Insanitarium (2008 Video) User Reviews

Cuckoo's Nest Meets Living Dead

[JoeB131 · 4/10 · 26 July 2008]

The premise of this movie is that a man gets himself committed to an insane asylum to rescue his suicidal sister. What he finds is that a mad doctor is injecting his patients with a new nano-tech drug that turns patients into cannibal vampire killers. This is the setup that allows about two hours of unremitting gore.

The saddest thing about this is the participation of Armin Shimmerman of Star Trek. He's actually a good actor, and he spends all of his four scenes on the same set. They probably only had him for a day, and had to work him into the otherwise meaningless plot.

It's not a great movie, it's typical of its genre. It has some interesting performances and some good production values, but honestly, I didn't really care about the characters and don't see a reason for you to.

Watchable; if you like gory films and zombies...

[InfiniteInertia · 5/10 · 11 July 2008]

I watched this last night with some friends, who all appreciate gore-fest style films. I thought it was a watchable film that does show some potential at the start, but about halfway through does unfortunately descend into standard slasher/horror cliché territory...

One of the redeeming qualities of this title was the gore, it has plenty to keep even the most ardent crimson fan happy. The make up is quite well done, considering that most of the meagre budget was probably spent on the two main stars. There are the usual huge plot holes; such as people who are supposedly insane, suddenly becoming lucid and capable of defending themselves, perfecting motor functions and having sensible conversations (keep the bullets, we'll need them!).

The main features include: a doctor having her arm torn off, scalpel to the chin, cleaver to the face, metal spike through the head/mouth, a fair amount of topless female nudity & a couple of cheesy one liners! It won't rock your world by any means, but if you are a fan of this kind of film and you need a bit of escapism (no pun intended), you may find this appealing. I would recommend watching this after going down the pub/bar for a couple of drinks, then back to a mate's place to watch this at the weekend.

I give it 5 out of 10; not Oscar material by a long shot, but not such a terrible way to spend 80 minutes of your life, especially with some friends...

Absurd Premise, but Gory and Funny

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 7 September 2011]

The only sister of Jack (Jesse Metcalfe), Lily Romero (Kiele Sanchez), tries to commit suicide after the death of their mother. Jack is in despair since Lily is sent to a mental institution and Jack is not allowed to visit her. Jack pretends to be insane and is arrested and sent to the same asylum with the intention of rescuing Lily from the place.

Sooner Jack learns that the administrator, Dr. Gianetti (Peter Stormare), is a deranged scientist that is using the patients like guinea pigs, forcing them to use the experimental drug Orpheus. Further, the side effect is turning patients and staff into flesh-eating zombies. But Lily and Jack are trapped in the mental institution and there is no way out for them.

"Insanitarium" has the absurd premise of a sane man that pretends to be lunatic to meet his sister that is institutionalized in an asylum. Jack does not seek the justice, but acts like a crazy man instead.

Out of the blue, the plot turns into a gory and funny dementia, splashing blood everywhere like in the trash "Braindead" and other zombie films. In the end, despite the stupid story, I found it funny and entertaining for fans of the genre. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Insanatório - Quem Entra, Não Sai" ("Insanitarium – Who Gets In, does not Get Out")

Bad Direction and not interesting

[amitindia2008 · 3/10 · 21 September 2008]

Movie is bad, the direction was poor, the plot was uninteresting.

Initially it seems those who turn to zombie like are slow moving and by end they seem to turn fast.

The movie is a copy of other many projects like 28 days later etc but was poorly made. It gets real boring and unwatchable after sometime. Those who don't watch much of horror movies might find it okay but the usual horror buffs wont like this sort of crap.

Overall the acting was just okay, nothing more than that.

The movie is over hyped. A disappointment.

I wont recommend it, don't watch.

I would give it a generous 3.

Very disappointing

[FntiC · 4/10 · 7 July 2008]

I thought this movie would be average .. maybe good .. because of Peter Stormare. But it was extremely disappointing. The plot is very awkward and many parts are missing logic.

The first 20mins are promising because of the creepy atmosphere. Good music and quiet believable characters. But then the story turns from "that could be interesting" to "please not the flesh-eating-zombies again". After the first half it is getting worse. We all know the music from 28 weeks later. You have seen stuff like this a thousand times before and this one isn't very original.

4/10 because they tried it.

Not convincing ... but entertaining to certain sense.

