Two disturbed teenagers, just out of the mental ward several years after killing their parents, come to stay with their older sister...soon, "bad things begin happening", as they say. Updated variation of Reginald Denham and Edward Percy's play "Ladies in Retirement"--first filmed in 1941 with Ida Lupino and Evelyn Keyes--given a hammy treatment by director Bernard Girard. Laying on the lunatic melodrama with a touch of cartoony blood, Girard shows no responsibility towards the audience, he's just out for cheap shocks. Stella Stevens and Shelley Winters are the stars this time, and it is fun watching these two square off against each other even if the movie is pure sleaze. Ridiculous and off-putting in the extreme, with a somewhat pretentious finale that defies explanation. *1/2 from ****
Review of The Mad Room
