'Altogther now, four fowls!'
#Gobble Gobble Gobble#
Welcome Back to my Dark Corner of this Sick World.
‘Your nerves are not used to such amusement’
Also known as House of Madness, Mexican film Dr Tarr’s Torture Chamber
is based on the Edgar Allan Poe story The System of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether.
‘You did not intend to say that you have never heard of the learned Dr Tarr and the celebrated Dr Fether?’
And while the film sticks pretty closely to the events of the story it completely changes the meaning.
‘However, that is another story’
Journalist Gaston LeBlanc has come to visit the insane asylum of Dr Maillard,
accompanied by his friend Couvier,
‘Care to come with me?’
‘I don’t think so.’
Up to a point. Couvier isn’t going in,
and who can blame him.
‘What was he shouting?’
‘The names of the devil' (Devil continues to echo in a haunting fashion.)
The road is constantly blocked. If its not a maniac shouting the names of the devil, its a giant log.
'His strength is unbelievable.'
'Hurah!'
A fake ghost.
Or Timothy.
'Put your gun down Timothy.'
Finally LeBlanc meets the charming Dr Maillard.
‘I’m Dr Maillard. What can I do for you?’
Who has pioneered a new system of patient care called ‘soothing’,
which involves treating them more kindly,
‘You know LeBlanc, I consider them all my children, and this is their home.’
Do you get children to tow you around in a little cart?
‘Chicken thinks he’s a chicken’
Maillard lets the inmates do pretty much what they want.
‘Remarkable doctor’
Yeah, all this seems great. But it has its dark side,
#mutterings of dying man.#
like really dark.
'I think Doctor you are taking this too far.'
The chicken guy was fine but this is pretty out there.
This initial tour of the asylum takes almost half the movie and Dr Maillard talks throughout.
'The incredible heat we gather is later processed and crystallized into a  miraculous drug, this drug kills inactiveness and changes men to such an extent that they forget their agressive nature - oh wonder of wonders Mr LaBlanc' (Damn it take a breath!)
In the privacy of his room, LeBlanc recalls the events of the day.
'I'm Dr Mallard, what can I do for you?'
Just to remind the audience of what they saw a few minutes ago, and to foreshadow the big revelation.
‘I insist you’re an imposter’
You see, this is the problem of stretching a short story into a feature,
firstly, after 40 minutes of watching mad people being mad,
'The alchemist and the dragon will now be crowned.'
narrated by someone who seems no less mad,
#Crazy manic laughter#
I’m actually not that stunned to learn that he may not be a medical professional,
‘Ah, but not by the staircase you know, we’ll use the rope ladder’
Secondly, it’s not really a story,
‘Gaston. Tonight in the garden’
LeBlanc is inspired to escape by a completely unexplained vision of inmate Eugenie,
who tried to kill Maillard and has been punished by being turned into a fruit salad.
The image apparently has a strong effect on LeBlanc.
‘Don’t worry my love’
I know I say this a lot about films, but they fell in love very fast.
‘You are strong Gaston’
Eugenie has only been pretending to be mad. Her father is the real Dr Maillard who has been imprisoned by imposter Fragonard.
‘A few months ago after he arrived he incited the other patients to revolt’
With the help of the returned Couvier,
‘Wooooo!’
they set out to rescue the Dr.
'I am aiming precisely at your heart with my gun, any false move your part will prove to be fatal.'
Goes badly. Couvier is thrown into a crowded cell.
While LeBlanc…
'I'm not your patient.'
is oiled up by a pair of naked women.
If I was Couvier I’d be pissed.
The revelation of what has happened here...
‘Guards and patients traded roles and lunatics were set free and their keepers locked up to rot in dungeons.'
has led the film to stumble into a plot, but with the heroes captured it quickly reverts to madness,
#I have no idea what this muppet is trying to say, the skills of the pupperter at throwing their voice is not good.#
nonsense...
‘I know the secret for submitting all men and women to my will and you want me to disclose this’
and admittedly hilarious dialogue.
‘Uncover the secret that lies under the celery!’
Now LeBlanc is to be killed.
After the floor show. But…
he is saved and the tables are turned on Fragonard.
'No let me have it. We have several scores to settle'
Plus, I’ve been completely useless to this point, at least let me kill him.
'Viva La Revolution!'
And so LeBlanc remains useless to the end.
‘You lie’
As a film, it’s an interesting experience.
‘What exactly do you mean by an interesting experience’
Obviously the satirical content of Poe’s story is long gone,
but the real problem here is that the pitch for this movie seems to have been;
lots of weird stuff.
#Mallard is going on an other rant, I'm sorry but I'm not transcribing anymore of his mad rantings, it adds nothing to the story.#
Which doesn’t make a story and makes LeBlanc look like an idiot as he wanders around going;
I’m just not sure about all this.
‘Enough of this melodramatic foolisheness’
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Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations are the best known but what other adaptations are out there? Let us know in the comments below.
'Out!  Out! Ouuuut!'
