Mansion Of Madness

Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: 2/22/2005
Director: Juan Lopez
Cast: N/A
Year: 1973
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The Movie:

Better known stateside as Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon (an extrememly misleading title if ever there was one, and the cover art of the Magnum VHS release made it look like an Andy Milligan sex and gore film), Mansion Of Madness is the directorial debut of Panic Movement member Juan Lopez Moctezuma (better known for Alucarda).

Losely based on Edgar Allen Poe's The System Of Doctor Tarr And Professor Feather, the story follows a Frenchman named Gaston (Arthur Hansel who had a bit part in the Cannon films masterpiece 10 To Midnight with Charles Bronson!) who has returned to his homeland after several years studying abroad in the United States. His goal is to visit the mental hospital where his father recently passed away, and when the film opens he's travelling by horse and buggy with a man and a woman through the thick woods to get there.

He arrives at the hospital and sets about on his quest, while the his two fellow travellers head off back into the woods only to meet a dire fate. Gaston soon meets up with Dr. Maillard (Claudio Brook, also of Alucarda), whose controversial methods are looked upon with some distrust by the local medical community, and rightfully so. Maillard allows his patients almost completely free reign of the facility. A man who is convinced he is a chicken runs around, as does a man who thinks he is an owl. Oddly enough, the doctor's employees seem equally off balance, as does the doctor himself. His beautiful daughter, Eugenis (Ellen Sherman), has a penchant for bizarre dances and she soon takes an interest in the hosptals new arrival.

One night Eugenie and Gaston meet, and she explains her father's history to him - he's not actually a real doctor at all but a criminal mastermind who has organized a revolution of sorts. The inmates have literally taken over the asylum and they have the real hospital workers looked up in the basement of the hospital. The two decide to make a break for it and get out of the hospital while the still can, but Maillard's cronies quickly capture them and bring them back to the facility, where they too will be locked up in the basement - a place where insanity is king and there are no rules.

The strong Moctezuma/Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain) connection is obvious on this film. There are many surrealist touches on display, from the costumes and settings to the random actions of the inmates and their captors. The story is really only there to string together the bizarre set pieces and give a little bit of method to all of the madness contained therein. Moctezuma's background in the Panic Movement is made clearly obvious by the irrational actions and dialogue of the central characters within the film, as well as the over the top theatrics and truly unsettling conclusion. In short, this film doesn't really resemble Poe's source material so much, and it would seem that the film is less of an adaptation than maybe a very loose interpretation. There are some traditional gothic sets, and the setup is pure Poe, but once Gaston gets into the hospital and the devil begins to hop around in the woods jumping and waving like a maniac, we are very definitely in surrealist territory.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Despite the text warning at the beginning of the film stating that there were limitations encountered during the restoration and that the print couldn't be cleaned up as much as they'd have liked, Mondo Macabro have produced a very fine looking transfer on this DVD. The 1.33.1 fullframe image is presented in its original aspect ratio with reasonably strong colors, limited print damage (mainly just specks here and there, the odd tiny scratch), and a very clear, detailed picture.

The smoke and fog effects at the beginning of the film are perfectly rendered, and there aren't any problems with mpeg compression during these scenes or during the darker scenes. Edge enhancement is ever so slight, and overall this is a very, very nice picture on a very well authored disc.


You've got two choices here for audio options, both of which are in Dolby Digital Stereo tracks (though they sound more like mono). First up is the English dub, which, seeing as the film was trimmed for its US release, reverts back to Spanish with English subs for a few scenes that were never dubbed. Second is the Spanish language track, with optional English subtitles that are easy to read and typo free. As far as which track is better, they sound more or less the same in terms of audio quality. The English track has the advantage of techically being more authentic as the film was shot with a North American market in mind, but the Spanish track has the advantage of not reverting to an alternate language with subtitles during the racier scenes. It all boils down to personal preference, really - both mixes are fine.

First off is a thirteen minute and thirty seven second documentary on the films director, Juan Lopez Moctezuma entitled 'Juan Lopez Moctezuma - A Culturla Maverick.' Not only does it feature some clips from his rare, earlier films (I really hope Mondo Macabro releases some of these in the future) but also some dialogue with some Mexican horror experts who gives a great background on the film, and explain his relationship to Jodorowsky and Arrabel and the Panic Movement that they created together. This is the same documentary that was on the US Alucarda DVD.

Also from that same DVD is also an interview with Blade 2 director, Guillermo Del Toro, who speaks amicably about Moctezuma's work in the genre as well as other Mexican directors who've influenced some of the newer crop of Hispanic filmmakers working today. Del Toro knows his stuff and it shows in this interview, which runs seven minutes and seventeen seconds in length.

Rounding out the extra features are a text essay on the film, a biography and filmography and a text interview with the director, a theatrical trailer, the Mondo Macabro promo reel, and a nice stills gallery.

The Final Word:

Mansion Of Madness is just plain weird - but that's not a bad thing. At times quite surrealist, other times strangely fascinating (if a tad confusing), Mondo Macabro has done another fine job of delivering a true cinematic oddity to DVD.