Madhouse (1981) ** (out of 4) Julia (Trish Everly) suffers from various mental issues due to the abuse that she suffered from her twin sister. Years later the sister is deformed with a skin virus but before their birthday someone shows up at Julia's school and begins killing her friends.Director Ovidio G. Assonitis will always be remembered for THE EXORCIST rip-off BEYOND THE DOOR as well as TENTACLES and to a lesser extent for firing James Cameron on PIRANHA PART TWO. Before he fired Cameron he was directing this film, a bizarre mix of American slasher and Italian giallo. I must admit that I wasn't overly familiar with the picture until Arrow Video announced its release and afterwards I'm a bit confused about what I watched.For the most part if you're a horror fan you'll want to check this film out, although it falls well short of what I'd consider a good movie. I'm really not sure what the film was trying to do other than to show off some gory death scenes every fifteen-minutes or so. The story itself is, I think, supposed to be some sort of mystery but it's pretty easy to figure out what the twist is going to be. With knowing the twist, that pretty much takes away any suspense or mystery. Another problem with the picture is the fact that the death scenes are so spread apart. It's too bad there either wasn't much more of a story or perhaps the body count jacked up.I thought Assonitis managed to create a nice setting and there's some nice cinematography as well. The film kept me mildly entertained through the first hour but things just really started to drag during the finale. I won't spoil who the killer is but I must say the murder of the killer is quite excellent. It's too bad the rest of the film wasn't as good. I did also enjoy the subplot dealing with the murderous dog. CUJO didn't have anything on this mutt! Again, MADHOUSE isn't a great movie or even a good one but there are enough interesting moments to make it worth sitting through.

This film is crying out for a remake and with today's special effects it could really make this as special as it should be. Though it's the story that writer and director Ovidio G Assonitis along with writers Stephen Blakely, Roberto Gandus, and Peter Shepherd crafted which needs better representation than this film was given, surprisingly enough from Assonitis, who's direction especially at the end turns this into a nearly unwatchable farce instead of a horrific psychological thriller.This is the tale of twin sisters, Julia who is played by Trish Everly (The Good Sister) and Mary Sullivan played by Allison Biggers (The Bad Sister). During their childhood, it was Mary who was the dominant sibling and tormented, teased, and tortured Julia whenever she could. This behaviour sent Mary to the psychiatric hospital where Julia chose to forget about her. After developing a severe skin disease Mary asks to see her twin and Julia grudgingly agrees, after some cajoling from their Uncle, Father James. The meeting goes as expected with Mary getting angry and attacking her sister while cursing her that she'll make her sorry. After she escapes the institution she and her faithful pet Doberman start to invite Julia's friends to their birthday party... by killing them.When the climax arrives and everything is revealed you will need to hold onto your sanity and accept the unbelievable in the incredulity of a twist which was only manufactured to shock. Though for spoiler reason's, I cannot say what this is, you won't and cannot miss it. If this twist had been written and filmed better than it would have made an otherwise okay and average movie better... and not worse, as it did.The acting is pretty standard and average until you get to the finale then you enter the lunatic and stupid, which I will put down to Assonitis' direction. Though I think Dennis Robertson as Father James should have won an Oscar for the "Most-Over-The-Top Acting Role In A Movie... EVER!" It is really gleefully bad.Assonitis also has trouble with pacing the film and this gives the work a disjointed feeling.However, the evil Doberman is the best thing in the film and some of the attack scenes are even better as they used a real dog as well as a prop set of jaws (which can look a little awful).I would only recommend this film to lovers of bad B-Movies but be warned you do need to stay to the finale to see the best scene.

