Review of Madhouse (1974) by Brian B — 11 Oct 2008

This film is available as a double feature alongside Theater Of Blood, also with Vincent Price. That was a marketing mistake. The last thing anyone wants to see after a genuine chiller like T.O.B. is a dud like this.

It's really little more than slasher flick, and worse still, it's like a neutered slasher flick. It's a lot of implication and close-ups of the screaming mouth. I don't mind it in the old black and white films, which through the power of good light and shawdow balance, you could really make implication more terrifying.

But it's so held back in this film and color does not permit implication to be true terror. Another thing is the use of Price's old movies as the old movies of his character. It's that little in-joke filmakers do sometime.

You know what I thought it was? A list of movies you should see instead of this one. However, I will admit that the mystery of the identity of the killer is well set-up, with multiple plausible suspects, which keeps the more experienced mystery lovers (at least kind of) interested in how it turns out.

There's also a great piece of make-up work when Price is made-up to look like his co-start Peter Cushing. If a make-up person that good, you'd figure they could have utilized him or her more to create some really ghoulish looking effects.

What a waste.