Sanitarium Issue #1 Monsters Are Real
A blood-chilling horror comic based on the popular feature film series starring Malcolm McDowell. In this first terrifying issue, a young boy struggles to survive not only his abusive father, but a mysterious, nightmarish entity that appears to be stalking him. Is the monster real, or just a figment of the poor lad's tormented imagination. Find out who the real monster is in this terrifying, 40 page full color comic that will keep you guessing until the very end!
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Bryan Ortiz is the award winning Director/Writer for the 2nd chapter of Sanitarium feature film version of Monsters are Real. Bryan graduated Cum Laude from the University of the Incarnate Word with his Bachelors in Theatre Arts and a minor in Film from San Antonio TX, where he resides today. Kerry Valderrama is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter. His independent drama GARRISON received wide critical acclaim as a hard-hitting war drama that tackles the tough issue of PTSD. In addition to writing Sanitarium, Kerry directed part three of the three chapter Sanitarium feature film: Up To The Last Man Scott Marcano is an award-winning filmmaker and comic book writer/publisher. His film previous work includes the hit comedy Bio-Dome and The Journey, as well as the graphic novels The Unwanted, Hum, and Nancy Hernandez and the Black Widows.
Review:
Midway through the artfully rendered horror anthology film SANITARIUM, Dr. Henry Stenson a fourth-wall smashing psych ward headmaster/tour guide portrayed with typical sinister-civil aplomb by Malcolm McDowell confides in we, the audience, the following distillation of his life s work: The mind is unbelievably resilient. It can create whole entire fantasies to protect us from reality and blind us from the truth...The more unpleasant the truth, the more potent the fantasy. And, indeed, the great conceptual strength of Sanitarium is its setting a veritable smorgasbord of unreliable narrators, slanted perspectives, and trauma-induced psychosis. At the outset of each segment we are presented with a faceless patient and a case number, which is essentially a prophecy to be fulfilled: One of the characters we are about to meet is insane or will very soon be driven insane. But who? Hints drop; red herrings fly. Eventually the truth is revealed and we move onto the next padded room, a little less sure of our perceptions than before. Imagine the soul of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS possessing the body of the eighties TWILIGHT ZONE iteration, and you ll have a decent idea of the balance SANITARIUM strikes. The film s three directors are greatly aided in this endeavor by a bevy of impressive casting coups. First and foremost, of course, is McDowell, who brings a cultural cachet and gravitas to the proceedings that is strangely fitting: Thirty odd years after his indelible portrayal of the ultra-violence-enamored Alex in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, SANITARIUM sees the screen legend return to similar aesthetic stomping grounds only this time out McDowell isn t a psychopathic human guinea pig at the mercy of an even more demented social engineering bureaucrat; he is the demented social engineering bureaucrat. (Perhaps viewers are being subjected to a clever clandestine Ludovico technique?) McDowell is hardly the only get here. Bryan Ramirez tale of talking puppets and art world intrigue, Figuratively Speaking, features both a gloriously on fire John Glover (SMALLVILLE, GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH) in uber-eccentric-mode and a coiled, reserved Robert Englund. A twitch-tastic Lou Diamond Phillips anchors Kerry Valderrama s Doomsday-Preppers segment Up to the Last Man. And Director Bryan Ortiz deftly summons the harrowing kid vengeance nightmare Monsters Are Real into being with serious assists from twelve year-old TOUCH star David Mazouz, veteran character actor Chris Mulkey, and Lacey Chabert (MEAN GIRLS, PARTY OF FIVE). SANITARIUM is not perfect. The runtime could easily be pared down a bit. There is some unnecessary lingering, in both the narrative and visual realms. Nevertheless, the film largely avoids the pitfalls to which many horror anthologies fall victim. While each segment has its own identity and feel, there is an overarching continuity of tone and coloring that keeps this cohesive entity from devolving into a schizophrenic hodgepodge of jarring blares. The writing is smart and polished, ensuring the films conceit never slides into gimmickry. There is confidence in the execution and verse in the performances. It has the gait and mien, in other words, of a work produced through creative synergy and synchronicity, not strife and one-upmanship. McDowell s Dr. Stenson would probably see such harmonious equilibrium as bad for business, but the even keel in the telling is precisely what allows SANITARIUM s batty stories to succeed so well. --Fangoria
This isn t your average horror anthology by any regard and the unique way of this film s storytelling may put off many viewer s that are expecting a V/H/S or Tales From the Crypt type of film. Instead what we get is a look into the minds of three different mentally ill patients and the horror that is real to them in their world. Since there are three installments, I ll outline them individually, --Lifelesszombies
