"The Mansion of Madness" is a flawed but fun asylum horror film.
**SPOILERS**
In early 19th century France, Julien Couvier (Martin LaSalle) goes to see what he can learn from Dr Maillard, (Claudio Brook) renowned for his pioneering work with the insane. After being taken to see the doctor, they embark on a tour of the asylum complex as Maillard expounds on his methods, and is introduced to Maillard's daughter, Eugenie, (Ellen Sherman) who is told that she is afflicted by an increasingly erratic mania. Meeting with her in secret, he learns the truth, that Maillard is in fact the notorious bandit Raul Fragonard who came to see the real doctor seeking help then usurped his authority, assumed his identity and imprisoned him with some of his former charges. Trapped inside with the insane ruler, they race to overtake the asylum and restore the proper order within.
The News: This wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't that good either. This is attributed to it being too mannered, striving for weird and shock effect in the same manner, only both cancel each other out and leave the film with nothing much about it. The fact that there's so many different ideas at play, from the different dementia's of the inmates to the ceremonies performed, seems to be commenting on society's mad blind spots and rigid systems, but although it sometimes tries to tie these ideas together, mostly it's combination of things simply detract from what is thrown in, and oftentimes that doesn't amount to much. It feels more like a series of strange scenes, odd moments and surrealist visions of mad people doing weird things. The free-flowing narrative barely functions on anything resembling a rational level, despite the traditional Gothic source material. The film wanders from one surrealist setting to another with only the barest of connective tissue. The first half of this movie is incoherent. It takes quite a while before any kind of grasp can be made on a concrete narrative thread. This chunk of the film finds the hero on a tour of the sanitarium through the different rooms of the asylum. There await such characters as the Chicken Man and a weird high priestess. While this is effectively weird, none of this is terrifying, and it makes this part of the film hard to take in. It seemed to drag in some parts. Sure there were some crazy happenings but to much talking and not enough derangement. After it has been established that the lunatics have taken over the asylum, what function does a sequence with guy pretending to have sex with a sheep carcass really serve other than helping pad out the film? Even with a meandering story and a certain lack of forward momentum, the film does have so many striking images that it exerts an odd effect, almost like being mesmerized. It is able to establish a dreamlike feel that slowly seeps into the viewer and pulls you along. Most of this is taken up in the film's big sequence, where the ones in control hold an elaborate and quite impressive ritual to be held, only for the original prisoners to be set free and lead a revolt, which is a full-on action scene with tons to enjoy about it, from the action to the choreography to much more that is quite well handled and manages to be the film's highlight. The landscape here is impressive, leading to some really effective mood scene arising from the locales, with the scenery surprisingly giving away some of it's best scenes, including a couple of really twisted chase scenes and being, in general, quite fun overall. Several of the inmates are quite memorable, and there is a sense of them being actually disturbed, which is quite rare in these kinds of films. Normally, they seem crazy but are later revealed to genuinely be sympathetic and here it's revealed that they are crazy and insane, and that works much better. Otherwise, this one wasn't all that great, but it was halfway decent.
The Final Verdict: It's not the most exciting movie but if you can accept its quirks you'll find a thoughtful exercise in style. While there's other movies out there that can expose an interested viewer to these kinds of movies, this one is best left to completists only, as they will be the ones who find this flawed film enjoyable enough for repeat viewings.
Rated R: Nudity, Violence, a mild rape and some Language
**SPOILERS**
In early 19th century France, Julien Couvier (Martin LaSalle) goes to see what he can learn from Dr Maillard, (Claudio Brook) renowned for his pioneering work with the insane. After being taken to see the doctor, they embark on a tour of the asylum complex as Maillard expounds on his methods, and is introduced to Maillard's daughter, Eugenie, (Ellen Sherman) who is told that she is afflicted by an increasingly erratic mania. Meeting with her in secret, he learns the truth, that Maillard is in fact the notorious bandit Raul Fragonard who came to see the real doctor seeking help then usurped his authority, assumed his identity and imprisoned him with some of his former charges. Trapped inside with the insane ruler, they race to overtake the asylum and restore the proper order within.
The News: This wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't that good either. This is attributed to it being too mannered, striving for weird and shock effect in the same manner, only both cancel each other out and leave the film with nothing much about it. The fact that there's so many different ideas at play, from the different dementia's of the inmates to the ceremonies performed, seems to be commenting on society's mad blind spots and rigid systems, but although it sometimes tries to tie these ideas together, mostly it's combination of things simply detract from what is thrown in, and oftentimes that doesn't amount to much. It feels more like a series of strange scenes, odd moments and surrealist visions of mad people doing weird things. The free-flowing narrative barely functions on anything resembling a rational level, despite the traditional Gothic source material. The film wanders from one surrealist setting to another with only the barest of connective tissue. The first half of this movie is incoherent. It takes quite a while before any kind of grasp can be made on a concrete narrative thread. This chunk of the film finds the hero on a tour of the sanitarium through the different rooms of the asylum. There await such characters as the Chicken Man and a weird high priestess. While this is effectively weird, none of this is terrifying, and it makes this part of the film hard to take in. It seemed to drag in some parts. Sure there were some crazy happenings but to much talking and not enough derangement. After it has been established that the lunatics have taken over the asylum, what function does a sequence with guy pretending to have sex with a sheep carcass really serve other than helping pad out the film? Even with a meandering story and a certain lack of forward momentum, the film does have so many striking images that it exerts an odd effect, almost like being mesmerized. It is able to establish a dreamlike feel that slowly seeps into the viewer and pulls you along. Most of this is taken up in the film's big sequence, where the ones in control hold an elaborate and quite impressive ritual to be held, only for the original prisoners to be set free and lead a revolt, which is a full-on action scene with tons to enjoy about it, from the action to the choreography to much more that is quite well handled and manages to be the film's highlight. The landscape here is impressive, leading to some really effective mood scene arising from the locales, with the scenery surprisingly giving away some of it's best scenes, including a couple of really twisted chase scenes and being, in general, quite fun overall. Several of the inmates are quite memorable, and there is a sense of them being actually disturbed, which is quite rare in these kinds of films. Normally, they seem crazy but are later revealed to genuinely be sympathetic and here it's revealed that they are crazy and insane, and that works much better. Otherwise, this one wasn't all that great, but it was halfway decent.
The Final Verdict: It's not the most exciting movie but if you can accept its quirks you'll find a thoughtful exercise in style. While there's other movies out there that can expose an interested viewer to these kinds of movies, this one is best left to completists only, as they will be the ones who find this flawed film enjoyable enough for repeat viewings.
Rated R: Nudity, Violence, a mild rape and some Language