Insaniac (2002)

   
Produced, Directed & Make Up Effects by: John Specht

Associate Produced & Written by:
Robin Garrels

Starring:


Robin Garrels .... Autumn
Chris Grega .... Hart
John Specht .... Dr. Lumen
Derek Simmons .... Kelley
Chris Martin .... Forest
Eric Whitman .... Rico
David Burnett .... Tony

Release Date: B-Movie Film Festival: January, 2002

 

Rating:

 

A deranged woman suffering from amnesia named Autumn (Robin Garrels) is hypnotised so that she can explore her own mind.
While she is trying to remeber her memories they are plagued by drug users and dealers, slaughterings and her dead friends coming to life blaming her as well as leading to deadly mobsters which makes her go crazier.

 

Alot of the scene's in the beginning didn't make much sense as we see a couple of guys getting high and having discussions at a party which I had a hard time finding out why this came to be.
While we continue watching everything we spot the main character Autumn going through a depression while talking to her boyfriend Hart while sobbing which is supposed to leave a clue that something horrifying will unravel later on.
Then we get into many discussions between Autumn and her shrink at an asylum Dr. Lumen in which she shows her frusterations and rage as well as him trying to be patient but this looked terribly lacking and amateurish by all that we see here.
Things looked oddly interesting though when we enter the flashback memories of her and entering her bizarre mind as there's a cheesy cheap looking grindhouse scene when she goes into what looks like a run down factory and spotting a guy bringing out weapons for her to look at.
Also we have her having an argument with Hart while she tries to stay calm and he loses it. This looked bit strong but we see the camera going back and fourth with them which is bad work on the crews end making you a little dizzy while watching this.
There's a situation between Autumn and a party goer getting high and talking which looked terribly pointless and seemed to be an excuse to kill more time like in the rest of this story. Seemed like a scene where you'd trip on some heavy LSD while watching all of this.
A real attention grabber is when Autumn enters a dark and dreary room and sees a woman who hung herself as well as a TV hung too and a good look on this corpse opening her eyes and hiising at her as well as putting blame onto her which looking haunting like and psychotic too. It was interesting while seeing this on a VHS budget flick. This was one of the only scene's worth watching.
Nice dark hallway moments with Autumn running through them and spotting someone in a room which is a full grown adult acting like a little girl as well as something gruesome looking on the back of her head after showing what she's playing with.
We also spot her following a figure dressed in white as this looked mysterious in an amateurishly way but when we spot the discussions it starts to end up a little dragging.
We have a situation with both Autumn and Hart being pitted against a gang as this looked mildly fun to watch but some of the aggressions that we see here looked a little too over the top at the same time. There's some interesting moments on Autumn finding a weapon and shooting some of them with gruesome results as this will mildly please the horror fans of no budget duds.
Bottom line: Oh god where do I start? Made on a super VHS and bad audio I am surprised this film was released at all. At least put some money into it. The story is extremely confusing in the beginning but it still barely carries a plot afterwards. This film was really a waste of time and barely a horror film only excuse is entering a mind of a disturbed young woman as well as spotting dead bodies as well as some gruesome moments.

The acting is quite terrible I must say but of course there's poor audio too which is to blame and only a few to mention here so let's take a look..... Robin Garrels (Autumn) seemed to try the best that she can to show off her disturbed behavior but alot of the times when she shows her rage or frustrations she is over the top and also didn't know on how to get emotional or crying. Her energy seemed to be there but just not natural enough. Seemed to do well by being patient in certain scene's though.
Chris Grega (Hart) seemed almost passable with his job as the boyfriend in which he seemed to show off his aggressions clearly and offers some decent energy but at times he seems a little too much within whatever he does here. However does well getting into a pleasant conversation in a certain scene. He was probably the best actor out of the whole cast.
John Specht (Dr. Lumen) tried to pull his weight as a shrink at the asylum but however seemed a little too much and just couldn't pull off a chatracter even if he was trying to show patience or getting high with his energy. Just doesn't cut it I find here. He doesn't even look right for the part in my personal opinion.
Chris Martin (Forest) wasn't too shabby as a bad ass gangster type in which he does well acting like a pig or getting demanding. Really draws this in pretty good. At times like the rest of the cast seemed too over the top but worked hard on his role and deserves a good pat on the back. Plus had a good tall like features for his role along with someone untrustworthy too.

A face is clawed.
A throat is torn open.
A headless body is exposed along with a decapitated head
Many bloody and torn corpses

There are some interesting moments with David Burnett's music in the film as he can do wonders with his synthesizer playing. We have some airy and outer space type of playing as well as some of it sounding native indian type themed music making it seem interesting as well as deep low tones and echoey bumping sounds but it gets annoying over time. There's many annoying sounds too which got to me and lacked inspiration.