
The Mansion of Madness is a wild, wacky thing. Once I would think I’d finally put my finger on what the hell was going on, it switched gears and went somewhere completely different. Based (very loosely, which should be obvious) on Poe’s story “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether,” the film starts with Gaston LeBlanc recounting the mysterious death of his parents; when he says “But, that’s a story for another time,” he means it, and it’s never mentioned again. LeBlanc, his friend Couvier, and Couvier’s cousin are traveling to Dr. Maillard’s insane asylum in the middle of nowhere, as LeBlanc wants to write a newspaper article on the asylum, and Couvier and Dr. Maillard are old friends. Once they reach the grounds, Couvier and his cousin turn back, and LeBlanc gets the full tour of the place, where Dr. Maillard is perfecting his “soothing” method of treating mental illness. To explain much more about the plot would really be to spoil the fun for those who haven’t seen it; anyhow, I’m not really sure I could explain much more if I wanted to.