Having never written a review of a movie on IMDb before I was motivated due to two rather unusual ones from profiles only ever reviewing this movie. . . . .and giving a bad review. So, while it does betray its roots as a low budget movie the story was indeed pretty good. Definitely worth watching through to the end as the topic will certainly make you question what you believe about institutions for mental health.
31 Reviews
Story Good. Movie Bad
motinalisa31 May 2016
I'm not really sure how to rate this film, but feel compelled to write a review, for no other reason than to warn people what they are about to see. The plot is interesting, but the movie feels like a high-school play. While it is a very important and amazing story that needed to be told, the production is abysmal. Only a 12 million dollar budget? OK, but, better acting alone would've made all the difference. The 10 star ratings are misleading; either fake, or written by Lifetime Movie lovers. And what was with the Kelly LeBrock cameo?? Weird. (and bad) I agree with another reviewer who suggested you read the book. I plan to do that, as soon as I get the imagery from this rubbish out of my head.
Overall a great film!!
SamandDeansgirl19 May 2016
After reading Nellie Bly's article, 10 Days in a Madhouse, I was pleased to find out there was a movie to be made about it. I finally had the chance to see the movie and I can truly say that I enjoyed it.
While the CGI effects may be sub-par to what we as an audience are used to, it does not take away from the film itself. The story is solid and the emotions it invokes are real.
Caroline Barry is fantastic as Nellie Bly. I feel that her portrayal was spot-on and was intrigued by her from the start. She brings Nellie Bly to life and you find yourself cheering her on as she goes forth on her mission.
10 Days in a Madhouse not afraid to explore the mistreatment of the women in the asylum. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the film covers almost all of what was in the article. To see what these poor women went through was sobering and also anger-inducing. It makes me angry to think that these women were left there to be mistreated until they more than likely died.
It might not be the greatest film in the world nor do I think it will be winning an Oscar any time soon. While being a little rough around the edges, I think it was still great, powerful and moving overall.
While the CGI effects may be sub-par to what we as an audience are used to, it does not take away from the film itself. The story is solid and the emotions it invokes are real.
Caroline Barry is fantastic as Nellie Bly. I feel that her portrayal was spot-on and was intrigued by her from the start. She brings Nellie Bly to life and you find yourself cheering her on as she goes forth on her mission.
10 Days in a Madhouse not afraid to explore the mistreatment of the women in the asylum. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the film covers almost all of what was in the article. To see what these poor women went through was sobering and also anger-inducing. It makes me angry to think that these women were left there to be mistreated until they more than likely died.
It might not be the greatest film in the world nor do I think it will be winning an Oscar any time soon. While being a little rough around the edges, I think it was still great, powerful and moving overall.
Ham-fisted and amateurish
urshyshy20 July 2018
Much of the acting was so sub-par it's astounding this ever made it to post-production. Christopher Lambert, the only actor of note in the film, is actually among the worst offenders; quite an achievement in this lot. Staggering terrible.
"What's wrong with you?"
classicsoncall22 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The acting may be substandard but the movie delivers an important story. Nellie Bly's (Caroline Barry) heroism in bringing the state of abused mental patients to light helped bring the profession of psychiatry out of the dark ages. And it truly was heroic, not knowing what to expect and being subjected to forcible stripping, cold baths, and opiate concoctions intended to make her docile, even if she wasn't actually being all that confrontational to the authority of Blackwell's Asylum. The picture offers an expose of corrupt practices that condoned nurses of spitting on patients, slapping them in the face, immersing their heads in water in a form of waterboarding, and what looked like nurse assisted rape by a male doctor at one point. That scene was rather ambiguously done, so if I'm out on a limb with that observation, I'd be inclined to reconsider. Every now and then, the picture is punctuated with an image of a large hairy spider guarding it's web, as if to symbolize the nightmare web the patients of Blackwell's were inextricably trapped in. Watching the movie, one can't help but admire the real Nellie Bly's courage and determination in making this story public.
