The Mad Room (1969)

Overrated and overhyped

How sad is this?

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

In the opening we hear eerie music and see finger-painted daisies in blood on walls and on a door. The title produces an animated bloody drop. Newspaper headlines scream bloody murder. We know we will see a horror movie, not a monster feature, but a psychological mystery. Fourteen year old Ellen Hardy was said to have walked in on her much younger siblings George (aged six) and Mandy (aged four), as they – covered in blood – observed the butchered bodies of their parents. Ellen went to an orphanage while the younger children were sent to an insane asylum in Toronto. Later in the film we will learn that each of the younger siblings has accused the other of the double murders. Memories seem a little fuzzy.The feature begins on Vancouver Island where Ellen (Stella Stevens) has grown up into a very attractive woman (!) and is living as a companion with her future mother-in-law, dizzy and alcoholic Gladys Armstrong (Shelley Winters). Ellen is engaged to Sam (Skip Ward), Glady's stepson. At the ten minute mark Ellen receives chilling correspondence from Toronto in the mail. After she arrives in Toronto, Ellen is told by Dr. Kincaid (Lloyd Haynes) that the grown up children George (aged eighteen, Michael Burns) and Mandy (aged sixteen, Barbara Sammeth) are considered sane and are eligible for discharge. Dr. Kincaid further tells Ellen that Mandy had told him that jealousy of their older sister caused the deaths of their parents. Now the teenagers have need of an older adult supporter, and Ellen has been awarded custody. She is a bit hesitant, as she does not want to jeopardize her present situation. In the end Ellen does agree to take in the teens but tells them to keep tight-lipped about their past. Furthermore, Ellen says that she has made up a story about a nonexistent and weird "Uncle Harry." After the introductions are made at the Armstrong mansion Mandy tells Ellen that her brother and she will need a "mad room" (besides a bedroom) where they can be alone to think and wind down. Ellen decides on an upstairs general study at the end of the hall. Gladys' however, has declared the locked study to be off-limits to anybody but her. Ellen gives Mandy the keys anyway. Meanwhile George is attracted to the good-looking and slender black housekeeper Chris (Carol Cole), who is in her mid-twenties. Eventually, Gladys catches Mandy in the mad room and gets very angry. She confronts Ellen, who is forced to tell her the truth about her brother and sister. Before she retires for the evening, Gladys implies that Ellen's situation has permanently changed. Later that night, Gladys is found hacked to death and, as before, George and Mandy suspect each other of the murder. Meanwhile Ellen grows more and more unhinged. She tells her siblings to think that nothing has happened and that she has a cover-up plan. Meanwhile the family dog Major, who likes more than "SNAUSAGES," has found the body and has taken and hidden Gladys' severed left hand.There is a woman's social luncheon at the Armstrong residence. Ellen has made up a story that Gladys was unable to attend as she had to leave town. Mrs. Racine (Beverly Garland) tells the women that her two-timing husband Armand has taken a trip with Gladys and that everyone knows about his reputation. Note Ellen's lips very carefully when she hears this, as this is a possible way out of a prickly situation. A little later, Mrs. Racine runs upstairs to the bathroom where she locks herself in and attempts suicide by slicing her wrists.SUPER SPOILER ALERT: Ellen is soon seen disposing of Gladys' body into a scenic canyon waterway; the tale told is that Gladys must have accidentally fallen into the river. Back at the house, Major is seen by Ellen carrying Gladys' severed hand in its mouth. Totally deranged, Ellen trails the dog into the basement where she hacks it to death as Sam happens to show up. Ellen says "Forgive them" and looks at Sam bewilderingly as the end credits roll.The cast leads are as great as they are well-known: Shelley Winters and Stella Stevens. Winters had been in movies since the 1940s, and had a nice role in "A Place in the Sun" (1951). Supporting actors also do well: Beverly Garland and Lloyd Haynes. Garland delivers a nice cameo as Mrs. Racine while Haynes also had an appearance as Dr. Kincaid; he gained fame from TV's "Room 222" (1969-1974). Michael Burns and Barbara Sammeth more than adequately keep us guessing, but this movie belongs to Stella Stevens, who at age thirty-three is at her height. Extremely appealing, Ms. Stevens of Hot Coffee, Mississippi, delivers a solid performance as the unbalanced older sister. She had acted in "L'il Abner" (1959), "The Nutty Professor" (1963), and in many TV series. The atmosphere of "The Mad Room" is eerie, but had the top folks not messed with the final product, the film would have vastly improved. More development about the mad room would have helped. As it is, the movie is still sufficiently creepy.

MAD ROOM is based on the 1941 classic LADIES IN RETIREMENT. Ellen Hardy(Stella Stevens)is an assistant and companion to a wealthy, but a bit psychotic old widow Gladys Armstrong(Shelley Winters), who just so happens to be Ellen's future mother-in-law. Ellen is deeply in love with her fiancé Sam(Skip Ward), but there are secrets yet to be told. Ellen's teenage brother and sister are released from a mental institution where they were put after being suspected of slaughtering their parents. Miss Hardy believes she is the only witness, but her memory is very confusing. The teens need a place to go, and Ellen has to conger a reason to have them come to Mrs. Armstrong's ever expanding home. Ellen will have to be devious in convincing the old widow that sharing her home will not interfere with anyone's lifestyle.Suspense will thicken. The two teens still believe that the other committed the gory murders. Lies upon lies will be amplified when a horrid event takes place. Now suspicion and a cover-up will have to be crafted. This psychological drama also features: Michael Burns, Carol Cole, Barbara Sammeth, Severn Darden and Beverly Garland.

Coming late in the 60's cycle of mature star shockers, Shelley Winters (who sounds as if she did some of her scenes in one take) and Stella Stevens square off in this watchable B that would have gone straight to video these days. Features a mutt with a taste for more than just Shmackos and worth seeing for the riveting cameo by Beverley Garland as the scorned wife drunk at a society party, but basically Stella's the whole show. Lots of zoom camerawork and 60s wigs! Ends suddenly in the best traditions! Perfect double feature with 'The Big Cube'! 6/10

The beautiful and sexy Stella Stevens has always been regarded as a gifted comedy actress, and with good reason. But occasionally, Stevens has turned in a credible and strong dramatic performance. THE MAD ROOM exploits this serious side of Stevens best. A remake of the 1941 Ida Lupino vehicle LADIES IN RETIREMENT, this film features Stevens as a young housekeeper who has been hiding a dark and disturbing secret from her wealthy employer(the great Shelley Winters). The secret is that Stevens has a younger brother and sister who have been committed to an asylum for brutally murdering their mother and father years before. However, it seems that the skeletons that Stevens has worked so hard to keep hidden, may at last tumble out of her closet. The doctor that has been treating Stevens' siblings insists that they are cured and should be released. Needless to say, this will interfere with Stevens' plans to wed her employer's handsome stepson. A fine tale of suspense, THE MAD ROOM features several bizarre twists and shocking scenes, and terrific performances by the all-star cast. Stevens is magnificent as the tormented housekeeper, Winters is superb as her bitchy employer, and Michael Burns and Barbara Sammeth are appropriately menacing as Stevens' disturbed siblings.