When it comes to horror films, slashers in particular, there was one country that was churning them out nearly as fast as the US in their heyday of the 80s. Italian cinema at the time was rife with movies of this sort with directors like Dario Argento taking the lead but there were more as well. One of them was Ovidio Assonitis who produced more films than he directed but left his mark on the horror genre. Having directed BEYOND THE DOOR and TENTACLES his next film was this one, MADHOUSE.Julia (Trish Everly) is a teacher in a school for deaf children, a much loved member of the staff and a woman who cares for those in her charge. As she nears her birthday she has a sense of dread due to the memories of her childhood with her sister Mary (Allison Biggers). Her fears pan out when it turns out her sister, long held captive in a mental hospital, has escaped. Having tormented her sister in their childhood she now has plans for Julia on her upcoming birthday and they don't involve heartfelt gifts.Only a friendly Catholic priest, Father James (Dennis Robertson), has spent much time with Mary. He offers Julia hope that nothing bad will come of her escape and does his best to calm her. But then Julia's neighbors begin getting killed, attacked by a mad Rottweiler. So does her most favored student. As the body count begins to rise we begin to wonder, is Mary responsible for the murders or is it all in Julia's head? A final birthday party does indeed take place and the usual mayhem ensues. The blood flows freely and the solution to our question is answered.The movie is an interesting film but moves slowly at first. Gorehounds will be slightly disappointed that the body count doesn't involve more bloodshed early on but if they stick around to the end they'll get their fill. The movie relies more on suspense than flat out gore and for me that makes it a more interesting picture.The movie was released in 1981, the same year the more famous HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME came out, a movie with similar themes. It is impossible to tell which began with those themes but the pair make an interesting look at how they were handled by two different sets of film makers. They might make a great double feature to run on someone's birthday if they love horror films.Arrow Video has done their usual bang up job here with a tremendous looking 2k transfer of the film. Extras include a brand new audio commentary track with The Hysteria Continues, new interviews with the cast and crew, alternate opening titles, the theatrical trailer and a reversible sleeve featuring new artwork by Marc Schoenbach.Fans of Italian films will want to pick this one up but my guess is it will be the horror fan that gets more from this release. It's a solid film that will keep you guessing until near the end and entertain from start to finish.

Julia (Trish Everly), a disturbed young woman haunted by memories of her abusive and mentally ill twin sister Mary (Allison Biggers), works with blind children near her Savannah home. She learns from her uncle, Father James (Dennis Robertson), that her sister is suffering from a rare skin disease that is killing her, and is persuaded to go and see her for the first time in years. While there, Julia is attacked and abused by Mary who threatens that she is going the kill her. Mary does escape, and Julia finds her friends and co-workers being murdered and mauled by a killer dog that is very similar to the one Mary had when they both children.Added to the Video Nasty list due to some rather gruesome scenes, Madhouse does stand out amongst the others due to its apparent higher- than-you-would-expect budget. I assume this due to the pretty nice cinematography, which makes full use of its sets and features some effective colour patterns. The scenes where Julia is followed through her seemingly gigantic house, almost evokes the likes of Polanski (due to the claustrophobic indoor locations) and Argento (characters running through endless corridors and doors building suspense). Sadly, Madhouse generates little of the actual atmosphere conjured up by these two geniuses and these scenes eventually becomes slightly tedious.Although it looks like a John Carpenter, it is at its heart a by-the- numbers slasher that follows traditions and clichés seen a thousand times. The main appeal is the play on the killer - here being a colossal Rottweiler rather than a man in a mask. This provides the opportunity for some nasty throat removals that feature plenty of blood, but a rather unconvincing fake dog being shaken above the screaming body. The rather macabre climax almost rescues the film, but then descends into a frustratingly slow stalk-and-slash. The fact that its a bit of a slow- burner makes a nice change from usual set-piece-heavy horrors, but horror fans would do good sticking to Argento, Bava and Fulci for their operatic slashers.