Dr. Rage (2005)

Dreadfully Boring

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This review pertains to the "Unrated Directors Cut" Where to begin on a film like this? First of all I have seen many, many horror movies, but never one quite like this. You will notice from the first five minutes that this film isn't exactly a "Hollywood" production, but I tried not to let that taint my review. The film revolves around a taxi-driver who has a bit of a rage problem and instead of facing jail time, decides to do some medical "research" There are a few minor twists and turns that I will leave for you to find out, but the bottom line is this movie never reaches the high expectations shown on its DVD Cover. The special effects are OK, the last five minutes are fair, but the overall mood of the movie never really reaches full effect.If you are a fan of odd, low budget, dialog movies, then you might actually find this one somewhat entertaining. The added sex scene provides at least some sort of excitement to an otherwise dull production.My rating 2 out of 10.

STRAUN HOUSE Starring: Denice Duff, Andrew Divoff, Karen Black and John Kassir. "So, You think you're ANGRY now !,Wait till THE DOCTOR sees YOU !"We wish they had used one of the original titles, Dr. Rage or The Last Patient, The public would have loved this 'Reanimator-esque' Mad Doctor romp. Denice Duff is gorgeous and has some wonderful scenes. Andrew Divoff seems over the top, Until you are privy to whole plot. Karen Black as a lawyer, No really ! John Kassir is a rubber face henchman, Brings new meaning to the word "Lackey". Theasylum has a good scare here and seems to let it breath with gusto. The beginning and the middle set up a fantastic finale with multiple gore effects

This film is a must, if you are a fan of creepy and weird performances. Straun House, which is the likely title you'll find this under, was never as scary as it should have been, but the twists, and genre veterans elevate it higher than the norm. Andrew Divoff is does what he does best here as the creepy doctor, the lovely Denice Duff who is sadly underrated, and should get mainstream roles, plays her part well, John Kassir of Tales From The Crypt fame takes on the Igor role to Andrew Divoff's Frankenstein, and Karen Black is only in it for a short time, but has a secret plot twist of her own. First off just to warn you, although the DVD I got was Unrated, and promised a bloodbath, this film isn't very bloody, so if thats what your after, look elsewhere. With exception of a gruesome looking mutant, and a gory death at the very end, this film is pretty much bloodless. My main gripe was that the tension was never amped up as high as it could have been.If your into films such as Madhouse(Joshua Leonard), Re-Animator series, or Apartment Complex, you should enjoy Straun House. The films low budget doesn't hurt it at all, as most of the action takes place in a rundown facility, and there is no CGI, only old school makeup effects in a few scenes.

There were two good things about this movie. It ended, and I didn't buy it.The dialog was silly, the sets were thrift store rejects, the director was just one step above renting a barn and putting on a show, the lead character was stiff, and his nose moves with his upper lip. Karen Black should be ashamed. I guess you could tell its not one of my favorites I must say, that if they had intended to make a parody of a 1950's horror movie, they could have promoted it for laughs. There are a few giggles. If only the girl had sprained her ankle while running in heels up the stairs with the monster right behind her.