House of Madness

A curiosity based on an obscure Poe story, The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, which is well worth a look. Definite echoes of Jodorowsky and Arrabal, but in general Moctezuma, who has a fetching visual style, steers clear of the obvious pitfalls of absurdist horror. His film is about a kind of 'kingdom' of madness which is established when the inmates of a vast and surreal insane asylum lock up their wardens and establish their own bizarre hierarchy of activities and ideas. Many of the images and sequences have a weird beauty, though the pace flags towards the end.