A Mansão da Loucura

I kinda like this bizarre Mexican flick which was a mix of "Hearts of Darkness" and "The Island of Dr. Moreau". Anyone familiar with these types of movies made south of the border in the seventies know that coherent plots are not to be expected. Gaston LeBlanc has come to witness the revolutionary treatments of Dr. Maillard in his spacious sanitarium. When he is introduced to the Doctor and his lovely niece Eugenie he is taken on a tour which begin an array of odd encounters with the patients who seem to roam free. As Gaston beholds the increasingly eccentric methods of Maillard's "soothing system" he begins to question the mental stability of the doctor. Chicken Man would of had me running out the front door long ago but I guess that's just me. After one of the Doctor's religious ceremonies involving Eugenie almost comes to a murderous end if not for Gaston's intervention she is taken away for punishment which for what he's witness can be just about anything. Gaston saves Eugenie, whom he has fallen for, and she tells him that Maillard is actually an escaped convict named Fragonard who led a revolt by the inmates imprisoning the real Dr. Maillard and his staff. With Fragonard's system for controlling anyone he sets out for, what else, world domination!

I can see how "Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon" can turn people off. If you are expecting a gory exploitation/torture horror film you will be sadly disappointed. This is actually more of a comedy than anything as the sheer lunacy of some of the scenes inspire some serious laughs. Claudio Brook as Maillard/Fragonard is especially entertaining as his rantings and constant cackling convinced me that nobody is more crazy in this asylum than him. It does have some slow moments when the dialogue gets a little to wordy for me but the occasional pair of naked breasts made up for that. I don't know what director Juan Lopez Moctezuma's fascination with bird people was but he definitely had an ample amount in this movie. Not everyone's cup of tea but nonetheless a movie that kept me entertained for most of its 82 minute run time which is a lot more than I can say for most of the other titles in this "Chilling Classics" collection. Give it a shot.

Not as much a horror movie as the (real cool) Magnum video case lets on, it can be pretty scary and disturbing. Kind of like Gilliam's Baron Munchausen crossed with Fellini Satyricon crossed with any movie where the inmates run the asylum. I'd say it had a pretty high budget and a large cast. I figured it would be some Al Adamson type of film in a cardboard dungeon. Well the atmosphere is great and the shots are cool and very European. Based on a Poe story so the concepts and dialogue are pretty memorable. There are really creative sets and props I never would expect to see. I wonder why more people have not heard of it?

I've waited a long time to see DR TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON and after I watched it, I was really disappointed by it. It's not the Baroque film I expected it to be. The trailer (which I saw on a Something Weird DVD) is much better than the entire film, which is remarkably forgettable. There are almost no stand out scenes in it and the look and feel is interesting but it doesn't even come close to other Baroque styled movies out there, from Fellini or Jodorowsky. The characters are dull and there's almost nothing dramatic going on, even though we see rape, crucifixion, insanity, etc.

The main problem with DR TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON was the fact that it was a talk-a-thon more than anything else. It was almost like watching a book. I just wanted the film to have moments of silence or mood or something, instead we see/listen to the main characters chit-chat endlessly about dull stuff.

A missed opportunity.

It was the grisly demon-possession flick "Alucarda" (1978) that first made me aware of the talents of the late, underrated Mexican director Juan L. Moctezuma. Anxious to see more, I popped in the DVD for Moctezuma's first film, 1973's "The Mansion of Madness" (also, fortunately, on the Mondo Macabro label), and was pleased to discover that it is another winner, although much less disturbing and intense a horror outing than "Alucarda." The film nicely captures and expands Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 short story "The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether" (one of many that Roger Corman never got around to adapting!), and shows what can happen when the inmates of a madhouse literally take over the asylum. In the film, we make the acquaintance of a young man named Gaston Leblanc who has recently graduated from journalism school in 19th century America, and played by hunky dude Arthur Hansel (who looks a good 20 years too old for the part). Leblanc returns to his French homeland to do a story on a mental institution run by one Dr. Maillard (Claudio Brook, the doctor turned demon slayer in "Alucarda"), whose innovative "soothing system" of letting his inmates run free has been causing quite a stir in medical circles. But shocking surprises await Leblanc as he enters the titular "mansion of madness"....

This film, I should say, starts out very strangely, and Maillard's initial tour of his institution may cause some viewers to shake their heads in bewilderment. My advice would be to stick with it, though, as several plot twists serve to both clarify matters and ratchet up the suspense. Novice film director Moctezuma gives the viewer something interesting to look at in virtually every shot, especially toward the picture's conclusion. That banquet sequence is a literal phantasmagoria of oddball characters doing unusual things, the frame filled with hyperkinetic wonder. Kudos also to cinematographer Rafael Corkidi, especially for his stunning work outdoors. A welcome addition to the Poe story here: a romantic subplot of sorts featuring an inmate named Eugenie, played by beautiful Ellen Sherman. And speaking of "beautiful," Susana Kamini, who played the gorgeous Justine in "Alucarda," can be seen in this film as well. Look sharp: There she is, playing the topless inmate on the receiving end of that fishing pole! Opening with a pensive voice-over amongst lovely country scenery and concluding with a seeming homage to--of all people--"Little Caesar"'s Rico Bandello, the picture is a fascinating experience from beginning to end. Thanks again, you Mondo Macabro maniacs!

The Mansion Of Madness is a Mexican production of an American story with a French location. It's based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story The Torture Garden Of Dr. Tarr and if not top rate at least it's interesting.

Mexican star Claudio Brook plays the infamous Dr. Tarr who is actually both a master criminal and has a personality that has stepped over the line. He led a revolt of inmates who have taken over the asylum from the real staff. As the asylum is deep in the Ardennes Forest in France the chances of visitors are slim to none. And when visitors do come they get the treatment that the visitors in this story get.

One thing you've got to love about these films is that it gives players a chance to overact outrageously and keep within character. The Mansion Of Madness has to be among the top ten films with overacting as the norm.

Watching this film also made me realize where the plot of a certain Star Trek episode in which Steve Ihnat played a Dr. Tarr like character who took over a futuristic prison came from.

I think fans of Edgar Allan Poe will like this production.