Synopsis: A woman is pursued by her murderous, psychopathic identical twin sister in the days leading up to their birthday,
In Madhouse, Julia Sullivan (Trish Everly) is a teacher at a school for deaf children. She has a successful doctor boyfriend. Seems like everything is going well but there’s a darkside to this. For years she has battled mental issues caused by the abuse inflicted on her at the hand of her twin sister. Now, that sister who is suffering from a skin virus causing her to be deformed and deranged is back in her life making threats leading up to their birthday. As the day draws closer, the people around Julia are slowly being killed off by a mysterious gloved person.
This flick is an Italian cult slasher touted as being “Banned overseas”. It was part of the Video Nasties list of the early 80’s due to a few choice scenes involving a killer Cujo-esque dog meeting a hand drill and an axe turning a person’s back into hamburger. I never really dug into the Video Nasties list so I figured now would be an ideal time to dip my toe in. I regret that decision.
I’m not really sure what I expected from a director that is known for ripping off The Exorcist with Beyond the Door (1974). The story itself is kind of interesting and the parts that drag are propped up by a subplot involving a murderous dog. The twist is telegraphed and the seasoned genre viewer will probably be able to figure it out in the first 20 minutes or so. There is one irritating, slightly offensive character whose on-screen death was celebrated by me though. I’m looking at you Mr. Kimura. Really the only reason for viewing this is the two gory death scenes that got it banned in the first place and even those aren’t really worth the time. There might be a few out there that consider this a classic but I don’t fall into that category. Hey, they can’t all be winners, right?
Now, I can’t in good conscience recommend this one but if you really feel the need, it can currently be streamed on Tubi.
Join me again tomorrow and hopefully, we can find some hidden gems as we continue this strange little journey down the horror rabbit hole.
