Sunday 8 December 2019

Madhouse (1974 Jim Clark)

Screenplay Ken Levison, Greg Morrison, novel Angus Hall.

Lots of clips of old Roger Corman Price films, many at the wrong aspect ratio. All the pretty young girls get bumped off... I would have left one alive, the useful production girl, who keeps being useful. Come on...

It was being re-written as they shot it. Jim called it 'a dreadful movie'.

It's amusing that Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry are all ex-horror alumni, and Cushing in ghoulish makeup, but behaving very normally, is funny. I have a lot of time for Cushing.

It knows it's funny, I hope... For example, the couple who keep waiting outside the house for £10,000.. very funny... and then both stabbed with the same sword at once!

The gore was toned down - thus the beheaded body - no blood at all. It's an 18. Why? Why? Milton Subotsky was the real problem, meddling constantly, rewriting, throwing the story away.. 'Using some of the foulest language I've ever heard, Vincent told Milton he didn't know anything about character or construction and the entire crew were aghast at this display that went on for half an hour, after which Milton limped away like a whipped puppy and restored the scenes he'd cut from our script. Vincent actually apologised to the continuity girl for using such language in front of her.' ('Dream Repairman'.)

I enjoyed it, anyway. We almost watched either Nebraska or Only Angels Have Wings. Though we did have to watch the ending twice, and still didn't get it.



With Adrienne Corri, Michael Parkinson and Natasha Pyne who, above, gives the best performance as a dead person.

Working title - 'The Return of Dr Death' - is crap, but way better than 'Madhouse'. Original novel title 'Devilday' isn't up to much either.

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