All Rise...

Judge Patrick Naugle's bachelor pad was called the Funhouse.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of Madhouse (published November 25th, 2008), Madhouse (1974) (Blu-ray) (published July 28th, 2015), and Vincent Price: MGM Scream Legends Collections (published October 8th, 2007) are also available.

The Charge

If stark terror were ecstasy…living here would be bliss!

The Case

Vincent Price had that rare quality of being able to show up in a movie—no matter how mundane or terrible—and raise it up a few notches just by his mere presence. Through the 1950s, 60's, and 70's Price starred in dozens of horror films, many of them tongue in cheek and of varying quality, including Scream and Scream Again, House of Wax, and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (my personal favorite). Price toiled in many different genres but will always be best remembered for his work in the horror realm.

The film that finally brought a close to Price's horror period was 1974's Madhouse, which deals with an aging horror movie actor named Paul Toombs, who is engaged to be married to a beautiful actress (Julie Crosthwait) who was also at one time an adult movie star. After a minor spat Paul finds his fiancee in her room with her head chopped off. Paul is found not guilty of the crime but his film career is ruined and he ends up in a mental institution, not really knowing if he killed the young woman or not. When Paul returns to society and some of his old friends (including Star Wars' Peter Cushing as a fellow screenwriter), so do a spate of deaths from the hands of an unknown killer. Is it Paul or some other dastardly maniac roaming the countryside?

Madhouse is essentially a whodunnit mystery with horror elements thrown in for good measure. The film's question basically boils down to: is Price's character Paul Toombs a murderer, or is someone else behind the string of deaths following in his wake? The central mystery is never all that interesting and—in my opinon—is obvious from the very beginning. Price is his usual entertaining self as the potential madman while Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry (Count Yorga, Vampire) show up in solid if rote supporting roles. Horror fans will be disappointed in the amount of gore and violence on screen, though there are some chilling moments of rolling heads and rotted corpses to keep them watching (and arachnophobes will want to steer clear of the final half hour).

Aside of the mystery elements (which are flatly telegraphed by Rentadick director Jim Clark), Madhouse offers a bit of satire about the film industry with some amusing sequences and banter between the characters. One of the movie's most entertaining elements is when Toombs watches old movies starring himself, which are actually old movies from Price's own career. Seeing Price as a young and old man in one movie was a real hoot.

Madhouse (Blu-ray) is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen in 1080p high definition. This Kino Lorber release (licensed from MGM) looks pretty good, but certainly not great. There is a fair amount of grain in the transfer which gives it alack lf clarity at times. Colors are a tad muted and black levels aren't as dark as they could be. It's not a terrible transfer by any means, but it's also not exceptional. The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 in English. This is a decent reproduction of the original master track, but it's not going to win any awards for extensive fidelity or excitement. No alternate soundtrack or subtitles are included with this disc.

Extra features include a commentary track with film historian David Del Valle, a short "making of" featurette, and a theatrical trailer for the film.

Madhouse isn't great cinema, but it's a fitting enough coda to Price's classic horror period. Kino Lorber offers up a passable package of this MGM title, though it's nowhere near being reference quality video and audio.

The Verdict

Not quite as nuts as it wants you to believe.

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