[robinhood3549 · 3/10 · 20 July 2008]

I don't understand why the leading actor think like ... I must get into the institute to "save" my sister? I don't get why on earth suddenly he got the keys to open the doors of highly secured level? The few seconds that I am most "UNCONVINCED" is when "the man contained inside the cage break the arm of the girl"??? How easy an arm to be broken??? I understand the flow of the plot needs to be bloody RED, but I think it can be shown in some other ways convincing. If you take it easy to it, it is quite entertaining because we (with my friends) really laugh about some scenes, and to us, it became a kind of comedian soap opera kind as the film run through the end, then we looked at each other with laughters. Conclusion : many spaces for improving in "directing & producing".

Simply Insane!

[cosmicsharp · 6/10 · 5 July 2008]

This movie more than lives up to its title -- it contains an hour and a half full of insanity. It starts out timidly as the main character Jack performs a desperate act to help his sister -- he pretends to be insane so that he can break into a mental facility and rescue his suicidal sister. From the very beginning, you can tell that there is something fishy going on in the sanitarium. This foreshadowing soon materializes into the complete madness this movie is. The thing that separates this movie from other slashers is the atmosphere, which is reminiscent to that of 28 Weeks Later. But don't expect an elaborate plot or anything deep like the 28 Days/Weeks movies. What you should expect is incredibly gory and intense action scenes. Few movies make me cringe and there were a few instances where I wanted to look away because of the gore. There is an abundance of blood and guts which is pulled off realistically enough to contribute to the overall atmosphere and suspense. Suffice to say, this movie is definitely not for the faint of heart. The acting is not that bad; I am a big Olivia Munn fan and she does a good job in this movie, but don't expect anything tear-inducing. Overall, this is a decent flick that will keep you on the edge of your seat.There are plot holes but they do not take away too much from the movie because of the intense action, realistic props, and relatively decent acting.

A crappy zombie flick with no substance

[ticalisoul · 3/10 · 13 July 2008]

OK, I can admit that this film tried to be good, but it failed on so many levels. While watching it, I felt like it was ripping off a whole grip of other movies, including Silence of the Lambs (there's even a Hannibal Lecter wannabe!), 28 Days Later (noticeably the camera-work and soundtrack), and a little bit from Boogeyman 2 (which was also a crap fest). There are a lot of other familiar scenes too which I know were jacked, but I don't have time to recall. Throw in a generic smart and nerdy sidekick, a crazy woman who gets naked, and the mad scientist, and there you have the whole movie. The gore scenes were stupid, not even tastefully done. And as soon as the secret is out that people are eating each other, the script goes completely to poop. The actors literally go crazy and try so hard to be bloodthirsty zombies that it just adds up to a gigantic mess on the screen, border-lining on hilarious. There are also a lot of cliché one-liners, such as sticking a knife in someone's face and saying "Here's your present!" with attitude. Corny as hell, right? Overall, this movie does nothing original and is a giant yawn-fest with gore and boobs. Rent at your own risk.

Cannibal feast in a mental hospital.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 29 July 2008]

After his mother died our hero Jack was forced to have his sister Lilly committed to asylum because she began to struggle with suicidal thoughts and became a danger to herself.In order to get close to Lilly,Jack fakes insanity to get committed to the same asylum.Doctor Gianetti,who runs mental ward,created a new drug called Orpheum which turns crazies into cannibalistic killers with the urge to butchery.The plot of "Insanitarium" is routine and silly with tons of corny one-liners,but this has to be one of the goriest horror films I have seen during last few months.The acting is pretty decent and the blood flows in spades with severed limbs,impalements and decapitations painting the screen red.Overall,"Insanitarium" has enough goods to recommend it for fans of blood-drenched horror.

"If you're reading this letter it's because I've been committed to an insane asylum."

[Backlash007 · 28 September 2008]

~Spoiler~

When I first saw the trailer for Insanitarium I had no desire to see it. Then I caught Midnight Meat Train and really liked it. I found out that the writer of MMT made his directorial debut with Insanitarium and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I now regret that act. Insanitarium is just not a good movie. It's about a guy who pretends to be crazy so he will be committed because that's the only way he can see his crazy sister. And wouldn't you know it there is a mad scientist who is experimenting on his patients turning them into brain dead zombies. How many times have we seen this scenario? Nothing new is added and it's not nearly as much fun as the 80's flick Dead Pit (which is a very similar flick that I recommend over this one). Let's face it, when an over-the-top Peter Stormare can't save your movie, you are in a world of trouble.

