The Sickhouse (2007)

While excavating the site of a 17th century plague hospital ?archaeologist Anna (Gina Philips) accidentally unleashes the malevolent spirit ?of a?plague?doctor responsible for a series of gruesome murders 350 years earlier?and ?he?s ready to practice again! Trapped inside the hospital with four ?trespassing teens and hunted by the murderous spirit Anna must find a way for ?the living to escape the building before history repeats itself and one by one ?they become permanent patients.Running Time: 129 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/HAUNTED HOUSE UPC: 794043113536 Manufacturer No: 1000037052 Product Description

I feel sick

I watch a lot of horror movies, ghost stories especially. I'm very rarely frightened by any of them, and visually disturbed only a little more often, but this movie managed to do a little of the former and a lot of the latter. Having just watched it, I'm left with a feeling of filth and taint, like when I first saw the video for Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy", oh so many years ago. I'm even somewhat nauseous. That's how visually disturbing this movie was at times, I was almost compelled to start thinking about maybe vomiting.

The visuals are exactly what I've been looking for in a horror movie, and they are really where the feeling of filth comes from. The colors are drab, the lighting is unnaturally bleak and the camera work is reminiscent of a nightmare. The shaky-cam technique doesn't always work out to the film's advantage, but for the most part, it's used quite well. The ghosts are pretty good, but I think their presence could have used some more obviating instead of them just showing up every once in a while. The atmosphere is icky, but it's not creepy. The entire movie is pretty well devoid of horrifying moments. You'll probably be grossed out, not scared.

The acting is pretty good. You may think that acting in a horror movie doesn't require any talent, but try looking scared while you run from what you know is just a guy in a suit, a puppet or empty space to be edited with CG later. Then try doing it all day and you'll have an idea of what it takes to film an entire flick. The characters were all believable, and even though they weren't as well fleshed out or deep as some may like, they weren't simple plot bots. That role seemed well filled by the ghosts, whose motives were pretty much unknown until the last few minutes, and even then it's sketchy at best.

Not all is well with the movie, however. The editing sucked. There are times where the film moved way too slowly, and the aforementioned shaky cam view sometimes made it unnecessarily difficult to follow what was going on. The movie's worst offense was the map. Every once in a while, it comes out of the movie to show you where the next scene will be on a map of the complex. It's cheesy, ugly, stupid and gives off a horrible "Uwe Boll" stench. The director would do well to learn from this mistake.

All in all, it was a good horror movie. If the director can capitalize on his ability to perturb and mix it with real horror, he may bring us a true horror classic. Until then, you can watch this and pretend you're scared. September 16, 2008

Movie sucks eggs

I rented this with my friend thinking it would be a good scary flick. OMG it sucked so bad. The young kids were just stupid and there was not much talent required. I wouldn't be suprised if they just improvised the lines the for the whole movie. Unless you want to see some overgrown bigbird looking dude murder people, don't waste your time/money...GO see Mirrors!! August 30, 2008

Can somebody please make a true HORROR movie!!

This flick was just a plain waste of my time, did not scare me once, goes no where, special FX were nothing to write home about. I do not "WRECK-A-MEND" this piece of garbage to anyone. It seems that NOBODY these days knows how to make TRUE HORROR flicks like they did in the 80's. In the 80's you had lots of blood, gore, storylines & more, now it seems that movie producers are just trying to be way to artsy & that just plain sucks. Come on movie producers get with the true meaning of horror & when you do contact me at Cult Movies Magazine. Schroeder (Publisher/Owner) of Cult Movies Magazine. July 26, 2008

Goes nowhere!

I feel the peformances were strong. But, the plot never seems to take hold and the scare aren't there. They try to get scares by using camera tricks and "shaking" objects (ghosts) as if the emulate Japanese Horror. The story just leaves you flat. July 8, 2008

One of the worst ever made!

I actually got lucky on this, and VOD'ed it rather than buying it. Boy, am I glad.

This film seemed promising at the outset, but became more idiotic as each minute passed. The plot revolves around an attractive American archaeologist working solo on a dig in an old sanitorium in London. Her work is interrupted by a group of typically obnoxious British "teens" who are in the process of fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run accident. They soon discover that the building is haunted not only by the spirits of murdered children, but also by the powerful ghost of a "plague doctor". Fairly decent synopsis, yes? Unfortunately for this film, the synopsis is the only thing remotely interesting about it.

The film's dialogue is pedantic and predictable, the acting is atrocious, and the cinematography is reminiscent of a student film. I assume the director was going for a "realistic-yet-gothic" feel when shooting this movie. I won't spoil the ending for those of you who insist on watching it, but suffice it to say you'll know the ending before you get halfway through it.

Do yourself a favor and watch the original House on Haunted Hill if you want a good ghost movie. This one belongs in the bin, not on your shelf. May 16, 2008

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