A man takes up residence with a mysterious marquis and is soon persuaded to enter into an asylum for preventative therapy. Things are not what they seem, and the marquis may be even more sinister than what the young man might have predicted.
Pavel Liška Jan Tříska Anna Geislerová Jaroslav Dušek Martin Huba Karel Heřman Pavel Nový Stano Dančiak Jiří Krytinář Kateřina Růžičková Iva Littmanová Katerina Valachová Josef Kaspar Miroslav Navrátil Jiří Maria Sieber Ctirad Götz Milan David Michael Hoffbauer Renata Sátková Vladimír Míka Milan Borovicka Lubos Doksanský Vladimír Hodr Josef Polášek Hana Dvoráková Vaclav Jezek Frantisek Polata Jirina Kutilová
ATHANOR Barrandov Studio Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic MEDIA Programme of the European Union Česká televize Státní fond ČR pro podporu a rozvoj české kinematografie Eurimages
Sílení, Безумие, טירוף, Божевільні, Insanidade, 梦魇疯人院, 광기, 瘋狂療養院, Szaleni, ルナシー, Der Wahnsinn
Czechia
Czechia
Edgar Allan Poe + the Marquis de Sade + Jan Svankmajer = Lunacy
Animation: B (onkers)
Artwork: A (mazing)
Narration: C (onfusing)
Storyline: (WT actual) F
Good evening and welcome fellow Children of Chaos.
Most of the stars are for the Stop Motion Animation. When a man pretending to be the MArquis de Sade in 2005 suggest a man go to an insane asylum, well take that it is inspired from "The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether" and it can make for a tedious 2 hours.
Lots of butts though, so that's nice.
From the dude who made that Conspirators of Pleasure movie my issues there are here, everything is just squishing sounds and sloppy mouth noises and like ungh, I hate it so much. For a bit I took my earbud out so I could watch the movies' subtitles without the bombardment of thee gross ass sounds.
I think more or less, while I think that Jan Svankmajer is a good film maker I don't think I'll really vibe with him.
czech adam driver gets cucked
Svankmajer's offering of a horror film although Lunacy pretty much reflects all of the films I have seen by him thus far with his deranged stop motion animation and surreal story telling always on the brink of crossing into territory of terror and absurdity. In all honesty I wouldn't personally classify this film as horror if it was not for the director's own filmed prologue discussing how his intention was so. The main core of the film's plot was inspired by a couple of Edgar Allan Poe short stories in "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" and "The Premature Burial" and while the content may be of horrific nature, Svankmajer tends to capitalize on the absurd aspects of…
Anything I could ever ask for in a movie, just not executed in a way that I found enjoyable.
I love stop motion. I love surrealism. I love horror films. I should have loved this movie. But by the end I was struggling to continue onwards. The movie keeps itself so distant. I think Jan Svankmajer has a great amount of vision. But for this particular film it didn't translate into something I would consider watching again. Sure, it's gross. The human tongues, eyeballs, and brains, that are rolling around during the stop motion sequences are kind of a novelty. It kind of surprises you when you see it the first time but it just keeps coming back, the same…
31 DAYS OF HORROR 2024
FILM #25
"It is not a work of art. Today, art is all but dead anyway."
Only Jan Švankmajer can force me to watch countless pieces of raw meat moving around like possessed little puppets every few minutes or so.
Šílení is a bizarre, subversive, wickedly funny and genuinely thought-provoking piece of surrealist cinema, partly inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade. With delightful stop-motion animation, unnerving sound design and plenty of social commentary, Švankmajer creates a unique, remarkably detailed parable of contemporary politics and the corruptive nature of power, whilst also touching on the prevalence of stigma towards mental illness. There's a dichotomy between the idea of exerting…
Horror Hunt #81 (March 2025)
3. Jan Švankmajer
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I'm starting to think I enjoy the idea of Jan Švankmajer's films more than the films themself. The stop motion is always a treat, but there is so much else that just doesn't grab me.
This is my least favorite Švankmajer film so far, and the fact that the dull live action segments completely overshadow the cute stop motion sequences is probably a significant reason for that. I am also just kind of tired of insane asylums as horror settings honestly, there is only so much of mental patients doing quirky things and being put through hell that you can see before it gets repetitive.
The sight of two disembodied tongues shagging is the single Švankmajer-est thing imaginable
Pretty appropriate title.
How can you not love that intro with Svankmajer presenting the film? As for the rest, I thought I would be more into it than I was, but it was still worth watching. The last shot was good and it kinda justified some of the things I wasn't too enthused about while watching the movie.
🐔 ➡️ Svankmajer's monologues give me life. The mind of surrealism feeds on Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade, of the latter I will finally have an idea when I see it.
Join me in this world of nightmares.
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🐔 ➡️ Los monólogos de Svankmajer me dan vida.
La mente del surrealismo se alimenta de Edgar Allan Poe y el Marqués de Sade, de esta última ya tengo por fin una idea cuando la vea.
Acompáñame en este mundo de pesadillas.
💿 Escala de entretenimiento ➡️ Buena.
🎥 ¿Recomendada? ➡️ Para una noche a solas.
Categories in Jan Svankmajer's foley library:
- splats
- plops
- general eating noises
- perverts licking their lips
- the clacking of disembodied teeth
