Beware- there are spoilers ahead.

A woman finds that she’s being stalked by her murderous twin sister who has escaped from her psychiatric hospital. This is just before their joint birthday.

The opening scene of Madhouse is a shocker with one sister rocking the other in a rocking chair and then out of nowhere, bashing her face in. That escalated quickly.

Events are more of a slow burn after this but the film gains from this. Lots of tension, quirky, interesting characters and brilliantly sketched details regarding the charcter’s lives (I love that the lead character teaches deaf children and these sequences are great).

Theres a shocking scene involving a dog’s head and a power drill (really!)

But, unfortunately, the introduction of the priest character James who is the unhinged accomplice of Mary, the murderous sister is just so lame. A murderer who sings lines from nursery rhymes as he’s stalking his victims just doesn’t fill me full of dread and this aspect of the plot is trying way too hard.

Its a shame. Madhouse could have been a classic but instead is a case of ‘if only’.

It’s still a solid piece of horror though.

3 out of 5 stars