Madhouse (1981)
Cast:  Trish Everly, Michael Macrae, Dennis Robertson, Morgan Hart
Director: Ovidio Assonitis
Nutshell: Nice sister tries to bury the hatchet with evil twin, but things spiral from bad to worse and then some.


Charming Julia spends much of her time helping young children with disabilities at school. A kind and noble woman, she suffers from traumatic memories of her evil twin sister, who tormented her in the past and is now suffering from a flesh-deteriorating disorder in a hospital ward. She takes the step of trying to bury the hatchet with her struggling sister but doesn't count on her being as nasty and threatening as ever. Despite her ailing condition, Mary spews the same hatred as before and issues threats to a stunned and horrified Julia, who beats a hasty retreat.

Disturbing news follows when the hospital reports that the psychotic Mary has escaped and they have no idea where she might be. In her apartment, Julia starts to sense that she is being watched and, worse still, that she is not alone. Terrible memories of Mary tormenting her with her ferocious Rottweiler haunt Julia as she tries to retain her poise and carry on at work.

Not long after, tragedy strikes as a dog, seemingly the same one Mary used to have, is seen stalking and attacking various people, including a young boy who was one of Julia's students. Julia is convinced that her mad sister is now prowling about with her dog and is responsible for these sudden deaths. As Julia's 25th birthday draws closer, the body count mounts and the Rottweiler continues to attack people known to her savagely. Father James, the benign priest from the school, seems unfazed by the mounting terror, while Julia is on edge, convinced something terrible is stirring and that it is connected to her evil twin sister.

Gradually, the horrors reach a climax on Julia's birthday, culminating in a spectacular bloodbath.

It's all rather pedestrian, and the BBFC did the film a favour by attracting attention to it when they added it to the list of Video Nasties of the early 1980s. This helped the film gain some notoriety when it seemed to be falling through the cracks and fading away, largely ignored by punters. The Video Nasties label encouraged people to give the film a go and added considerably to its allure. Initially, the censors demanded cuts to the nasty gore during the dog attack scenes, while an axing was also trimmed. The highlight of the film comes when the poor Rottweiler gets its comeuppance with a Black & Decker drill machine. The poor mutt is lobotomised, with bits of its brain splattering all over the place in the most horrendous manner.

The film was meant to be a cash-in on the post-Halloween slasher movie craze, but it didn't make much of an impact. Years later, when the Video Nasties hysteria had subsided, and the film resurfaced on home video, most viewers wondered what all the fuss had been about! The film ends with shades of Happy Birthday to Me, which is hardly a lofty recommendation, and ultimately underwhelms. What remains most amazing is the insane hysteria surrounding the Video Nasties list. All it really did was immortalise some very dubious, unmemorable films and give them an audience they never deserved.

Regardless, the name Ovidio Assonitis—or Oliver Hellman—is always worth a look, especially after the resounding success of Devil Within Her, AKA Beyond the Door, and the enormous success it generated. Add to that being sued by Warner Brothers for plagiarism, and the film will always enjoy a certain legendary status.

Madhouse breathes the same air as Assonitis's other exploitation efforts, but it doesn't get the pulse going as hoped. Still, it's certainly one to check out for hardcore genre addicts, as well as those who boast about how many films they have managed to survive from the Video Nasties list.

The acting is ropey at best, but the use of syn-drums on the soundtrack is nothing short of intriguing. Ultimately, it is the Rottweiler who walks away with the honours.