The single most poorly made movie I have ever seen
righteousmaster7516 July 2017
I had read articles about this movie saying the most amazing things. That this was Christopher Lambert's best part in ten years and that lead actress playing Nellie Bly was being praised for her performance by Hollywood insiders. But I couldn't understand why all the user reviews I was seeing were that the film was awful. After seeing the movie I did a little bit more research and realized the articles are written by the producers themselves and contain no factual information whatsoever. The movie is horrendous. The lead actress playing Nellie is just not a good actor. She flares her nose when she's supposed to be angry and widens her eyes when she's supposed to be scared. Christopher Lambert wanders around the movie with not much to do and looking amused that he's the only known actor in the film. The rest of the cast, complete unknowns, do the best with what they're given as the script's dialogue is incredibly cheesy and unrealistic. But a good number of them give cringe-inducing results. The movie itself is a hot mess. Some shots look very professional. Others look as if someone whipped out their iphone and started filming. Even an iphone might've produced better results. About 80% of the movie looked to be shot in real locations. The other 20% is flatly in front of green screen. And it's not well-done green screen as it looks like each part of the film was pieced together little by little until something coherent came together. Don't waste your money on this garbage.
6.7 stars? I think not.
dave39718 June 2018
Wonderful storyline, but woefully underwhelming from an acting and screenplay/dialogue standpoint. Watching the "actors" converse in this movie was painful at times and reminds one of a film school project more than a serious picture.
I've always trusted IMDb to be a good judge of films to watch. My personal experience has been that movies rated 6 or higher are typically very good movies so long as the content is to your tastes. That has changed for me over the past year or so though. I will take future IMDb ratings with a grain of salt.
Remarkable movie and story
Mohrwyn4 September 2017
I've read the reviews written before writing my own, and I'm astonished by the low ratings and the reasons for that.
I didn't know the story, didn't know (anything about) Nellie Bly. But the movie showed all it had to.
The movie might not be of the best quality, you might expect more given all the digital techniques these days. But I kind of appreciate it, because it accentuates the time these things actually did happen.
I've seen reviews which said that Christopher Lambert seemed to be there mostly to give the movie 1 known actor, and that Caroline Barry did not such a great job at playing faking a mental illness. I don't agree on both statements.
Lambert hadn't the main role, he simply had the role of the main physician. He showed a man who, I think honestly, tried to figure out how to help his patients, but got terribly confused about what's right and wrong in how to realize that. Which has been sort of "good practice" for a pretty long time in medicine...
Barry played the main role, a woman who acts being mentally ill, in a time people hardly understood what mentally ill meant. Today's psychiatrist en psychologist would definitely not fall for the show she put on. We won't either. But back than? Don't forget, it's incredibly hard to fake a mental illness with our current knowledge, back than she could very well succeed with what Barry showed us on screen. Mainly because that was what a lot of men those days would expect from a mentally ill woman.
It is precisely that, what makes this movie a very catchy story that won't let go of you until the end. As a viewer I felt the unease, the emotions, the pressure, like it was choking me.
I didn't know the story, didn't know (anything about) Nellie Bly. But the movie showed all it had to.
The movie might not be of the best quality, you might expect more given all the digital techniques these days. But I kind of appreciate it, because it accentuates the time these things actually did happen.
I've seen reviews which said that Christopher Lambert seemed to be there mostly to give the movie 1 known actor, and that Caroline Barry did not such a great job at playing faking a mental illness. I don't agree on both statements.
Lambert hadn't the main role, he simply had the role of the main physician. He showed a man who, I think honestly, tried to figure out how to help his patients, but got terribly confused about what's right and wrong in how to realize that. Which has been sort of "good practice" for a pretty long time in medicine...
Barry played the main role, a woman who acts being mentally ill, in a time people hardly understood what mentally ill meant. Today's psychiatrist en psychologist would definitely not fall for the show she put on. We won't either. But back than? Don't forget, it's incredibly hard to fake a mental illness with our current knowledge, back than she could very well succeed with what Barry showed us on screen. Mainly because that was what a lot of men those days would expect from a mentally ill woman.
It is precisely that, what makes this movie a very catchy story that won't let go of you until the end. As a viewer I felt the unease, the emotions, the pressure, like it was choking me.
Feels like a dramatization scene from a cheesy TV show
mancinibrown6 June 2017
This may honestly be the worst movie I've ever seen. I'm not exactly sure how I got through the entire 1 hr 50 minutes of it, but I did. The movie is based off of a book written by Nellie Bly about her time spent in a mental institution. She was not insane, but rather was doing an expose for the World News.