It deserves one star but Olivia Munn is in it

[binaryfaith · 2/10 · 6 July 2008]

So I got this thinking it was going to be a run of the mill "Disturbing Behavior" I'm crazy but not really film. Part of that is true, its a film. This film is hard to describe. It begins with a very brief introduction to our hero Jack's plight, in which you find out that Jack's sister has been put in an asylum for some reason other then the right reason. Jack hatches a zany plan to get himself committed so that he can enter the asylum and rescue his sister. This is a fairly standard b movie plot and how can you blame them for trying to ride the success of Prison Break. The movie pretends to have a plot until the point that Jack enters the Asylum. The audience is quickly introduced to the mad scientist running the facility and its population of nutty inmates. The mad scientist has created a "nano" serum that has a similar effect to "rage" in 28 days later. Like 28 days later, this movie is zombie flick but you'd never know it unless you actually sat through the first half of the film. Unlike 28 days later, this film is not enjoyable to watch. Imagine taking plots from several different awesome films like 28 days later, disturbing behavior, and the Andromeda strain blending it together and then taking out any elements of a plot and you essentially have insanitarium. I gave the film a two because Olivia Munn is in it and if your an AOTS fan then maybe you can fast forward the film to the parts that she is in to get a glimpse of our favorite host stabbing someone in the face. If you're not an AOTS fan and or don't know Olivia Munn leave this movie to the the abyss of bad b horror films.

whatever -- I liked it!

[cupcake666 · 10/10 · 16 July 2008]

This movie is a riff on genre flicks like Shock Corridor and Dawn of the Dead. The lead character's name is Jack (Cuckoo's Nest anyone?). Also, anyone who casts Peter Stormare as a "mad scientist" obviously gets the genre... from "Fargo" to "Constantine" to "Insanitarium". Awesome.

So there's an awful lot of blood. That didn't bother me so much and I had to block out some of the really nasty bits but there seems to be a sense of humor running through the film that some of those bitchy critical movie nerds seem to be missing.

This is a movie that relishes the genre. The guy's last name is Romero (as in George A.) for God's sake. And the crazy guy is called Loomis (the doc from Halloween), plus a Hannibal Lecter guy and a Nurse Rachet guy...

If you don't know classic b-movies you might miss the point but if you do you're gonna have a blast.

Entertaining and occasionally scary, but lacks in the intelligence

[Shattered_Wake · 6/10 · 27 July 2008]

After a young man, Jack (Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives), loses his sister to a mental asylum due to her illness after their parents' death, he turns himself 'crazy' to be able to enter the hospital himself and protect her. However, once he enters, he and his new friend (Kevin Sussman) discover that there is something much more sinister going on. . . the doctor (Peter Stormare) has been using his patients as guinea pigs by turning them into vicious cannibalistic murderers. Now, it's up to Jack to rescue his sister and escape from the Hell that is the asylum.

Asylums & hospitals have always been my favourite settings for horror films above anywhere else. There's something about psychiatric hospitals that can be simply terrifying. Even in real life. The madness within can really get to the sane. So, needless to say, this film had at least a few points going for it before it even started. And, luckily, it wasn't just the idea and the setting that was good: the film wasn't too bad either. Utilizing a few good actors (Metcalfe, Stormare, Kevin Sussman), some very good gore, a hell of a lot of violence, a little bit of a nudity, and a whole lot of crazy people, writer/director Jeff Buhler (Buhler... Buhler... Buhler...) delivers to us an above-average infected horror with enough blood and severed limbs to keep gorehounds satisfied, at least for a short while. The direction was fairly good, although the writing did hurt the film a bit. Between one too many 'action hero' lines ("You're a knock-out!" / "You deserve this!" / etc.), more than a few out-of-place scenes (random 'sex' scene with Peter Stormare?), and a few glaring plot holes, it's quite apparent the script could've used a bit of a shine up before production. But, some awkward writing aside, Insanitarium ends up being an interesting, entertaining, and occasionally scary horror film that is well worth checking out.

Final verdict: 5.5/10.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[artpf · 2/10 · 7 December 2011]

One of the worst flicks I've seen in a long time. A stolen plot from TV's Prison Break that even features actors from the show! Instead of prison it's an insane asylum and instead of saving his brother it's his sister.

Shameful rip off with some incredibly poor acting. The rest of the "Plot" is stereotyped from every bad crazy people exploitation movie ever made -- including the sex crazed hunny with giant implants.

It's an insulting mess.

If if was done in a campy sort of way, perhaps there would be some funny moments to capture our interest, but it's not.

It's done as a straight forward horror movie and it simply doesn't work in the slightest.

Stay away at all costs!

Made for tv?

