LA MANSION DE LA LOCURA
aka The Mansion of Madness
dir. Juan López Moctezuma, 1973.
Mexico, 99 min.
In English.

SUNDAY, APRIL 5 - 5 PM
THURSDAY, APRIL 30 - 10 PM

Based on Poe’s story “The System Of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether,” in which a reporter visits an asylum to discover the system by which the roles of the insane and the caregivers have become a bit muddled, we enter into a film where political satire and surrealist horror blend into a truly astonishing mixture, a place out of time where a man becomes a chicken, the body becomes a musical instrument, and nothing is ever as it seems. Director Juan Lopez Moctezuma (ALUCARDA, MARY MARY BLOODY MARY) was a member of Mexico’s Panic movement alongside Alejandro Jodorowsky and Fernando Arrabal: the three worked together on FANDO Y LIS, which should give you some idea of what you’re in for. With a cast led by the great Claudio Brook (CRONOS, THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL) in a dual role as the mad Dr. Maillard as well as Raoul Fragonard, the film is as a dream, a ritual, a series of living tableaux. Describing the plot would be to cheapen the film, but it’s worth noting no less than Leonora Carrington served as art director. We are honored to present this film in its longest known cut, with the original English dialogue, miles from public domain cuts. Those expecting cheap horror will be disappointed; those expecting clarity will be confused, those with eyes to see will behold a revelation.