The subject certainly sounded interesting, and there should have been enough to make for a good movie but everything went wrong. Have you ever seen a TV show about a real life homicide, and even though it's serious subject mater, you can't help but laugh at the horrible acting and production values. That describes this entire movie.
The acting by all involved is so bad I had to check that this was supposed to be a serious movie, not a joke. I wouldn't say I could do a better job, I couldn't, but I could do an equal job. Every line makes you want to laugh, regardless of who is talking.
The sets are outlandish. A giant boat takes the characters to the island, with a whole 4 people on board. For some reason frames appear to be missing and the picture jumps. The sound, even though the actors are clearly speaking English, appears dubbed.
Long story short - Please don't let the good ratings fool you. Avoid at all costs.
The subject certainly sounded interesting, and there should have been enough to make for a good movie but everything went wrong. Have you ever seen a TV show about a real life homicide, and even though it's serious subject mater, you can't help but laugh at the horrible acting and production values. That describes this entire movie.
The acting by all involved is so bad I had to check that this was supposed to be a serious movie, not a joke. I wouldn't say I could do a better job, I couldn't, but I could do an equal job. Every line makes you want to laugh, regardless of who is talking.
The sets are outlandish. A giant boat takes the characters to the island, with a whole 4 people on board. For some reason frames appear to be missing and the picture jumps. The sound, even though the actors are clearly speaking English, appears dubbed.
Long story short - Please don't let the good ratings fool you. Avoid at all costs.
Surprisingly well done, great job at telling an important story with what little they had.
subxerogravity13 November 2015
When I saw Christopher Lambert was in the movie and read the synopsis, I was under the impression that this was going to be a genre picture, but I was pleasantly surprise to discover the serious tone the movie takes.
10 Days in a Madhouse was actually a true event in which a young reporter named Nelle Bly starts her successful career in journalism by doing an article on the mistreatment of women at Blackwell's Asylum, by going undercover as a patient.
10 days in a Madhouse does a good job in showcasing this mistreatment. It was hard watching these women, who were not crazy when they entered the place, being treated like animals, by people who just don't care. I felt the same way when I saw Suffragette, Another recent movie that is also about the mistreatment of women around the same time.
Lambert actual plays a head doctor who thinks he's doing the right thing but is blinded by his own ego. Though his acting was not outstanding, this is most likely the most important film he has done. With the exception of Kelly LeBrook who has a small role in the film, It's a cast of fresh new actresses I have not scene before.
If only the filmmakers were able to get a bigger budget for this movie to work out the kinks in the visual effects. The CGI used to make New York in the late 1800s was very distracting, but still, the movie is so impressive for what seem like limited resources.
It's an impressive effort in filmmaking
10 Days in a Madhouse was actually a true event in which a young reporter named Nelle Bly starts her successful career in journalism by doing an article on the mistreatment of women at Blackwell's Asylum, by going undercover as a patient.
10 days in a Madhouse does a good job in showcasing this mistreatment. It was hard watching these women, who were not crazy when they entered the place, being treated like animals, by people who just don't care. I felt the same way when I saw Suffragette, Another recent movie that is also about the mistreatment of women around the same time.
Lambert actual plays a head doctor who thinks he's doing the right thing but is blinded by his own ego. Though his acting was not outstanding, this is most likely the most important film he has done. With the exception of Kelly LeBrook who has a small role in the film, It's a cast of fresh new actresses I have not scene before.
If only the filmmakers were able to get a bigger budget for this movie to work out the kinks in the visual effects. The CGI used to make New York in the late 1800s was very distracting, but still, the movie is so impressive for what seem like limited resources.
It's an impressive effort in filmmaking
An Astonishingly Bad Train Wreck Of A Movie...
womackwriter9 July 2017
This film is breathtakingly, astonishingly, jawdroppingly awful. Theme- driven, on-the-nose, terribly written, terribly directed, dialogue so leaden, clunky, and wooden as to leave one numb... Horrible sound, badly synced ADR, CGI and production design on par with a really bad student film... There just aren't enough words. It's doubly heartbreaking because it's a biopic of one of the pioneer American women of journalism, a truly great woman who deserves so much better.
Close but no dice
Everyman122 March 2017
The story telling was just off. Like a singer that is off pitch. It's almost as if the film was done by 2 different production company's. One with money and a budget and one that was a film school project. I wanted to like this film I really did. But the acting was so 2 dimensional it was hard to watch. The sound editing must have been done with a cassette recorder. Every ding, bang, knock was picked up and used in the sound track.
