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Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Lou Diamond Phillips, John Glover, David Mazouz, Lacey Chabert
Abandon everything you’ve ever believed about that brittle concept we call “reality” and prepare to enter a macabre netherworld of shadows, fiends and phantoms - a twisted realm of waking nightmares and warped minds, locked away in unrelenting torment. Welcome to the Sanitarium. Behind the walls of the Sanitarium, Dr. Stenson holds dominion over the inmates of a most unusual asylum.
"Sanitarium" is a trilogy of tales of the mentally ill. The first story in the film about a Artist begins talking to and even listening to the dolls he creates for exhibit. The second film is about a Eight year old boy who is being abused by his drunken father, a concerned teacher and a very scary monster the boy only seems to see. And the last story is about a Professor who is convinced that the Mayan apocalypse predictions are all real so he builds a shelter underground for him and his family but as he slowly goes over the edge he loses all sense of reality.
Sanitarium" is a horror film but I classify it more as a thriller. Either way it was another film I read very little about before hand and was surprised that it was not what I expected it to be. I certainly thought the film was well made, it looks and sounds great and all three stories were well-written and directed but for me it was a bit too slow at times. By the time the middle of the last story rolled around I found myself growing a bit bored with it. To me it was my least favorite of the three and it just seemed to drag on.
With that being said I did find the film to be much better over-all than I expected it to be, like I said it does contain a few slow spots but I really enjoyed the first two stories. Another thing the film has going for it is its cast, Malcolm McDowell, Lou Diamond Phillips, John Glover and Robert Englund all give very good performances as does Lacey Chabert as the concerned school teacher. The rest of the supporting cast all did a great job as well.
So if you like these type of anthology films then I recommend checking this one out as well. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Available on DVD and Digital Download this coming Tuesday. You can order the DVD HERE.
Despite its flaws this turned out to be a little gem I was not not expecting so check it out.
Released by Image Entertainment
*** 3/4 Out Of *****