Michael O'Keefe Strong horror and a vivid thriller. Slow boiling suspense and a twist that neither makes or breaks the film. Clark Stevens(Joshua Leonard)is a young psychiatric student that arrives for his internship at Cunnningham Hall Mental Facility. Understaffed, outmoded equipment, building in shambles, patients treated subhuman and a mysteriously uncaring director Dr. Franks(Lance Henriksen). Stevens is hardly settled in and a brutal murder occurs causing him to dig deep in the facility's history to uncover suspected secrets.The mixing is notable and those long dark hallways are pretty creepy. There will be a couple of occasions having you leave your seat, but it is the anxiety of waiting for the horrific violence that brings on a hammering headache. Others in the cast: Natasha Lyonne, Dendrie Taylor, Leslie Jordan and Patrika Darbo.

BA_Harrison If you don't over-analyse the plot (which is at turns both confusing and contrived), there is quite a bit to enjoy about writer/director William Butler's asylum-set horror tale, Madhouse. Joshua Leonard plays Clark Stevens, a psychiatric intern at a creepy mental institute who experiences spooky occurrences during his stay. With the help of sexy, buxom nurse Sara (Jordan Ladd) he delves into the dark history of the crazy-house and unearths the truth about the strange patient locked away in cell 44.Despite a whole shed-load of clichés, a couple of silly, but delightfully gory deaths (check out that electrocution scene—hilarious!), and some obvious plot turns, Butler manages to conjure up quite a bit of atmosphere, and his rundown asylum full of OTT murderous psychos is perfect for delivering scares.Instantly forgettable, but fun while it lasts, Madhouse isn't going to shock the more hardened horror fans (who will have seen this kind of thing done before, and better), but is perfect fodder for those who enjoy the occasional fright flick.

mjw2305 Cunningham hall is a run down mental health facility with too many patients and reduced funding. An eager young medical student Clark Stevens (Joshua Leonard) accepts an internship at the asylum, and he quickly learns the level of depravity in this madhouse.A young nurse named Sara (Jordan Ladd) shows him around, and he begins to worry about the condition of the inmates, particularly Alice (Natasha Lyonne) who is having horrifying hallucinations and Carl (Aaron Strongoni) who has suicidal tendencies. But when he begins to have visions of his own he turns to Sara for help, yet she also has something to hide.Despite the fact it's a low budget and the straight to DVD (Video) movie, it still delivers great tension, and a creepy atmosphere throughout; the cast are quite strong and the story keeps you guessing till the end. I won't pretend it's flawless, but it is definitely worth watching if you get the chance; certainly not a film that you should avoid because you fear it may be too cheap.7/10

Mr_Ectoplasma "Madhouse" is one of the best asylum-set horror films I've ever seen (not quite as good as "Session 9", though), and provides for some good spooky entertainment. The film begins with Clark Stevens (Joshua Leonard, "The Blair Witch Project"), who is sent off to intern at a secluded mental institution for the criminally insane. The place is old and has quite a lengthy history. While staying at the asylum, he meets Sara (Jordan Ladd, "Cabin Fever"), a hospital employee, and the two begin to hit it off. Then, one day, Sara takes Clark to the basement of the asylum, which, unlike the rest of the nicely renovated building, is dark, damp, and rotting away. Only the most violent and insane patients are kept in the darkened dungeon-like rooms, and Clark begins to have a conversational relationship with an unseen patient who resides in one of the cells, who seems to know a lot about the hospital's history. But more secrets are unraveled and someone begins murdering people around the hospital, and Clark finds himself responsible to investigate.I have to admit, this movie really surprised me. I was expecting something along the lines of cheap, straight-to-video trash to be honest, but I was pleasantly surprised with this creepy little mystery thriller. For one, I liked the story. An isolated mental institution with a violent history is a perfect place to set a horror movie - and this film makes good use of it, with the perfectly constructed and very spooky sets. The actors were also very good - Joshua Leonard was convincing as the intuitive intern, and Jordan Ladd really displays her acting skills. Natasha Lyonne also had a role as an insane patient, and she played it very well. Then there's the scares. I've seen hundreds of horror movies, and I am rarely scared by them, but this one succeeded in getting quite a few scares out of me. The scares were very well placed and got my heart pumping pretty fast. One of the scariest had to be the scene with the nurse who is pushed down the stairwell, the camera-work was clever and was the main reason that the bit was so jolting. Very unexpected and very scary. Another addition to the film's overall creepiness are the patients that reside in the asylum basement, good God they were scary. They're made out to be the most insane, mentally disturbed patients in the building - and that they are, not only in a mental aspect but also physically. The makeup job had them looking beyond scary, and the actors that played them made their characters just flat out bizarre and oddly disturbing. I'm actually surprised that this film never got a wide theater run, because it's easily worthy of it, and is much better than half of the teen-horror trash that is put out there lately.All things considered, "Madhouse" is a unique and surprisingly scary horror film, and the twist in the end adds the film's overall atmosphere. I was actually scared on a few occasions, which is really rare. And going in, my expectations were low, but this movie really delivered. Try watching it all alone at night, with all the lights off - trust me, you'll get spooked on more than a few occasions. 8/10.