Probably the worst film I've ever seen
christinlazar17 March 2017
Bad production value, acting worse than in porn, camera work done by an amateur, bad editing and somebody managed to take a good story and turn it into a bad, cheesy, boring script. The lead actress has two expressions: smiling like a sheep and worried. Christopher Lambert at the lowest point of his career and Kelly Le Brock, in a cameo, miscast as nurse in the 19th century with tons of plastic surgery and too much make up. To make the movie look more expensive, they bought afterwards some extra material of exteriour shots which are mismatched with the rest of this amateur movie. It seems the director has lot of good friend writing good reviews for him.
Great Movie
Freedom06028628 June 2019
This is an important story that needed to be told. The movie follows Nellie's Bly's book closely, and so is very realistic.
Nothing wrong with the acting, I thought Caroline Barry gave a great performance. She even looks like the real Nellie Bly (see the photo of Nellie in wikipedia).
There has been no greater injustice in history than the ruination of tens of millions of people in mental hospitals. Even today, some psychiatric workers are control freaks like Nurse Rached and many doctors are too quick to label people who are quite sane "mentally ill" and then the heavily drug them. The drugs then cause people to mentally deteriorate. I've worked on a psychiatric ward as a security guard and so have been a witness to this.
The low ratings and reviews for this film may have come from some of the more heartless psychiatric workers. This is a great movie about a heroic woman who helped many overcome horrific cruelty and injustice.
Nothing wrong with the acting, I thought Caroline Barry gave a great performance. She even looks like the real Nellie Bly (see the photo of Nellie in wikipedia).
There has been no greater injustice in history than the ruination of tens of millions of people in mental hospitals. Even today, some psychiatric workers are control freaks like Nurse Rached and many doctors are too quick to label people who are quite sane "mentally ill" and then the heavily drug them. The drugs then cause people to mentally deteriorate. I've worked on a psychiatric ward as a security guard and so have been a witness to this.
The low ratings and reviews for this film may have come from some of the more heartless psychiatric workers. This is a great movie about a heroic woman who helped many overcome horrific cruelty and injustice.
So Disappointed
DonaldPleasant16 March 2016
I was so looking forward to seeing this and I knew that it was an independent movie made without a Hollywood budget. However, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see.
First, hats off to Caroline Barry who did quite well considering what she was given. She rose above the rest and seems to be the one actor who will possibly get recognized in the film industry. I wish her the best of luck. The same can be said for Christopher Lambert although some might consider his performance "hammy". He was not just a villain and by the end of the movie I almost felt sorry for him. Unfortunately, practically all other acting was just unbelievably terrible. I can't stress that enough. It's really bad.
Secondly, it was strange to see how some special effects (e.g. the exterior shots of the city streets) looked absolutely fabulous and yet others, mainly the exterior shots of the asylum, looked poor. The biggest disappointment was how some sets were shot on location yet many looked fake... like they were poorly green-screened or something. It was so distracting. The sound was horrible as well. There was so much echo in almost every scene. The lighting was also bad so the picture quality suffered to varying degrees. The weirdest thing was that the picture looked jittery. It looked like a few frames just suddenly dropped out so people were sometimes "stuttering" as they moved. The sound was unaffected though. No skips or anything during these moments.
Perhaps the most perplexing thing about the movie is the R-rating for "disturbing scenes". The violence and atrocities lost all impact due to the overall amateurish production and bad acting. I just can't understand, given today's standards of movie classifications, how anything over PG-13 was given. In fact I could see a PG-rating being given before an R-rating.
I just don't understand it. The budget is estimated at $12 million but it is definitely NOT seen on screen. My best advice would be to read the book and use your imagination.
First, hats off to Caroline Barry who did quite well considering what she was given. She rose above the rest and seems to be the one actor who will possibly get recognized in the film industry. I wish her the best of luck. The same can be said for Christopher Lambert although some might consider his performance "hammy". He was not just a villain and by the end of the movie I almost felt sorry for him. Unfortunately, practically all other acting was just unbelievably terrible. I can't stress that enough. It's really bad.
