Customer Reviews

Insanitarium

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After a young man, Jack (Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives), loses his sister to a mental asylum due to her illness after their parents' death, he turns himself 'crazy' to be able to enter the hospital himself and protect her. However, once he enters, he and his new friend (Kevin Sussman) discover that there is something much more sinister going on. . . the doctor (Peter Stormare) has been using his patients as guinea pigs by turning them into vicious cannibalistic murderers. Now, it's up to Jack to rescue his sister and escape from the Hell that is the asylum.

Asylums & hospitals have always been my favourite settings for horror films above anywhere else. There's something about psychiatric hospitals that can be simply terrifying. Even in real life. The madness within can really get to the sane. So, needless to say, this film had at least a few points going for it before it even started. And, luckily, it wasn't just the idea and the setting that was good: the film wasn't too bad either. Utilizing a few good actors (Metcalfe, Stormare, Kevin Sussman), some very good gore, a hell of a lot of violence, a little bit of a nudity, and a whole lot of crazy people, writer/director Jeff Buhler (Buhler... Buhler... Buhler...) delivers to us an above-average infected horror with enough blood and severed limbs to keep gorehounds satisfied, at least for a short while. The direction was fairly good, although the writing did hurt the film a bit. Between one too many 'action hero' lines ("You're a knock-out!" / "You deserve this!" / etc.), more than a few out-of-place scenes (random 'sex' scene with Peter Stormare?), and a few glaring plot holes, it's quite apparent the script could've used a bit of a shine up before production. But, some awkward writing aside, Insanitarium ends up being an interesting, entertaining, and occasionally scary horror film that is well worth checking out.

Final verdict: 5.5/10.

Insanitarium has one of the more inane plots you'll ever see in a horror film, which in and of itself is quite an achievement. Jack (Jesse Metcalfe) is trying to see his sister who has been committed to a mental institution. When the hospital refuses to let him see her, Jack decides to get himself committed as well. He cuts his chest with razors and walks onto the streets raving like a lunatic. As if on cue, here come the police and the ambulance that just HAPPEN to take him to the same hospital where his sister is. How's that for luck!

Once inside he meets the head of the hospital, the creepy Dr. Genetti played by Peter Stormare. Has Stormare ever played a part where he wasn't creepy? Jack soon learns that Genetti is conducting experiments on the patients and injecting them with an experimental drug. Jack is determined to find Lily and get her out but when he reveals his ruse to Genetti and his staff, they think he is even more nuts and are not about to let him go.

Jesse soon leans the horrible truth about the experiments. The drug is turning the patients into blood-thirsty maniacs (well, even more maniacal than normal) and he will have to try and find his sister and escape with an entire hospital full of flesh-eating psychos on their tail.

Insanitarium is a rather dumb movie for the first hour or so. This is a rather large hospital and yet you only see one orderly and one nurse, who seem to work 24 hours a day. The orderly has one of the patients sneak out of his room at night to steal pills for him. Umm...wouldn't he have easier access to them, what with having a key card and all? To top that off, he has regular sexual trysts with one of the patients and Jack is able to just sneak around the hospital by walking under the cameras in the corridors. Great security! But the last 25 minutes saves the film from being horrible as it essentially turns into "28 Days Later" inside an asylum. The inmates go on a killing spree, killing and eating anyone they can find including each other. Insanitarium features a ton of gore and some gruesome kills including machetes through the back of a head that come out of the mouth, arms torn off, stun sticks shoved down throats, etc...

The climax finds four survivors on the run from the lunatics and it's the most exciting part of the movie. Olivia Munn of G4's "Attack of the Show" has a co-starring role as a nurse's aide and she does quite well. Armin Shimerman (Star Trek DS9) has a small role as one of the maximum security crazies. The performances in general were all good although Stormare tends to overact and chew scenery in every film he's in and it's no different here. Stupid script but it has some exciting and terrifying elements.

This movie is SOO gory! And a little disturbing. (I.E. Cat scene). The acting was good. It moved a little slow in the begining then sped up and let gallons of blood fly. Entertaining movie. Worth a rent or cheap buy.

I loved this movie. It does not disappoint, all the blood, gore, insane doctors, and mental patients who stay loyal even through being eaten. A must for any horror fan!

Insanitarium (2008) is a very gory medical horror thriller that probably deserves more attention from horror fans. What starts out as an unlikely rescue mission, unexpectedly becomes an insane raging bloodbath of epic proportions. Written and directed by Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train), the film has a dull muddled pedestrian start, but slowly builds up tension and adds dark elements, until all hell breaks loose in a murderous, blood spattering, flesh-eating frenzy.

After his sister Lily Romero (Kiele Sanchez) is committed to an institution and denied contact with anyone, her bother Jack (Jesse Metcalfe) pretends to be insane to get himself committed, so he can try and help her. Fortunately for Jack, he ends up in the same facility as his sister, the Middleton Psychiatric Institute. Jack makes friends with a patient named Dave (Kevin Sussman, The Big Bang Theory), and begins to investigate.

