyone can give this movie any more than 1 star amazes me to the graciousness of all those that viewed this tripe. I give it one star because there is not a rating lower. All copies of this movie should be burned the ground sowed with salt and reserved as a landfill for the most toxic of waste. No, one copy should be kept under ultra hi security and shown only to film makers as an example of how not to do it.

Weird Film - Somewhat Watchable

[Rainey-Dawn · 4/10 · 20 October 2016]

Well, the film does not make any sense whatsoever: How in the heck did the patients of the asylum get all those elaborate costumes for their strange rituals and such? Since when do asylums keep such clothing? The patients couldn't have ran into town then brought them back, they are way out in the woods without a horse and carriage - it would have taken them days by foot and would have most likely not have gone back to the asylum especially with elaborate costuming. The whole film has them wearing these outfits - so that makes no sense whatsoever! The story is just OK, holds my interest just slightly but the Gothic atmosphere with all the elaborate clothing is eye-candy.

Basically the film is about some lunatics that captures the doctors and nurses, has them locked up and tortures them. A man hears about this strange Dr. Tarr (an inmate of the asylum that has taken over the place) and comes to find out more, investigate the place... he is accompanied by a man and his female cousin that are the neighbors of the asylum.

4/10

Madness and madcappery!

[chaypher · 6/10 · 13 August 2013]

A journalist, seeking an exclusive exposé visits a mysterious mental institution where he has heard of unconventional treatments for madness. At first he is made to feel unwelcome but, on meeting the head doctor, is invited on a grand tour. As he is lead around the grounds and gardens, there are few surprises with the inmates they observe. But as his tour takes him further into the asylum, these encounters become increasingly disturbing and lurid and the patients more deranged. His journey ends in the grand hall where it is revealed that the patients have overrun the place and the staff have been killed or imprisoned. The "head doctor" is their leader and styled himself on a Napolean-like dictator; he has set his sights further than just the limits of the madhouse.

This bizarre Mexican surrealism reaches for the strangeness of "El Topo" and for the demented, hellish imagery of "Caligula", "The Devils" and to some extent "The Wicker Man". Unfortunately, it has not got the same quality of writing or directing as these greatly superior films. Instead it is nothing more than a psychedelic re-telling of a Gothic short-story which makes it feel too much of a gimmick. Granted, there are some heavy hitting aspects to some of the action but by that point you have been desensitised somewhat to the relentless portrayals of madness and madcappery! When the twist comes, it is hardly a surprise. Still, this passes the time and is memorable enough, if not just for the "chickens"!

Chickens Come Home To Roost

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 16 July 2010]

This is a bizarre horror film based upon an Edgar Allan Poe story . I have no knowledge of the original text but the idea of lunatics running an asylum has certainly influenced literature , cinema and television not to mention influencing real life itself . Was it Poe himself who came up with the expression of " Lunatics running the asylum " ? It's certainly made for a very memorable film . The bad news is that it's not going to be remembered in a good way

The film starts with a journalist in 19th century France visiting an insane asylum to report on a new , radical technique engineered by an eminent doctor to treat lunacy . It's very noticeable from the start of the movie that it contains fundamental flaws in film making . For example a character says to himself " There weren't armed guards at the gate last time I visited " When you've painful exposition like this you know you're not going to be watching a masterwork of cinema . The film continues in this way and suffers from an entirely bizarre feel involving mood . We're treated to camp comedic incidental music and sound effects and the IMDb itself includes the word comedy in its genre main page . but at no point does the movie give the impression it was meant to be a camp affair . Everything seems made with a dead pan feel and it seems when the film was completed the director has gone back and insisted on injecting humour at several points hoping the audience believe they're watching camp cinema rather than incompetent movie making . Good try but he isn't fooling me

This manifests itself a subplot involving human chickens , or rather lunatics who believe themselves that they're chickens . Again I must reiterate that this must have seemed grotesque and macabre on paper and is in keeping with Poe's themes . But to watch a climax involving a choreographed sequence of chicken people dancing in synchronized step is impossible to take seriously as it plays out on screen . In some ways it's like watching the climax of APOCALYPSE NOW with a bunch of effete go go dancers skipping around Walter Kurtz outpost , not that this film deserves to be mentioned in the same review as Coppola's classic because the chicken people are appearing in an absolute turkey

Almost a musical

[tvcarsd · 8/10 · 30 August 2020]

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought about how this movie could be taken as being a satire of modern society. The acting is very Monty Python like, I don't think Graham Chapman himself could have portray such craziness is a pseudo sensible manner. What I mean to say is there definitely appears to be some Monty Python inspiration in this movie just going by the musical scores alone or maybe vice versa. Even the strange directing is reminiscent of this this approach to humour. I like the movie for its production values as well, its a far cry from todays rubbish that just feels like someone grabbed their phone and recorded their friends being idiots. Very enjoyable.

