''Insanitarium '' is a 2008 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

horror-

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

starring

Jesse Metcalfe Jesse Eden Metcalfe (born December 9, 1978) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of John Rowland on ''Desperate Housewives''. Metcalfe has also had notable roles on ''Passions'' and played the title role in '' John T ...

Kiele Sanchez Kiele Michelle Sanchez ( ; born October 13, 1977) is an American actress who starred in the A&E Network drama '' The Glades''. Previously, she had starred as Anne Sorelli in The WB comedy-drama ''Related'' and as Nikki Fernandez on the main cast ...

, Kevin Sussman,

Olivia Munn Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress and former television host. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network ...

Carla Gallo Carla Paolina Gallo (born 1975) is an American actress. Gallo has had recurring roles in the television series '' Undeclared'', ''Carnivàle'', '' Bones'', '' Californication'', and a number of film roles. Since her role on ''Undeclared'', she ...

and

Peter Stormare Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm (born August 27, 1953), better known as Peter Stormare (), is a Swedish actor who holds both Swedish and American citizenship. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the film '' Fargo'' (1996) and John Abruzzi in the television ser ...

. The film is directed by Jeff Buhler.

Plot

The film follows a man, Jack (

), faking insanity in order to save his sister, Lily (

), who has been involuntarily institutionalized. The siblings soon find that the strange doctor at the asylum, Mr. Gianetti (

), has been testing an experimental compound, orphium, on the patients that seems to be turning them into flesh-eating zombies; Loomis (

Kurt Caceres Kurt Caceres (born Kurt Heinzman; October 18, 1972) is an American actor of German and Mexican descent. He is best known for his role as Hector Avila on the hit Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox drama ''Prison Break''. Life and career He was also a ...

), another patient, spreads the infection. The two siblings band together with a terminally paranoid man, Dave ( Kevin Sussman), and a helpful nurse, Nancy (

), in the hopes of finding a way out of the asylum. They are attacked by most of the prisoners and staff, who kill Nancy; while on the 4th floor, they encounter the doctor, who gives Dave an icepick

lobotomy A lobotomy, or leucotomy, is a form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy) that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. The surgery causes most of the connections to ...

, incapacitating him; he attempts to get Jack too, but ends up being infected by Loomis. At the end of the film, as the two siblings are in a police car heading to the asylum to investigate, the officers (

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, former astronaut, and United States Navy captain who has served as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was electe ...

Sharon Schaffer Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

) accidentally let the patients escape into the outside world. It ends with a panning shot, revealing the city below the asylum's hillside location. The secondary plot focuses on the affair between Charles (

Evan Parke Evan Dexter O'Neal Parke (born January 2, 1968) is a Jamaican-born American actor perhaps best known for his role as Hayes in ''King Kong''. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, he was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and then on Long Island. He at ...

) and Heather (

Lisa Arturo Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), ...

Cast

Production

The film was shot during August/September 2007 with the majority of filming taking place at the abandoned RFK Memorial Hospital in

Hawthorne, California Hawthorne is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is part of a seventeen-city region commonly called the South Bay. As of the 2020 US census, Hawthorne had a population of 88,0 ...

. The "maximum security" set and the "laundry chute" were both constructed from scratch on site in an empty wing of the hospital. Mathew Mungle Creations, the same special effects company that supplied the notorious effects for the Jeff Buhler written ''

Midnight Meat Train ''The Midnight Meat Train'' is a 2008 American horror film based on Clive Barker's 1984 short story of the same name, which can be found in Volume One of Barker's collection ''Books of Blood''. The film follows a photographer who attempts to trac ...

'', also supplied the special effects for Insanitarium. Nearly everything was done using

practical effect A practical effect is a special effect produced physically, without computer-generated imagery or other post-production techniques. In some contexts, "special effect" is used as a synonym of "practical effect", in contrast to "visual effects" ...

s and prosthetics with very little contribution from CGI, including the decapitation of a fake cat. Stormare improvised many parts of his role, including the "panties in the mouth" scene with

, who plays Vera, his research assistant. She comments on this scene in the behind the scenes

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

extras.

External links

*{{IMDb title, 1103984

References

2008 horror films American zombie films Films set in psychiatric hospitals Hawthorne, California 2008 films Screen Gems films Stage 6 Films films Films produced by Mason Novick Direct-to-video horror films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films