I knew I wasn't imagining this movie! So I already watched a movie called "Madhouse" for the challenge this year, and when I watched that movie, I was expecting this movie, a slasher from the 80s, so I was really confused ("wait, why is Vincent Price in this movie? Why is there no deformed twin sister stabbing people?!") I swore I remembered seeing that movie over the years in video store, with the awesome VHS cover and the mutilated body at the bottom of the stairs and the bloody knife. I had just about decided I was imagining this movie, but it's on the Shudder streaming service, so ha! It proves this movie is real! It looks really creepy too, so I can't wait to finally see it.
This movie is about a woman named Julia, who is a teacher for deaf students, and she lives a relatively normal life except for her deformed, psychotic twin sister Mary, who lives in an asylum. Julia was tortured and tormented by her Mary when they were kids, but she's safe from that now, right? Unfortunately, her sister is hell-bent on escaping the asylum and giving Julia a bloody surprise for her birthday this year.
Mary, the crazy sister in this movie is really fucked up. Like she scared even me, and that's hard to do. She's so cruel and brutal, and even though she's obviously got problems (or she wouldn't be in an ASYLUM, duh) everyone acts like her sister Julia is ridiculous to be afraid of her. Supposedly nobody knows about the torture Mary put Julia through when they were kids, because she was afraid to tell anyone, but Mary is openly hostile toward her sister during their visit at the beginning of the movie, and she doesn't even try to hide it, so I have a hard time believing no one ever saw her hurt Julia over the years. They just didn't WANT to know so they pretended it didn't happen and failed to do their job and protect Julia. Great work, everyone. You suck and almost all the deaths in this movie are your fault
This movie is really dark (and I mean lighting wise). There are plenty of scenes where it's hard to see anything going on because it's way too dark. This does work to make the movie more creepy, though. The music is kinda...weird and off-kilter, but it fits the odd nature of the movie, so it actually works, even though it hurt my ears.
Some of the characters in this movie really piss me off. Julia has an uncle who is a priest, and not only does he refuse to listen when she tries to tell him how she's afraid of her twin sister Mary because of the cruelty and abuse, but later in the movie he preaches a whole passive-aggressive sermon about how a sister who denies her sister love is a sinner and should repent. Really subtle, asshole. I'm sure God is impressed with you using him as a weapon to punish your family members under the guise of preaching. Get over yourself. That guy just keeps being a smug jerk, too. Even as more evidence piles up, he refuses to believe Mary could be doing anything to hurt Julia, and he insists it's all in Julia's head and she just feels guilty for "mistreating" her sister over the years (by refusing to visit her and put up with more abuse). Didn't this girl have anyone in her life that knew how to be an adult and stand up for a kid? It makes me want to puke on all the adults in her life.
There's a big twist at the beginning of the final act, and some truly brutal and gory murders. I give credit to the killer for being extremely creepy, but also so annoying I wanted to gouge out my own ears with a power drill. And what the hell is up with the brutal animal deaths in the movies I've been watching today? Did they just not care as much about animals in the 80s? I have to say, the ending of this movie bears more than a passing resemblance to another slasher movie I've seen called "Happy Birthday to Me," and I know they were made at about the same time, so I'm not sure who's ripping off who, or if anyone was a ripoff at all, but the conclusion is so bloody and cool that I honestly don't care, I just enjoyed watching it. This movie is frustrating and it gets under your skin and stays there, so in the end I was really impressed, even though I was also pissed.
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