2015 / 102m - Australia
Horror
3.0*/5.0*
Bedlam poster

Watches

October 23, 2020

3.0*/5.0*

Unpleasant and disturbing. The past years there have been plenty of films that use horror to talk about mental illness, Bedlam takes the less classy route and uses mental illness for horror purposes. Maybe not very PC nowadays, but it sure is a lot more effective on the actual horror side of things.

George suffers from schizophrenia, an illness he inherited from his mother. George's doctor convinces him to get himself admitted into his clinic, where he uses experimental treatments to try and cure his patients. He complies, but ends up a prisoner in a facility where patients are tortured and abused rather than cured.

The cinematography cannot hide the fact that the budget was pretty low-budget, neither can the mediocre performances, but Barker's talent shines through. Even more so in the soundtrack, which is by far the most impressive part of the film. The cruelty is pretty graphic and depressing, short bursts of comedy (the commercials) feel a little out of place, but overall this was a pretty nasty and disturbing horror flick. Entertaining, but only for niche audiences.