
Madhouse
1981 · Movie · R · 92 min · ★ 5.6
Helmed by legendary producer/director Ovidio Assonitis, the man behind such cult favourites as The Visitor and Piranha II: The Spawning, Madhouse is a crimson-soaked tale of sibling rivalry taken to a terrifying and bloody extreme. Julia has spent her entire adult life trying to forget the torment she suffered at the hands of her twisted twin Mary… but Mary hasn’t forgotten. Escaping hospital, where she’s recently been admitted with a horrific, disfiguring illness, Julia’s sadistic sister vows to exact a particularly cruel revenge on her sibling this year – promising a birthday surprise that she’ll never forget. An Italian production shot entirely in Savannah, Georgia, Madhouse (aka And When She Was Bad and There Was a Little Girl) fuses slasher elements with the over-the-top excess of ‘80s Italian terror – resulting in a cinematic bloodbath so gut-wrenching that the British authorities saw fit to outlaw it as a “video nasty”.
Also known as And When She Was Bad · Flesh and the Beast · Scared to Death · There Was a Little Girl
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Details
- Years
- 1981
- Release date
- 1981-03-04
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 92 min
- TMDB rating
- 5.6/10 (69 votes)
Themes
- birthday
- psychopath
- twin sister
- animal attack
- rottweiler
- revenge
- mental institution
- rabid dog
- video nasty
- female teacher
Cast & crew
- PM
Patricia Mickey
as Julia Sullivan (as Trish Everly)
- AB
Allison Biggers
as Mary Sullivan

Michael MacRae
as Sam Edwards
- DR
Dennis Robertson
as Father James
- MH
Morgan Hart
as Helen
- EI
Edith Ivey
as Amantha Beauregard
- JF
Jerry Fujikawa
as Mr. Kimura
- DD
Doug Dillingham
as Golden
- DD
Don Devendorf
as Principal
- JC
Joe Camp
as Hospital Guard
Directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis