Insanitarium (2008)

As a newcomer to the world of horror, I suppose you couldn’t ask for more than what Jeff Buhler is getting in 2008. He wrote the screenplay for Clive Barker’s Midnight Meat Train, which if the early reviews are any indication, has turned out pretty damn good. He’s also directed his first film, which he also wrote, titled Insanitarium which will be hitting DVD in the very near future. Don’t let that fact fool you, however. This one doesn’t suck, and it may very well be a good indication that Jeff Buhler is one to keep your eye on.

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After her mother dies of disease, Lily is convinced she’s next and falls into a deep depression. Even with her brother Jack to stand by her, she repeatedly attempts suicide and is eventually awarded to the state and institutionalized. This is completely against what Jack wants for her, and after being kept from seeing her for months, he decides to fake being insane to get inside. Once he does, he finds something he could never have imagined; the head psychiatrist is testing an experimental drug called Orpheum on the patients that has some nasty side effects. Besides causing them to have violent outbursts, they also develop a craving for human flesh.

Sure, it’s unoriginal, reminding me a lot of Brett Leonard’s underrated The Dead Pit, where a mad psychiatrist uses his patients as guinea pigs, leading to horrific results. But the mere fact that Buhler treads such familiar ground yet molds a film around it that is quite entertaining is a nice feat. While the pacing in the first 30 minutes may leave something to be desired, almost creating a feeling that the film is more mystery than horror, once the gas pedal is stomped on, there’s no slowing down. Gore paints nearly every frame of the final 30 minutes of this film, with exposed intestines, severed limbs, a decapitated cat, and even a little Lorena Bobbitt style action. It reminded me a lot of the final act madness of Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, and that certainly isn’t a bad thing at all.

Technically, the film is pretty solid. The setting gives off a nice sinister feel for the most part. There’s a section of the sanitarium that houses the more violent offenders in glass cells, giving the impression that the place may be more of a science lab than a mental rehabilitation facility. The gore FX are nicely done and believable, and the film’s direction is quite focused. It’s always nice to see a horror film directed by someone that doesn’t have ADD, as the quick cuts and slick edits of many modern horror films has grown pretty stale and trite for me.

For a film such as this, the acting is surprisingly decent. While the main stars, like Jesse Metcalfe and Peter Stormare deliver serviceable performances, it’s the supporting cast that really helps the film rise above most direct-to-video fare. Former principle of Buffy’s Sunnydale High, Armin Shimerman turns in a wonderfully twisted performance as the Hannibal-esque Hawthorne, while Molly Bryant does her best Nurse Ratchet impersonation as Nurse Henderson. Kevin Sussman from Ugly Betty turns in a quality performance as the twitchy, paranoid sidekick of the main characters as well. I know I don’t normally comment so in-depth about the acting in a film, but when it comes to horror flicks that are coming straight to the store shelf, I know it can be an important factor, and luckily here it’s more than passable.

This being Buhler’s first foray into writing and directing, there are some glaring issues, but that’s somewhat to be expected. While I already commented about the film treading familiar ground, the final scene of the film is extremely generic, a device that’s tired and overdone, and the film as a whole could have benefit from something better. Many of the characters are underdeveloped, but you could chalk that up to having such a large cast. For the most part, the characters that play an integral part to the plot are just fine. Finally, there are certainly some plot holes present here, and there are a couple of instances where you have to wonder where the proofreader to the script was. One scene in particular has Jack stabbing one of the Orpheum-treated crazies with a knife, and then holding the knife in his mouth while he climbs up a laundry shaft. Seeing as the film shows that if you’re bitten by any of these people, you become infected as well, I would think that putting a knife in your mouth with their blood on it would be a no-no.

At the end of the day though, Insanitarium does just enough things right to make it worth a look. Composed of competent directing, heaps of gore, above-average acting, and a wildly-entertaining second half, you could do far worse on the DTV horror front. You’ll also be getting a glimpse of what may be the beginning of a bright future in the horror genre for Jeff Buhler. This is one that’s perfect for a drunken Saturday night.