[takato0524 · 1/10 · 3 October 2021]

You knew it was gonna be bad when they kept promoting Jesse was on desperate housewives. He didn't have to act on there as he was just the eye candy. So no surprise when he had some of the worst acting in this movie. The plot was awful, the characters were laughable, and the production looked like a made for tv movie. I was shocked that good actors like Armin and what's his name from jurassic Park were involved in this. If you need a good laugh, this is for you.

for fans

[Vincentiu · 14 June 2015]

for fans of genre. for the fans of actors. and only for them. because the film gives nothing new, interesting or unpredictable. the good guy victim of dark plan, the fight for survive, the experiment and the end who preserves possibility of the second part. Peter Stormare and Jesse Metcalfe looking transforms the roles in credible ones, a script far to be generous but inspired to use large area of dark hospitals, zombies and mad doctor, blood, metamorphoses, the end of terror who is only first step of the second. nothing original. but not the worst piece of genre. the recipes is the same - well known actors and a poor /conventional script. so, a film for the fans.

Don't Waste Your Time

[shannonlong636 · 3/10 · 29 October 2020]

I don't know how so many reviewers could call this watchable. The acting is terrible and completely over the top. The premise is laughable. The gratuitous gore and boobs was obviously included just to get teenage boys to keep watching it. Sometimes bad horror movies can be entertaining. This is not one of those times. Ugh, I feel stupider for having watched it.

Highly enjoyable and gory b-movie

[Humdinger69 · 5/10 · 16 November 2013]

A man named Jack (Jesse Metcalfe) gets himself admitted to an insane asylum to break out his mentally ill sister Lily (Kiele Sanchez) who was admitted for trying to kill herself. There he discovers that the sadistic head Dr. Gianetti (Peter Stormare) is drugging the patients making them crave human flesh.

I thought this movie was very fun to watch. The gore is great and a lot more than I expected, people are stabbed, dismembered, cannibalized, one guy gets a meat cleaver to the head, another gets a knife through the jaw, and much more. The assorted lunatics were also fun to watch, can't really explain why, they just kinda fascinated me.

The main character Jack, who's character was pretending to be insane, and was not all too believable sometimes, but who cares! This is a fun and gory movie that makes for an entertaining 80 minutes.

Derivative yet strangely enjoyable.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 4 April 2015]

Written and directed by Jeff Buhler, it stars Jesse Metcalfe, Kiele Sanchez, Kevin Sussman and Peter Stormare.

After the untimely death of her mother, Lily attempts suicide and is committed to a mental health institution. Her brother, Jack, gets himself committed so as to break his sister out of the facility, but what he finds within those walls is sheer horrifying carnage.

You don't need me to point up all the films that this uses as influences, this is pure and simple a bloody zombie/infected based movie, with some sturdy young and attractive actors trying to survive as they strive to escape the madness! Cast are fine and full of guts, with Stormare let loose by the director to instill the head doctor with mania/ego unbound.

It takes a while to get going, but fans of blood and gore aplenty are well catered for in the second half of film. The setting of an asylum is also a plus (filmed at RFK Memorial Hospital, Hawthorne, California) and with Stormare on mean - mad - overdrive, this is far from bottom of the barrel stuff. 6/10

He's not sick; just a little less engaged.

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 8 May 2010]

One key factor in good horror flicks is some nudity. Another key feature is lots of blood. In this case we get both. A real schizo with a penchant for sex covered in blood and looking for more action. Yippee! Add to that a mad doctor (Peter Stormare, who is perfect in the role) who turns his patients into flesh eating zombies, and horror fans have something to root for.

There is even a Nurse Ratchet, and a Hannibal Lecter in the film, as the director attempts to pay homage to other horror films.

As you might expect, the central character is Jack (think Cuckoo's Nest), who gets himself committed to find out if his crazy sister (Kiele Sanchez) is OK. Jack (Jesse Metcalfe from "Desperate Housewives") soon finds out that things are not OK, and joins with Dave (Kevin Sussman) to get his sister out.

Loved the ending!

Prison Break- the low budget horror movie

[TdSmth5 · 6/10 · 10 March 2009]

A girl goes insane and is institutionalized. Her brother decides to get her out by getting himself committed as well. But strange things happen inside. Some of the patients have changed iris color and are rather violent. One of the nurses sympathizes with the brother, a nympho patient is trying to get him into trouble in more than one ways.

As it turns out some of these patient with the gray iris in the maximum security area go completely nuts at the sight of blood. They turn into animals. The good Dr. in charge (Peter Stormare, from...Prison Break) is developing his own compound that he thinks will cure all mental disease. His sidekick, a pretty female Dr., goes along with everything the Dr. does.