Secondly, it was strange to see how some special effects (e.g. the exterior shots of the city streets) looked absolutely fabulous and yet others, mainly the exterior shots of the asylum, looked poor. The biggest disappointment was how some sets were shot on location yet many looked fake... like they were poorly green-screened or something. It was so distracting. The sound was horrible as well. There was so much echo in almost every scene. The lighting was also bad so the picture quality suffered to varying degrees. The weirdest thing was that the picture looked jittery. It looked like a few frames just suddenly dropped out so people were sometimes "stuttering" as they moved. The sound was unaffected though. No skips or anything during these moments.
Perhaps the most perplexing thing about the movie is the R-rating for "disturbing scenes". The violence and atrocities lost all impact due to the overall amateurish production and bad acting. I just can't understand, given today's standards of movie classifications, how anything over PG-13 was given. In fact I could see a PG-rating being given before an R-rating.
I just don't understand it. The budget is estimated at $12 million but it is definitely NOT seen on screen. My best advice would be to read the book and use your imagination.
So sad to watch because it's all true.
planktonrules21 January 2022
In 1887, Nellie Bly went to the New York World with a proposition. She had been a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch and wanted a job with the World...and her first assignment would be to infiltrate the dreaded women's mental asylum on Blackwell's Island in New York City. So, Bly checked in to a nearby rooming house and began behaving strangely in the hopes that she's be committed to the institution. And, soon she ended up on Blackwell's Island...where it turned out the residents were treated like animals by brutal and indifferent staff. After 10 days in this hellhole, she was released and soon wrote a series of articles about the place...and eventually they were published as a book called "10 Days in a Madhouse".
This film lacks big name actors. Nellie was played by a relative newcomer (Caroline Barry) and the only 'stars' were Christopher Lambert as the head doctor and Kelly LeBrock as one of the sadistic nurses. But the lack of stars didn't work against the film, as the story seemed more real without the fancy big stars or a huge fancy budget. And, since it had a very low budget I was able to look past a few of the film's shortcomings...though the final song was so schmaltzy and annoying I had to deduct a point despite my respecting and enjoying the movie.
The story is very tough to watch at times...and my wife had a hard time watching along with me. It is even worse when you realize that the story is based on fact...and the mental asylum was worse than any prison. Well made all around...just not particularly pleasant viewing.
This film lacks big name actors. Nellie was played by a relative newcomer (Caroline Barry) and the only 'stars' were Christopher Lambert as the head doctor and Kelly LeBrock as one of the sadistic nurses. But the lack of stars didn't work against the film, as the story seemed more real without the fancy big stars or a huge fancy budget. And, since it had a very low budget I was able to look past a few of the film's shortcomings...though the final song was so schmaltzy and annoying I had to deduct a point despite my respecting and enjoying the movie.
The story is very tough to watch at times...and my wife had a hard time watching along with me. It is even worse when you realize that the story is based on fact...and the mental asylum was worse than any prison. Well made all around...just not particularly pleasant viewing.
This is actually the single worst movie I have ever watched!
mr-ladybug13 April 2019
Ok, so before I tell you how this film is a complete and utter failure let me tell you i have only given one other movie ever a 1 star review. it's extremely hard for me to believe a film should be rated 1 star, because most of the time there is at least ONE DECENT thing in a film, but not this, oh no .
Literally every single aspect of this movie is a complete failure, from the cinematography, to the visual effects, to the acting. I'm not joking, I literally can't find a single aspect of this movie I would even call bad. It's all worse then bad, I actually can't comprehend how a film could be made this poorly.
Acting: Okay, no one in this film can act, literally no one. Everyone seems like they're trying to hard especially the main actress whatever her name is, usually bad acting is caused by the actors not having a good script to work with, this indeed has a terrible script but the actors themselves are all terrible as well.
Cinematography: the cinematography in this movie literally makes me want to cry, half the shots are out of focus or over exposed. it's not like they didn't have good equipment, they had fairly spendy cameras they used on this project, but whoever was behind them had no idea what they were doing. the framing is awful, the lighting is awful, if they even had a focus puller they deserved to be fired. I almost forgot, they had good cameras and while watching the film I saw so many shots that looked like they were greenscreen, BUT NO. I watched a behind the scenes special, and most of those shots were actual physical locations, how incompetent can you be to make a real location look so bad a viewer thinks it's a green screen? I actually can't stress how terrible this aspect of the movie was.