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Julia, a teacher in a school for the deaf, has a hideously deformed and deranged twin sister that resides in the local loony bin. She escapes to gate-crash a surprise birthday party for Julia. Sort of like "Halloween", but not exactly. This is more like the left-handed, red-headed little step-cousin through marriage. That is to say, a much lesser breed. (Some have gone so far as to call it a ripoff of "Happy Birthday to Me", but that is unfair.)In the world of Italian horror, the name Ovidio G. Assonitis doesn't get floated around much. I mean, did you ever see the "Jaws" ripoff "Tentacles"? The one where Shelley Winters wears the giant hat? If you have seen one of Assonitis' films, it was most likely one of these two. And even then, it was probably on accident unless you searched "Madhouse" out for being on the Video Nasties list.Critic Jim Harper's analysis of this film is well-stated. Harper describes the film, aside from the notorious dog scene (which is not as shocking as you may think), as "not quite so interesting". He deems that the movie "can't be considered a total failure", which is a bit of a forced compliment. Really, the plot is not much to work with, and the only thing that distinguishes this film from other Italian films of the same period is the superior video quality (which looked great in 2008 and looks even better in 2017 thanks to the Arrow 2K restoration).Harper understates the score of Riz Ortolani as "annoying". While annoying is an accurate summary, this doesn't really highlight the full extent of its inanity. What you will hear is an odd group of space sounds that would fit perfectly on an Atari game, such as "Asteroids", but has no place in a movie of this kind -- or maybe any kind. What is called "music" is little more than sound effects poorly strung together. This is a shame as Riz Ortolani was also the composer of "Mondo Cane" and "Cannibal Holocaust", among many others, so he can clearly do better.Fans and collectors of Italian horror or slashers will take delight in watching this one. Yes, it is poorly scripted, low budget and comes with minimal plot. But, frankly, this is something that makes the slasher film enjoyable. If this is what you're looking for, give "Madhouse" (or "There Was a Little Girl", as it is sometimes called) a try. If you're looking for superior horror fare or a positive introduction to Italian horror, this is not it. Try some Fulci or Argento from this period first.The Arrow Blu-ray features audio commentary with Justin Kerswell, author of "The Slasher Movie Book", and his friends. We have a new interview with actress Edith Ivey (who recounts the way the director had to direct through an interpreter). There is also a new 18-minute interview with cinematographer Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli, who may perhaps be the one who knew the director best. And, surprise, a brief interview with Ovidio Assonitis himself (and his English is actually very good). The only thing missing is a chat with the lead actress (Trish Everly), who never appeared in anything else before or since. Where is she?

And so the Video Nasty train that I'm on arrived here, at the MADHOUSE. And it's proved to be quite a scenic stop. In the context of Video Nastydom, it's a shock when you come across a title from the list of thirty-nine which mobilises production values as high as this one does. By any standards, this 1981 Italian psych-horror flick (though shot and set in America) is a film of remarkable aesthetic beauty. The widescreen photography is crystalline, the framing immaculate and Riz Ortolani's 'Cannibal Holocaust'ish score is well used. Ostensibly, this film could almost give Video Nasties a good name. The 'madness' is that it was banned in the first place. There are several scenes of strong gore that leap out, including the best dog attack scene since Suspiria, but for the most part this is a serene, slowly tense film, with a heroine who teaches deaf children. In keeping with the production values of this film, the school for the deaf children is sensitively and authentically portrayed.Reading all this is potentially enough to make you forget that this is supposed to be a horror film. A horror film about identical twin sisters, one good - the teacher of deaf children, Julia, played by gorgeous Trish Everly - and one BAD! The bad one's in the local madhouse-cum- hospital, felled by multiple diseases and physically deformative medical problems, but she wants out for her birthday to wreak vengeance on the good sis. Her main tool of violence is one of the worst dogs in cinema history, a trained rottweiler who just loves tearing out human throats. If you're dog phobic in general, this is probably a bad film to see. Everything's suspenseful and well acted for the first half of the film, but some extremely odd developments and pacing in the second half (a completely minor character being stalked by a villain turns out to be the longest setpiece in the film - stuff like that) drag proceedings down somewhat. This makes Madhouse less satisfying overall than I'd expected, but it definitely has enough fine qualities that I still think of it with a degree of favour. It's also nifty that the gory moments, as spaced apart as they are, are very gory.Note that Film 2000's DVD edition of this film has exceptional picture quality but godawful sound.