Quaint Mystery-Horror -- Madhouse (2004)

→ in
Tools    





This is certainly no "A-class" movie but it isn't a B-movie either. Its a watchable movie that has a very well designed plot and knows how to disguise the truth even though "its right before your eyes".

I almost didn't watch it because of the way the very beginning rolled out but after that things really shaped up well and I could see there was some quality to the move, including a strong performance from Lance Henriksen.

The farther this movie goes the deeper the plot gets and if you like "whodunits" and don't mind less than "Hollywood A" movies, this will be a great watch -- the ending makes it worth the effort.

Once I get my 25 posts in, I will make a "All horror fans must see these films" list, linking to all the trailers. It was funny because on another forum on which I am a Moderator, the site founder made a movie post (which is not related to the forum) and I ended up dumping my favorite films in that thread, right before the big famous movie site went down. Amazing how that happened...



I always thought this film looked really crap and have given it a wide berth.. especially considering there has been a lot of straight to DVD horror films with Lance Henriksen that have been so piss poor.. even though I like the guy and for a while I'd watch almost anything he would do, I realised he was the only selling point for really dire movies often with him centre stage on the cover but in reality only has a small part.. like okay guys we made this rubbish film, lets see if we can get Lance to film a couple of scenes so we might sell a few hundred copies and make some bucks



Right, I know of a couple of actors exactly like that. Where if I see them in the movie, its pretty much because the movie sucks. I didn't know Lance was one of those.

The reason I posted it is because if you are like me, you have seen alot of movies and when we find one that isn't utter rubbish and has some redeeming value, we want to let other people know.

I really enjoyed the plot on this one and it made alot of sense from beginning to end. I dunno, I am more of an intellectual horror fan and so where alot of people need "A-Hollywod" material to even watch it, I am more into the mental experience of the story that is being told. If the movie is decent enough to allow me to watch it, I then rate it based on my experience.

What more can I say? Is this the best movie I have ever seen? Not even close. Did I enjoy how the plot surprised me and thought it was clever? I did.

I have learned that each person experiences movies in their own unique way and two people can view a movie and genuinely express completely opposite opinions and you know what I have finally realized? Everybody is right.

I'll give you an excellent example. I am a massive fan of the movie Surveillance (2008). Its actually in my all time favorites list. i have watched it three times which is pretty good for me (EDIT: 4 times now). There are people that HET that movie and think its like one of the lamest movies they have ever seen. Not me and I am not ashamed to say so.