Editing: The editing is horrific, not only is the pacing off on almost every single shot, it seems that the editor doesn't know how to edit even the smallest things. They never do anything right, they're cutting at the wrong moments, the dialogue was cut of in some points, someone is literally mid sentence and you changed scenes. There was no consistency with the editing, sometimes there was to many cuts in a scene, and someones they'd makes it all one shot when it made so sense. I really don't understand why they had so many close-ups when they had no need to, I feel like the editing was done in a really short period of time.
Script: I know they said "the script is based on books from the time" and a lot of the dialogue probably was. But the script itself was so so painfully bad, the pacing was all over the place, they used real dialogue from the time period and ruined it. If you want to watch a movie where they utilize a time periods speech style please go watch "the witch. In this film it seems as if a child wrote the script, not only was the pacing bad, but there was no sense of urgency or stress, in what should have been a very scary situation. and there are so many completely useless scenes in this films that make no sense and shouldn't have even made it into the final film. Please if you want to learn how to write a screenplay then watch this film, then do the exact opposite of everything you see, you'll be sure to create something great.
Score/soundtrack: i don't even want to talk about this, everything is so so incredibly awful sounding. I feel I might've given the movie a 2/10 if i watched it without the sound.
Visual effects: Please just stop me now, I actually do visual effects, and I can respect good VFX when it's done right. but this was terrible, the motion tracking was bad, all the green screening was bad, it looked like they literally downloaded a google image and put it into multiple shots. it actually pains me to see VFX work done this poorly.
Color: This is one of the ugliest looking films I've ever watched. The colorist that worked on this movie should watch a few more tutorials before working on another film. The whites are overblown (which a lot of the time is due to the camera work, but still) this film is so dark in some shots you literally can't see, and that wasn't supposed to happen, you were clearly supposed to be able to see whatever was happening. this whole movie looks incredibly flat.
Costume design: Everything looks like it was either bought in a costume shop or made by hand in less then half an hour, I don't even wanna talk about this anymore.
Well I'm just gonna end it at that, I could've gone on for a few hundred more lines but just thinking of this movie makes me furious. So in conclusion, I always try to give a fair rating to films, and even movies that I normally hate don't deserve a 1 star rating. but this is so bad I can't help it, before watching this I never thought a 1 star feature film released in theaters would exist. but oh was I wrong.
And one last note, on the creators website they wrote "Thank you to the academy for including 10 days in a madhouse in the 89th academy awards and to be CONSIDERED FOR AN OSCAR" please STOP LYING ON YOUR WEBSITE, no one in the academy would even consider giving your film a nomination. And please stop putting fake reviews to try and bump your numbers up. Seriously how sad can you be that people think your movie sucked that you create fake reviews? I actually can't understand that. Just take the criticism and and work on making your next film better.
Literally every single aspect of this movie is a complete failure, from the cinematography, to the visual effects, to the acting. I'm not joking, I literally can't find a single aspect of this movie I would even call bad. It's all worse then bad, I actually can't comprehend how a film could be made this poorly.
Acting: Okay, no one in this film can act, literally no one. Everyone seems like they're trying to hard especially the main actress whatever her name is, usually bad acting is caused by the actors not having a good script to work with, this indeed has a terrible script but the actors themselves are all terrible as well.
Cinematography: the cinematography in this movie literally makes me want to cry, half the shots are out of focus or over exposed. it's not like they didn't have good equipment, they had fairly spendy cameras they used on this project, but whoever was behind them had no idea what they were doing. the framing is awful, the lighting is awful, if they even had a focus puller they deserved to be fired. I almost forgot, they had good cameras and while watching the film I saw so many shots that looked like they were greenscreen, BUT NO. I watched a behind the scenes special, and most of those shots were actual physical locations, how incompetent can you be to make a real location look so bad a viewer thinks it's a green screen? I actually can't stress how terrible this aspect of the movie was.
Editing: The editing is horrific, not only is the pacing off on almost every single shot, it seems that the editor doesn't know how to edit even the smallest things. They never do anything right, they're cutting at the wrong moments, the dialogue was cut of in some points, someone is literally mid sentence and you changed scenes. There was no consistency with the editing, sometimes there was to many cuts in a scene, and someones they'd makes it all one shot when it made so sense. I really don't understand why they had so many close-ups when they had no need to, I feel like the editing was done in a really short period of time.
