Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Crazies only, please.


Insanitarium is a 2008 film starring the 'gardener' from Desperate Housewives, Jesse Metcalfe - who looks equally at home in a mental institution. (Equally as good-looking, too - even while heavily medicated and/or running from cannibals.)

It tells the story of Jack (Metcalfe) , whose sister Lily (Kiele Sanchez) has been institutionalized in an asylum that does not allow visitors. Apparently their parents are dead (and the mother had a history of psychosis as well) and Lily is all Jack has.

Jack unwisely decides to fake being nutso so as to get himself committed so he can see his sister and make sure she is alright. You know, just pop in, act a little crazy, get said sister, get out.
At first, things go alright - he is gaining knowledge about the place, meeting people who may be able to help him on his quest, etc. Then things all go downhill - the doctor in charge there (played by the always over-the-top Peter Stormare) is doing some kind of freaky tests on the patients using an experimental drug he designed - and the drug changes them into cannibalistic blood-lusting crazies. Lovely.
Jack does manage to find his sister, as well as a fellow friendly and not-quite-crazy patient, and a helpful nurse - and together they attempt to escape the institution just as the experiments go a little south and they convieniently have full-on psychos running amuck.

It's very much like an analogy I read: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vs. 28 Days Later...
Once 'infected', these patients are just no-holds-barred whacko. There is bone ripping and chewing and blood and guts galore in the second half of this movie. Everyone seems to be covered head to toe in buckets of blood. In particular the human-eating freaks.

Good thing is, though, the freaks can die. They are not zombies, do not reanimate or come back to life, and once you sink a knife in them they are done.

But there are alot of them.

Not the brightest crayon in the box, this movie lacks an entirely cohesive plot, but it does make up for it in gruesome violence and loads of gore. Definately a B-grade schlocky film, but worth a look.

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