Basic story about twin sisters, one good, the evil, culminating in a bloody birthday celebration (Happy Birthday to Me? Sisters? Deranged?). Also has a twist ending, but not a difficult one to figure out. Plenty of gory killings here, often carried out by the ugliest Rottweiler dog on the planet, and includes a power drill in the head scene but the gore is pretty fake looking. When the security guard gets attacked by the dog you can plainly see the thick padding around his right arm! Sadly, in between the deaths the film is somewhat plodding, not helped by an annoying soundtrack. As an Italian film it lack the style of say Argento or Fulci. As a one time "video nasty" it is better than dross such as Cannibals or the Mardi Gras Massacre but it's also a million miles away from Tenebrae or Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue.

Red herrings abound in this Video Nasty which was released around the same time as Happy Birthday To Me. They have similar endings and apparently it can't be agreed upon as to which film was released first and who stole from whom. Most people will probably prefer the better known Happy Birthday and will forget this film, but I found it to be one of the better Nasties.Aside from a bogus score, this slasher film is a semi-giallo(OK, not really except for maybe a few scant scenes and you have to pay attention) that has some good moments and, as you might expect, some decent gore. Trish Everly plays Julia, a woman approaching her 25th birthday and her nut case twin sister lives in the mental ward at the hospital. Their parents are dead and the only relative they have left is their uncle, a priest. And, as you'd expect, the director takes the high road and the priest is, of course, involved to some extent in the subsequent murders. Everly, who went on to do nothing after his film, lives in a large house that's been renovated into apartments, and various workers and inhabitants at the home get bumped off. She thinks her sister is planning something for their 25th birthday, and lo and behold, her sister escapes from the mental ward. Her sister, Mary, also has a trained Rottweiler who will kill on command. A surprisingly touching scene shows Julia explaining to the deaf students in her class how a fellow deaf student was killed by the dog. These are real deaf children with varying degrees of speech impediments and other problems, and it brings a tear to my eye. Sniff. But, I digress. Back to the murders. There are actually three killers in this film: two humans and the dog. As others have noted, the dog is the star of the show as he bites throats and rips off hands. Sadly, an obvious puppet is used too often during these scenes as the director obviously didn't know how to handle animal shots.Julia herself is even a suspect, though not outright to the other characters, but to the viewers; her comments in certain scenes make her an unreliable narrator of her past. Be warned if you are an animal or puppet lover: the Rottweiler gets his due towards the end of the film. This is one of the reasons the film made "the list" though there are a few other scenes, such as repeated blows to the back from an axe later on with plenty of chunky goodness to go around.As previously stated, this Video Nasty is some of the better fare on the notorious list and I'll recommend it as a Nasty fan. The film's greatest flaw is the abominable soundtrack. I am rather surprised that Everly never made any other films.

As Madhouse, this film was one of the infamous video nasties that were banned in Britain. It was released uncut in 2004.Julia tells how she was terrorized as a girl by her sister Mary and her dog. next this, in the present day a bloodthirsty rottweiler shows up. Has her sister escaped the Madhouse again? This is a beautifully shot film. It has a real quality feel for a low-budget knockoff. Of course, there is some debate as to whether this is truly a knockoff as it came out the same years as the film it supposedly copies. Who knocked off whom? Besides the cinematography by Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli, it has a great score by Cannibal Holocaust's Riz Ortolani.Slasher fans will enjoy it, and it really isn't that bad, in a bloody way. Of course, Helen (Morgan Hart) might disagree. This cute blond didn't last long, and wasn't very pretty after her attack. If she would have just ripped off her shirt, she might have escaped, and we might have seen a shot of flesh.With Dennis Robertson as the girl's uncle and a crazy priest, and a wacky new age landlady (Edith Ivey), there were plenty of characters to keep us interested.Julia's 25th birthday party was really going well until her boyfriend, Dr. Edwards (Michael MacRae) appeared and had to perform emergency surgery on the rottweiler with a drill. Boy, was Father James hacked at the way things turned out.

Taste—and what it reveals about a person--is a funny thing. For example, there are flicks I simply like, regardless of what others say, regardless of critical reviews. In fact, all of us have favorites that might not hold much sway with the general public. In these films, there may be stupendously bad acting, scenery, costumes, sets, and narrative—but nevertheless there's something "ineffable" about them that jibes with our personal tastes and personal aesthetic in some inexplicable way. We just LIKE them, even though those around us say we have no taste at all. (I hear this a lot.) So, a strange taste-related revelation occurred to me recently as I watched the UK R2 DVD release of "Madhouse" (aka "There Was A Little Girl"—a MUCH better title, by the way). As I watched, I thought to myself, "Sure the 'Crazy Deformed Twin Sister is Going to Kill Me' plot is derivative, but it is nicely composed. As I watched, I also thought the photography was carefully done, with good use of colors, and nice use of the scope format. The mood was unbearably somber and tense. The denouement was appropriate, and I jumped accordingly at a few spots. Finally, I wondered to myself, 'Who made this film?' As I turned the DVD box over to find out, I saw…Ovidio Assonitis! And that's when I realized my tastes were somehow inextricably linked to this director/producer and his aesthetic. Just about every knockoff horror film he has made in his career, I simply love, love, LOVE! Beyond the Door (Exorcist Clone), The Visitor (an Omen Clone], Tentacoli (Jaws Clone), Who Saw Her Die?—though my friends shake their heads in disbelief, I have that same taste-related, inexplicable, unwilling gut-reaction to all these films: I like this! I like the way it is photographed. I like the pace. I like the way the plot rolls out—or the way the plot disappears entirely in some cases. I like the characterizations, the effects. I like the outrageousness of some of the scenes. The music works just right. I just like his films. Ovidio Assonitis is all-right by me! Not surprisingly, known as the "Rip-Off King," Assonitis is railed against hither and thither. Even those who are appreciative of his films feel obliged to say things like, "You know, it wasn't so bad," or "It wasn't as horrible as I thought it might be" (just look at some of the reviews right here).But I think I just discovered that I am an unabashed Ovidio-junkie. He makes the perfectly derivative, low-budget (but nevertheless big-minded, carefully-made, professionally shot) crap I absolutely adore. On the surface, the films are nothing but a cash-in on whatever is trendy at the time. No one disputes that. But these films all saw major theatrical release because, simply put, they are extremely well-made, seriously photographed, professionally acted and scored flicks. They take what they do seriously, even though it's all been done before (and with bigger budgets). These films are great products, including "Madhouse." The UK DVD is also impressive and it shows Ovidio at his film-cloning best. As I mentioned, a great use of the scope format; nice authenticity of settings and background actors (the female protagonist who is being stalked by her deformed twin sis works in a school for the deaf, and real deaf-kid-actors are used to incredible effect in the film); nice use of colors; a nutsy ending. Hey maybe, I'll start an Ovidio Fan Club. In the meantime, though, check this out.And, by the way, when the heck is Ovidio's apocalyptic "The Visitor" (Lance Hendricksen, John Huston, Shelly Winters) ever going to see the light of day on DVD?