Script: I know they said "the script is based on books from the time" and a lot of the dialogue probably was. But the script itself was so so painfully bad, the pacing was all over the place, they used real dialogue from the time period and ruined it. If you want to watch a movie where they utilize a time periods speech style please go watch "the witch. In this film it seems as if a child wrote the script, not only was the pacing bad, but there was no sense of urgency or stress, in what should have been a very scary situation. and there are so many completely useless scenes in this films that make no sense and shouldn't have even made it into the final film. Please if you want to learn how to write a screenplay then watch this film, then do the exact opposite of everything you see, you'll be sure to create something great.
Score/soundtrack: i don't even want to talk about this, everything is so so incredibly awful sounding. I feel I might've given the movie a 2/10 if i watched it without the sound.
Visual effects: Please just stop me now, I actually do visual effects, and I can respect good VFX when it's done right. but this was terrible, the motion tracking was bad, all the green screening was bad, it looked like they literally downloaded a google image and put it into multiple shots. it actually pains me to see VFX work done this poorly.
Color: This is one of the ugliest looking films I've ever watched. The colorist that worked on this movie should watch a few more tutorials before working on another film. The whites are overblown (which a lot of the time is due to the camera work, but still) this film is so dark in some shots you literally can't see, and that wasn't supposed to happen, you were clearly supposed to be able to see whatever was happening. this whole movie looks incredibly flat.
Costume design: Everything looks like it was either bought in a costume shop or made by hand in less then half an hour, I don't even wanna talk about this anymore.
Well I'm just gonna end it at that, I could've gone on for a few hundred more lines but just thinking of this movie makes me furious. So in conclusion, I always try to give a fair rating to films, and even movies that I normally hate don't deserve a 1 star rating. but this is so bad I can't help it, before watching this I never thought a 1 star feature film released in theaters would exist. but oh was I wrong.
And one last note, on the creators website they wrote "Thank you to the academy for including 10 days in a madhouse in the 89th academy awards and to be CONSIDERED FOR AN OSCAR" please STOP LYING ON YOUR WEBSITE, no one in the academy would even consider giving your film a nomination. And please stop putting fake reviews to try and bump your numbers up. Seriously how sad can you be that people think your movie sucked that you create fake reviews? I actually can't understand that. Just take the criticism and and work on making your next film better.
Don't waste your time or money on this film. Read the book. Truly awful
michieleong2 September 2017
The book and true story was fascinating, so I was looking forward to seeing the movie. Within the first 5 minutes, you might be able to forgive what your watching, like I did, willing it to get better. Truth is it's not worthy of B movie comparison, nor made for TV movies. It's the most bizarre film I think I've ever attempted to watch. I couldn't watch it all, giving it 45 minutes to somehow improve...but it just got worse. The acting is worse than some am dram performances I've seen, cinematography, music, script, performances overall are so appallingly bad you can't quite believe what you're watching. If this film cost 12 million to make, then what a complete waste of money. Please don't waste your time. Read the book.
OK Movie: If You're Easy To Entertain
tdwillis-2627315 May 2017
I have watched many independent or B-movies. I have found that no matter how much money is at the disposal of the film makers, if they do not start out with a well written, well thought out screenplay....the film is doomed, no matter if every other department excels. The story here is interesting and unique and full of opportunities to deliver an outstanding cinematic experience but the screenplay fails to provide that important foundation. I did not like the voice over commentary of the female lead. She was speaking as if the experience was already over, as if she was reading parts of the article that she was to write after having been there. It would of been much more powerful, had they used the commentary to express her feelings about what she was going thru, as we witnessed it. Since in reality, just the visual performances were insufficient. And That's pretty hard to mess up, since the story/circumstances were placed in a great setting and full of experiences that would of made an audience very invested/involved and come to care deeply about the characters. Yet, it just failed to deliver that. Visually or verbally. The acting, was below average to amateurish. I didn't notice the score, and the editing was well done. The camera work sufficient. The plot a little slow and simple. The setting was good, the costumes (although not sure if accurate for period) seemed appropriate, and I did appreciate the manner of speech used as I understand it would be historically accurate. Problem with that accuracy tho, is that it only added to the detraction I already felt and kept me from really connecting with the characters. Bottom line, it all felt "aloof" to me. A great opportunity to share a part of history, that just dramatically missed the mark. Im hopeful that someone comes up with a well written screenplay based on this remarkable story and tries retelling this story again. This movie is OKAY. It wasn't a miserable and total fail...but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have nothing else to do, or you are particularly easy to entertain.