Doesn't go far enough, but decent enough

[slayrrr666 · 6/10 · 13 March 2007]

"The Mansion of Madness" is a flawed but fun asylum horror film.

**SPOILERS**

In early 19th century France, Julien Couvier (Martin LaSalle) goes to see what he can learn from Dr Maillard, (Claudio Brook) renowned for his pioneering work with the insane. After being taken to see the doctor, they embark on a tour of the asylum complex as Maillard expounds on his methods, and is introduced to Maillard's daughter, Eugenie, (Ellen Sherman) who is told that she is afflicted by an increasingly erratic mania. Meeting with her in secret, he learns the truth, that Maillard is in fact the notorious bandit Raul Fragonard who came to see the real doctor seeking help then usurped his authority, assumed his identity and imprisoned him with some of his former charges. Trapped inside with the insane ruler, they race to overtake the asylum and restore the proper order within.

The News: This wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't that good either. This is attributed to it being too mannered, striving for weird and shock effect in the same manner, only both cancel each other out and leave the film with nothing much about it. The fact that there's so many different ideas at play, from the different dementia's of the inmates to the ceremonies performed, seems to be commenting on society's mad blind spots and rigid systems, but although it sometimes tries to tie these ideas together, mostly it's combination of things simply detract from what is thrown in, and oftentimes that doesn't amount to much. It feels more like a series of strange scenes, odd moments and surrealist visions of mad people doing weird things. The free-flowing narrative barely functions on anything resembling a rational level, despite the traditional Gothic source material. The film wanders from one surrealist setting to another with only the barest of connective tissue. The first half of this movie is incoherent. It takes quite a while before any kind of grasp can be made on a concrete narrative thread. This chunk of the film finds the hero on a tour of the sanitarium through the different rooms of the asylum. There await such characters as the Chicken Man and a weird high priestess. While this is effectively weird, none of this is terrifying, and it makes this part of the film hard to take in. It seemed to drag in some parts. Sure there were some crazy happenings but to much talking and not enough derangement. After it has been established that the lunatics have taken over the asylum, what function does a sequence with guy pretending to have sex with a sheep carcass really serve other than helping pad out the film? Even with a meandering story and a certain lack of forward momentum, the film does have so many striking images that it exerts an odd effect, almost like being mesmerized. It is able to establish a dreamlike feel that slowly seeps into the viewer and pulls you along. Most of this is taken up in the film's big sequence, where the ones in control hold an elaborate and quite impressive ritual to be held, only for the original prisoners to be set free and lead a revolt, which is a full-on action scene with tons to enjoy about it, from the action to the choreography to much more that is quite well handled and manages to be the film's highlight. The landscape here is impressive, leading to some really effective mood scene arising from the locales, with the scenery surprisingly giving away some of it's best scenes, including a couple of really twisted chase scenes and being, in general, quite fun overall. Several of the inmates are quite memorable, and there is a sense of them being actually disturbed, which is quite rare in these kinds of films. Normally, they seem crazy but are later revealed to genuinely be sympathetic and here it's revealed that they are crazy and insane, and that works much better. Otherwise, this one wasn't all that great, but it was halfway decent.

The Final Verdict: It's not the most exciting movie but if you can accept its quirks you'll find a thoughtful exercise in style. While there's other movies out there that can expose an interested viewer to these kinds of movies, this one is best left to completists only, as they will be the ones who find this flawed film enjoyable enough for repeat viewings.

Rated R: Nudity, Violence, a mild rape and some Language

Let's be honest

[nightroses · 5/10 · 15 October 2021]

This film was just completely mad! It was like sitting through a disturbed show of insanity. The inmates had taken over the asylum, and locked up all of the staff. I had wondered why the damsel in distress was able to pull off being the doctor's niece so well, when she was actually his prisoner. The doctor was totally depraved and creepy. There were many horrible scenes worthy of Horror movie material, but the whole thing was too much. It was over the top.