Prowling around at night Jack discovers that Dr. Gianetti (Peter Stormare), the head of the institute, is administering an experimental drug called Orpheum, to certain patients, causing them to get violent and crave blood. Jack soon finds himself a target for elimination, and that Lily is scheduled for Gianetti's special treatment. With Dave's help, Jack attempts to free his sister, but the trio finds themselves in a crisis situation, when the infected patients get loose, and begin killing and consuming human flesh. Like zombies, the infected are cannibalistic, but have better cognitive abilities, and hyped up motor skills.

Once the chaos starts, most everyone quickly becomes prepared to kill to survive. Dave, Jack, and Lily, try to find a way out of the locked down facility, but encounter new horrors wherever they go. Gianetti is completely twisted and ruthless, and willing to sacrifice anyone. You can almost feel the needle penetrating your own skull, when Gianetti administers a crude lobotomy. Jack and Lily manage to escape, but their freedom appears to be only temporary, as the product of Gianetti's madness are unleashed on the world.

Insanitarium gets off to a sluggish start, but shifts into overdrive, once the inmates get loose in the asylum. The violence and bloodshed are excessive, with many creative touches, and several memorable gore shots. The acting is generally pretty awful, but this seems to matter much less once the craziness breaks out, and things become more of a scramble to survive. Jesse Metcalfe, Kiele Sanchez, and Kevin Sussman, get a good workout, battling their way through the hospital wards. Peter Stormare turns in a very creepy and ghoulish performance.

The supporting cast steps it up in the third act. Carla Gallo is subject to all kinds of cruel abuse, as Gianetti's assistant Vera. Olivia Munn is likeable, playing a helpful nurse, who forcefully resigns from her job. As a patient who seems fascinated by Jack, Lisa Arturo runs around naked with blood soaked breasts, for much of the later part of the movie. And Armin Shimerman is really vile and nasty, as a patient who has it in for Jack. Put them all together, and you have a madhouse that makes Insanitarium a film that should be of some interest to gorehounds. The lobotomy scene is one that may stay with you for a while.

Insanitarium is a complex tale of a brother's love for his sister and his devotion to protecting her from whatever harm may befall her in this world. In a world that has strayed from the path of family values, Insanitarium reminds us what is really important in life. Jesse Metcalfe gives a performance "beyond his years" and portrays his character with "utmost realism." This star-studded cast "cleverly reveals plot twist after plot twist." Around each corner a new challenge is revealed and our main character, our hero, must confront these twists, growing and becoming "more complex" with each.

This film is an "instant classic" and a "must watch" for any film buff. Insanitarium was brilliantly shot in hand held digital giving the film a realism that only "Stage 6 Films" can achieve. The soundtrack is minimal yet "utterly captivating." If you haven't taken the 80 minutes to watch this film, you are missing out.

Before I saw this film, I had no idea what this film would be like but this film has turned out to be a fun fast and gory film, not a bad way to spend an 1hr and 25mins of your time.

The film is about a man, who cons his way into a mental hospital, to break his sister out of there, but something bad is going on inside the place, a mad doctor is using his patients as lab rats and turning them into bloodthirsty killers.

This film is fast and has some nasty bits in this film, anybody who loves cats, won't like what happens to one in this film,I mean just when you thought the mental patients have been though enough, you get some dumb f**ked in the head doctor turning them into even more crazy nutjobs.

So if you want to burn the next 1hr and 25mins of your time, then look no further.

I admit it. I came into watching INSANITARIUM, expecting precious little. But I have to say, INSANITARIUM is awesome!! It delivers on so many different levels as a horror film. A young man, Jack, is looking for his sister who has been in a mental hospital ever since trying to commit suicide and Jack hasn't been able to have any communication with her. Mental illness runs in their family, so it isn't a far stretch to believe that Jack might be a little unbalanced. Desperate to find his sister, Jack decides to "get crazy" and is committed to the hospital where his sister is, so he can take her home.

But things just aren't what they seem at the mental hospital. The good doctor is using the patients as guinnea pigs to test a new drug, Orphesium, that he's designed and the results are terrifying! If this is a cure, you're better off sick. And that's just the beginning...

INSANITARIUM is great. It has everything that a great horror film needs. The mental hospital makes for a chilling setting, The patients are so freaky, in more ways than one. It has a good plotline that doesn't have too many holes, just enough for a low budget film. And blood, guts, terror and nerve-tingling suspense. Even a psycho killer in lockup! I rarely give 5 stars to a dvd, but INSANITARIUM has it all!!

Check into INSANITARIUM and enjoy!

This movie is well made and has all the great trappings of a cult classic! The characters are well drawn and the action never lets up from the onset. Jesse Matcalfe is super hot and Peter Stormare is totally insane. A great combination like peanut butter and jelly or Tango and Cash.

I think this new director guy will be one of the most influential directors of our generation. He's a visionary. Keep your eye on him. My son Rocco really loves his work.

BUY THIS DVD!