Madhouse (2004)

"OH my God! You're filthy!!!!"

Genre: Horror Thriller

Starring: Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project), Jordan Ladd (Grindhouse; Cabin Fever)

Directed By: William Butler

Overview: A fresh out of school mental health student does his first internship in a difficult psychiatric hospital. When it's discovered that the old Asylum has a vivid haunting history, our student ventures into an investigation of horrific proportions.

Acting: This is the sort of movie where you expect the caliber of acting that you get. In the semi-classic nut-house horror, you don't expect much, and that's what you get, with Lance Henrickson (Aliens' Bishop) as a nice surprise. Why he's recently taken on these less than good movies of late, I don't know, but he elevates the caliber. Sadly, in this one, he's no Samson capable of holding up this crumbling Madhouse.
Rating: 6

Cinematography: The images? Sometimes spooky, really, and the cutscenes are actually pretty gory and add to the theme of bloody mess (though not really madness). The gore is nice and the look of the hospital, though not as immersive as it could have been, was decent, especially the "old section" of the hospital, which is really just a dungeon for the REAL crazies.
Rating: 7

Script: There were some pretty tragically shitty lines, admittedly. One scene where one of the doctors is making a sandwich alone has him streaming a constant monologue of such things as "Mmm, ham, just what the doctor ordered", then talking to himself about the sandwich he's making in the blatantly obvious kill scene. That sort of cheesy dialogue might cut it for cult classics, but ugh...
Rating: 5

Plot: The unoriginal twists and turns are what make this film truly suffer. No it's not completely predictable, but each scene's beginning made the rest of the moment obvious. I was thinking things like "Oh the crazy go get info from the mysterious patient scene" the whole way through. All in all, the story wasn't that well thought out. At least the end was semi-decent.
Rating: 4

Mood: The mood, not so much. Between the overzealous stereotypical insanities and the predictable stalker fare, I really wasn't drawn into the film all that much. Chalk it up to another free 'On Demand' Halloween Horror. Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting what I pay for...Still better good than bad...semi-decent.
Rating: 4

"OOooOOO! Evil child silhouette! How Terrifying!!!!"

Overall Rating: 52% (I Guess I Was Mad To See This)

Aftertaste: The free movie. Hell, it's free, I can't really complain all that much. It's not like I felt it was a real loss, just not a movie I'd ever recommend, yet another for the "Seen It" pile. Don't bother kids.