Red herrings abound in this Video Nasty which was released around the same time as Happy Birthday To Me. They have similar endings and apparently it can't be agreed upon as to which film was released first and who stole from whom. Most people will probably prefer the better known Happy Birthday and will forget this film, but I found it to be one of the better Nasties.Aside from a bogus score, this slasher film is a semi-giallo(OK, not really except for maybe a few scant scenes and you have to pay attention) that has some good moments and, as you might expect, some decent gore. Trish Everly plays Julia, a woman approaching her 25th birthday and her nut case twin sister lives in the mental ward at the hospital. Their parents are dead and the only relative they have left is their uncle, a priest. And, as you'd expect, the director takes the high road and the priest is, of course, involved to some extent in the subsequent murders. Everly, who went on to do nothing after his film, lives in a large house that's been renovated into apartments, and various workers and inhabitants at the home get bumped off. She thinks her sister is planning something for their 25th birthday, and lo and behold, her sister escapes from the mental ward. Her sister, Mary, also has a trained Rottweiler who will kill on command. A surprisingly touching scene shows Julia explaining to the deaf students in her class how a fellow deaf student was killed by the dog. These are real deaf children with varying degrees of speech impediments and other problems, and it brings a tear to my eye. Sniff. But, I digress. Back to the murders. There are actually three killers in this film: two humans and the dog. As others have noted, the dog is the star of the show as he bites throats and rips off hands. Sadly, an obvious puppet is used too often during these scenes as the director obviously didn't know how to handle animal shots.Julia herself is even a suspect, though not outright to the other characters, but to the viewers; her comments in certain scenes make her an unreliable narrator of her past. Be warned if you are an animal or puppet lover: the Rottweiler gets his due towards the end of the film. This is one of the reasons the film made "the list" though there are a few other scenes, such as repeated blows to the back from an axe later on with plenty of chunky goodness to go around.As previously stated, this Video Nasty is some of the better fare on the notorious list and I'll recommend it as a Nasty fan. The film's greatest flaw is the abominable soundtrack. I am rather surprised that Everly never made any other films.

There was a Little Girl, or Madhouse as it was called in the UK where it gained some notoriety by being placed on the 'Video Nasty' list in the early eighties, starts with a dream sequence in which a little girl bashes another little girls head in with a rock, I don't really know why to be honest. Then we, the viewer that is, are informed with an on screen caption that it's 'thursday November 9 five days before julia's birthday'. Julia Sullivan (Trish Everly) works in a school teaching deaf children, her 25th (yeah right!) birthday is fast approaching & her Uncle Father James (Dennis Robertson) has recently contacted her about visiting her sister Mary (Allison Biggers) who is in hospital having had 7 years of almost being totally cut-off from each other. Julia agrees, however Father James warns her that Mary has been suffering from a virus which has left her deformed. As Julia approaches Mary's bed Mary grabs her arm & warns Julia that she will get out & make her suffer the way she has, upset Julia runs away. That night a security guard (Joe Camp) is attacked & killed by a vicious dog & Mary makes her escape. It's now 'friday November 7 four days before julia's birthday' & the maintenance man Mr. Kimura (Jerry Fujikawa) in Julia's apartment building is murdered by Mary. It seems that Mary is planning a very special 25th birthday party for Julia, one she will never forget if she survives it...This Italian produced film was co-written, co-produced & directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis & I thought There Was a Little Girl was a decent enough time waster that provided a certain entertainment value. The script by Assonitis, Stephen Blakely, Fobert Gandus & Peter shepherd is a little slow at times but if you persevere with it through to the end then it serves up a decent twist climax & some fairly good murder set-pieces. I think the twist was revealed a bit early at just before the hour mark but it makes for a good last third regardless. There isn't a whole lot of reasoning behind the events of There Was a Little Girl but I didn't mind that much & just went along with it. The characters are OK & I was glad there weren't any teenagers in it, There Was a Little Girl uses the Halloween (1978) & Friday the 13th (1980) clichéd slasher formula but at least tries to do something a bit different with it & it succeeds up to a point. Director Assonitis manages to make a very competent & technically very good film with some memorable & atmospheric lighting & cinematography especially at Julia's special birthday party which rounds the film off, having said that bear in mind that I have the UK DVD which is in widescreen & has a great picture so I am basing my opinion on this viewing rather than an ancient grainy fullscreen VHS tape. There are some good kills in There Was a Little Girl too & filmed with a certain style, someone has their hand chewed off by the evil dog & their throat bitten out, others are attacked by the dog & also have their throats torn out, there's some stabbings using a kitchen knife & the dog eventually gets it's comeuppance when the hero uses an electric drill to make a hole in it's head... The acting is solid if not exactly spectacular, in fact that sums the whole film up quite well solid but not spectacular. Oh, there is no way on Earth that Trish Everly who makes for an attractive heroine was 25 when she made this, she was in her 30's at least! Overall I enjoyed it as a one time watch, I don't think I will be in any hurry to see it again but I have positive thoughts about it which must mean I liked it in spite of the slow pace at times. Definitely worth a watch for horror fans & anyone interested in murder mystery films, I must admit I didn't see the twist coming. I liked it, give it a go if you can find a copy.