MADHOUSE aka There Was a Little Girl

(Ovidio G. Assonitis, 1981)


Madhouse begins with a bang as a little girl bashes in her twin sister's face with a rock to a rather disturbing rendition of Rock-a-Bye Baby. Years later, Julia (the rock-happy one) has become a teacher at a school for deaf children. Her now deformed and insane sister Mary, however, has been locked in a psych ward since the incident.

Only a few days before their birthday, their uncle, Father James, approaches Julia with the idea of visiting her sister in the ward. Though apprehensive initially, Julia does so, only to be scared away. It's revealed that on past birthdays, Mary would hunt down Julia with her vicious, massive dog, and burn the poor girl with matches. No wonder she got her face bashed in! That same night, Mary escapes the ward. With her dog in tow, she starts offing Julia's friends so as to prepare a surprise birthday party for her sister.

Made in 1981, the same year as Canadian horror film Happy Birthday To Me, Madhouse soon found itself added to the infamous Video Nasties list in Britain, and for good reason. It's a gory and somewhat shocking film, depicting acts of violence against children, animals, and all around good-natured characters.

Regardless of it's body count and small budget, Madhouse is an exceptionally stylish horror film. First and foremost is the lighting, or lack thereof. With the exception of the outdoor scenes, everything is bathed in shadow and light is used only to highlight certain objects and passages. The soundtrack by Riz Ortolani bounces between bizarre synthesizer effects and childrens' music, adding another dimension to the already ominous shots. I recommend this title, as it's a fine example of 80's Italian horror that actually works. Buy it here.

THE VISITOR

(Ovidio G. Assonitis, 1979)

With a storyline that borrows from films such as The Birds, The Omen, and Carrie, The Visitor is terribly confusing! Ovidio's eye for bizarre imagery and clever editing are what set this title apart from its ilk.

Katy Collins is a young girl gifted with telekinetic powers, which she uses primarily out of greed or ego. Katy's mother is targeted by both a shady organization intent on having her produce another gifted child, and Katy herself when she learns of this design. An old man is sent from a distant world to Earth to convince Katy to follow the path of the righteous (by giving her a gun for her birthday, with which she shoots her mother???), but she proves more than resistant to the notion.

As mentioned, The Visitor makes little to no sense. Characters at one moment appear to be evil, then are later revealed to actually be good despite having done bad things. Characters' motives are never clearly explained, and the unfolding of events are far removed from reality. The acting is wonderfully overdone by the likes of Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, and Shelley *yes, SHELLEY* Winters!

I reiterate, The Visitor is an oddly beautiful film, somewhat in the vein of Dario Argento's Inferno in that it makes no sense but is interesting to watch. The music is also strangely inappropriate in most scenes, which only adds to the general weirdness of the proceedings. I'd not recommend this for newer viewers as it's really more of a science fiction film with bits of horror thrown in. Experienced viewers will find many a nugget of corny goodness herein! Buy it here.

BEYOND THE DOOR

(Ovidio G Assonitis & Robert Barrett, 1974)



What can I say? In what other Exorcist "tribute" do you get a Blaxploitation soundtrack, the creepy kid from Shock, a guy playing the flute with his nose, AND Gabriele Lavia with a mustache? Kinda like Pink Flamingos, but with puke instead of dog shit. That doesn't mean it doesn't stink though!



Brit actress Juliet Mills stars as Jessica, a mother of two (with one on the way) who escapes from her first husband Dimitri, a sleaze who promised their unborn child to Satan. When Jessica gets away, ol' Satan himself gets all in a huff and decides to force Dimitri's car off a cliff. He strikes a bargain with Dimitri: find the baby before it's born and he can live.



Meanwhile, Jessica and co. are settling in with her new guy Robert (Gabriele Lavia). Robert's quite the card, what with being a big-time music producer with a big-time 'stache who seems irritated by music of any sort. His obsession with fish is also alarming, but is cut short when Jessica flips out and throws an ashtray through his aquarium. This incident is just the first of many DIABOLICAL ACTS! Watch as Jessica picks a banana peel off the sidewalk and starts eating it! Oh, the sin! She also floats out the door at night, gets a serious frog in her throat, and pukes up blood (after which Robert asks her "Do you feel better now?")



The kids aren't safe either. Their chair rocks at night, and the boy gets bruises on his neck (probably Jessica giving him another overly long goodnight kiss - it's seriously inappropriate when she does!) In the only semi-creepy sequence in the film, the kids' toys and dolls start creeping about- a fact that doesn't seem to alarm them until the floor starts to quake! Oh ya, what happens next? Lots of vulgar language, spewing of green shit, and head-spinning. And then one of the most *tasteless* and abrupt endings in Italo Horror history (up until 1974, that is!)



The story was obviously "inspired" by the Exorcist, with a few changes here and there. It's as if the directors knew they couldn't remake The Exorcist entirely, so they created another back-story as an excuse to show the same antics. Apparently it was quite successful when it was released, but due to copyright violations the producers had to pay Warner Bros a good chunk of the proceeds. Technically speaking, it's a well-made film with creative, atmospheric lighting, design, and camerawork. The soundtrack, as previously mentioned, is funky in the extreme. The dialogue, ridiculous as it is, is overshadowed by some truly cringe-inducing overdubs, the kid's voices being the worst of the lot. Yup, lotsa laughs on board THIS sinking ship! All in all, it's one of the better rip-offs.



Buy It

AMOK TRAIN aka Beyond the Door 3

(Jeff Kwitny, 1989)



I haven't much to say about this movie. I didn't really love it, but can't say I was ever bored watching it. I've only seen it twice, so maybe a few more viewings will open some of its hidden doors!



The story is fairly simple. A group of young Americans take a class trip to Serbia to witness some of the local rituals. One of the girls (Beverley, the one with the evil birthmark) has been chosen by the villagers to bear the child of Satan. The classmates escape the villagers' failed attempt to burn them all to death by hopping aboard a passing train. Little do they know that Satan himself has possessed the train! Soon they are running-er...wandering about the train FOR THEIR LIVES!



I know, it sounds promising, right? Or am I all alone here? Amok Train features some impressively gory deaths, but they seem to make little sense. The characters are all quite drab and annoying, and the soundtrack is not very memorable. The story also borrows elements from Carpenter's far superior Prince of Darkness. Still, the film moves at a brisk pace (for a movie about a killer train) and is amusing if only for the cheese value. Buy it later, as it's more of an example of how Americanized Italian horror had become by the end of the 80's than a true representation of classic Italian horror.



Buy It