Inspiring Telling of Nellie Bly's Start in Journalism
alanonhelps24 November 2017
Nellie Bly had such class and vision. I really admire her. I just watched this on Amazon Prime and loved it. I felt the tension and struggles of the 1800's and just how oppressive it was to be a woman. The madhouse was very creepy and real. The story was very satisfying and the ending made me cry in a good way which is why I gave this movie 10 stars.
OMG ..... BAD!
revbudrussell12 February 2020
It's too bad there is not a rating less than one star. I thought I was watching a bunch of high school students performing their senior play. For heaven's sake --- READ THE BOOK! (So much better!) The story is worthy of a film, but this flick is an awful mess!
I really liked this film
MrBenNa7 December 2017
It's the first time that i want to write my opinion in a movie. When i started to watch the movie, i said to myself well,it's another great drama movie. After i finished watching the movie, i didn't even dare to shutdown my lap before writing a review.
10 Days in a Madhouse is simply the best drama movie of the year because the movie was terrific,the acting was mesmerizing and the plot was impressively perfect.
This movie was beyond anything I'd imagined it to be. I had heard some great stuff about it and decided to watch it and I'm so glad I did.Kids will have fun watching this movie and learn valuable morals. Adults, on the other hand, will immensely enjoy watching this movie, will appreciate it for what it truly is and will understand its realmeaning. This movie is just absolutely amazing, the best I've seen all year! Please watch it, you will not be disappointed.
10 Days in a Madhouse is simply the best drama movie of the year because the movie was terrific,the acting was mesmerizing and the plot was impressively perfect.
This movie was beyond anything I'd imagined it to be. I had heard some great stuff about it and decided to watch it and I'm so glad I did.Kids will have fun watching this movie and learn valuable morals. Adults, on the other hand, will immensely enjoy watching this movie, will appreciate it for what it truly is and will understand its realmeaning. This movie is just absolutely amazing, the best I've seen all year! Please watch it, you will not be disappointed.
Disappointing
Opinion0212228 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I found this movie to be a poorly done film about an interesting topic. I expected to see the cruelty and disregard for the human rights of the inmates. I expected to see the indifference of the hospital staff. All of that was nothing new. So, I was expecting a great script and acting, a new approach to the horrors of the asylum. I got none of that. And, I was constantly distracted by the terrible wig on the main character! The very least they could have done was to buy and fit the wig so that it LOOKED real.
The ways in which they had Nelly Bly speak back to the nurses and doctors suggested to me that she WAS crazy, or should I say the writer was crazy! No sane person, undercover in such a cruel place, would dare to speak up as Nellie did. She supposedly had no idea when, or if, she would eventually get out, and yet she continued to challenge the nurses and doctors. Did she have a death wish? Nonsense!
The history that was written at the end said that Nelly spend 8 days in the asylum. The way it was written it seemed like she was there for months!
The ways in which they had Nelly Bly speak back to the nurses and doctors suggested to me that she WAS crazy, or should I say the writer was crazy! No sane person, undercover in such a cruel place, would dare to speak up as Nellie did. She supposedly had no idea when, or if, she would eventually get out, and yet she continued to challenge the nurses and doctors. Did she have a death wish? Nonsense!
The history that was written at the end said that Nelly spend 8 days in the asylum. The way it was written it seemed like she was there for months!
watched due to book - movie terrible
keymaster-731-9156152 September 2017
The true story/book was my reason for watching, i think this movie must have had a minute budget, the acting was wooden and the scenes fake and ridiculous.
I cannot believe I wasted my time wanting this rubbish. How can such a well respected and factual book be represented into this awful representation,
I cannot believe I wasted my time wanting this rubbish. How can such a well respected and factual book be represented into this awful representation,
Bad acting and poor production
bjp2492491 March 2019
This movie could have been fantastic. Unfortunately for production, bad direction and horrible acting made a good story into a horrible movie. So disappointing. Didn't even recognize Kelly Lebrock as she has had so much plastic surgery.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