When the sister is about to injected with the substance, the brother and a fellow institutionalized guy decide it's time to get her out. But by then all hell breaks loose. The patients turn outright into cannibals and for some silly script-required coincidence, our group of heroes has to continuously run through the dangerous maximum security area. Of course the brother knows everything about electronics, building layout, etc., he can disarm any security device with a kick and playing with wires.

Overall, this movie has the right idea, but goes through all the clichés. It looks good although it is evident there wasn't much of a budget. Perhaps they could have put some money into better use by hiring less extras. There's some gore but little horror.

I love some dark humor, but this wasn't it

[gunn-wrights · 4/10 · 6 December 2021]

I love some dark humor, but this wasn't it!

There was very few funny scenes in this movie, some decent B-listed stars kept me interested in, 'who's that actor/ess'? Now that was fun! But, in the end - it's the same gory, boring, bloody, mindless zombies.... BORING!

RECOMMENDATION: Skip, unless there is NOTHING else on TV, and you've been hanging upside down, while eating Vagasil all day.. LOL!

A very good psycho thriller.

[Fezz_Head · 8/10 · 30 July 2008]

Insanitarium is the best b-movie I have seen ever, and I'm dead serious, no pun intended. The film's strongest point was the storyline. Executed perfectly, not your usual cliché' "kids break into sanitarium for lol's." A young man cons his way into a sanitarium to see his mentally-ill suicidal sister. It is very interesting and grabs you from the start, from here, the movie just roars uphill.

Insanitarium's death scenes will leave gore hounds, like myself, crying in awe. Some of this stuff was really awesome. (Ex: Arm broken and torn off.) This is a very well crafted movie and is worth your money.

8/10.

Really good first half, train wreck last half

[bl-telfair · 6/10 · 23 April 2014]

Unique idea. Starts out really good. Tons of potential. I had it at about an 8 or so until about halfway through when things just got ridiculous. It went from smart and interesting to completely absurd..and corny..You know those movies where the good guy will shoot someone or do something cool and make some witty reference that makes you cringe? That happens about 10 times in the last half. It's almost like the intelligent director handed off the script to his brain-dead little brother and told him to finish it. I will say though, if you like the whole mental hospital setting in horror movies, give it a go. As I said, the first half is really good and if your opinion on the other half is different than mine..you'll really enjoy it. First half 8 Last half 3 5.5, give it a 6

Fun little gore film

[JANDCSCOTT_23 · 7/10 · 4 September 2012]

I did put spoilers in here as I was writing while watching the film. Please do not read if you want to go in blind (which might not be a bad idea.)

Major gore fest – brother gets himself committed to save his sister who attempted suicide. But the Dr. is giving the patients a drug that basically turns them into flesh eating fiends. There are some pretty decent kill scenes (scalpel through the chin) and a Dr gets her arm broken off and then eaten. The acting is actually not that bad – the story is a little lean – no way would a guy be able to get committed that way. But the nympho girl is pretty funny (she basically eats an orderlies penis off – crazy.) The budget is pretty low, but the effects are fairly well done – especially the eyes of the zombies, they get this white iris. I did have to turn away when there was a cat death (hate animal death of any kind.) It really starts turning into this slash as 4 characters are trying to get out of the hospital and the zombies are just coming after them.

It seemed that there was a longer period of time before they started changing and then all of a suddenly they seemed to turn extremely fast. I liked the homages to older horror flicks by some names (one of the patients name is Loomis). When I first got it, wasn't really sure what it was going to be but it actually turned out to be quite fun. And there was a machete through the back of the head which was pretty awesome. What I am curious about is actually how it transmits – if you get bit, you turn? But not if you get their blood all over you? They have to climb up this laundry shoot and it seems that the zombies are able to figure out where they are pretty quick and start going to the different shoots. I have been surprised that 3 of them made it this far. And they enter another white room, back into maximum security covered in blood. Another lady actually eating her own intestine. The Dr grabs Dave (Sussman from BBT) and gives him a lobotomy just like that. "He's not dead, just a little less engaged."

This movie is not that bad – I really found it quite fun minus a couple of scenes. It helps that there are several actors that I like in other things so I am more apt to enjoy them here I think. The gore is just really well done except some of the blood is a little too red. I'm sad that they did just leave Dave there though, even though he was technically brain dead from the lobotomy, I guess. Throughout the ending, the Dr. is wanting to continue with his research. Definitely not a Hollywood ending-actually found it to be a bit lacking.