This isn t your average horror anthology by any regard and the unique way of this film s storytelling may put off many viewer s that are expecting a V/H/S or Tales From the Crypt type of film. Instead what we get is a look into the minds of three different mentally ill patients and the horror that is real to them in their world. Since there are three installments, I ll outline them individually, although there is one constant throughout the film and that is Malcolm McDowell as Dr.Stenson, who gives a bit of a narrative connecting one story to the next. The first segment, Figuratively Speaking stars John Glover, who convincingly plays the fragile artist Gustav, whose connection to his creations(which pays a nice homage to the Puppet Master franchise) & some foul play by a trusted friend, lead to his ultimate downfall. Segment two, Monsters are real involves a young boy named Steven(David Mazouz Touch ) who has the unfortunate case of Catatonic Schizophrenia. At the young age of eight his life crumbles around him as his visions of a beast like stalker begin to plague him. His teacher Ms. Lorne, played by the gorgeous Lacey Chabert, tries to render help to Steven when she suspects abuse from home. All of which leads to quite a mysterious conclusion, blurring the lines between imagination & reality. The third segment, Up to the Last Man stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Professor James Silo, a husband & father who becomes deeply obsessed with ancient Mayan prophecies telling of an upcoming apocalypse. As his grip on reality fades he begins to design the mother of all bomb shelters and like in the second segment, insanity & reality become intertwined. This is a film about perspective, it s purpose isn t to terrify or deliver buckets of blood, but to bring to light the views from inside the minds of these three random, but quite unique patients all remanded to the same asylum. It walks us through the horror s that the exist only in their minds, well, mostly only in their minds, as the viewer is left decide what in fact is real. The direction is executed perfectly in each story by directors Bryan Ortiz, Bryan Ramirez and Kerry Valderrama. Equally noteworthy was the score, giving each piece it s own specific atmosphere & identity. If this sounds interesting then by all means give it a go. It s no masterpiece, but it made for an original & intriguing watch. --Lifelesszombies
This isn t your average horror anthology by any regard and the unique way of this film s storytelling may put off many viewer s that are expecting a V/H/S or Tales From the Crypt type of film. Instead what we get is a look into the minds of three different mentally ill patients and the horror that is real to them in their world. Since there are three installments, I ll outline them individually, --Lifelesszombies
This isn t your average horror anthology by any regard and the unique way of this film s storytelling may put off many viewer s that are expecting a V/H/S or Tales From the Crypt type of film. Instead what we get is a look into the minds of three different mentally ill patients and the horror that is real to them in their world. Since there are three installments, I ll outline them individually, although there is one constant throughout the film and that is Malcolm McDowell as Dr.Stenson, who gives a bit of a narrative connecting one story to the next. The first segment, Figuratively Speaking stars John Glover, who convincingly plays the fragile artist Gustav, whose connection to his creations(which pays a nice homage to the Puppet Master franchise) & some foul play by a trusted friend, lead to his ultimate downfall. Segment two, Monsters are real involves a young boy named Steven(David Mazouz Touch ) who has the unfortunate case of Catatonic Schizophrenia. At the young age of eight his life crumbles around him as his visions of a beast like stalker begin to plague him. His teacher Ms. Lorne, played by the gorgeous Lacey Chabert, tries to render help to Steven when she suspects abuse from home. All of which leads to quite a mysterious conclusion, blurring the lines between imagination & reality. The third segment, Up to the Last Man stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Professor James Silo, a husband & father who becomes deeply obsessed with ancient Mayan prophecies telling of an upcoming apocalypse. As his grip on reality fades he begins to design the mother of all bomb shelters and like in the second segment, insanity & reality become intertwined. This is a film about perspective, it s purpose isn t to terrify or deliver buckets of blood, but to bring to light the views from inside the minds of these three random, but quite unique patients all remanded to the same asylum. It walks us through the horror s that the exist only in their minds, well, mostly only in their minds, as the viewer is left decide what in fact is real. The direction is executed perfectly in each story by directors Bryan Ortiz, Bryan Ramirez and Kerry Valderrama. Equally noteworthy was the score, giving each piece it s own specific atmosphere & identity. If this sounds interesting then by all means give it a go. It s no masterpiece, but it made for an original & intriguing watch. --Lifelesszombies
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherDiablo Productions
- Publication date2013
- ISBN 10 0615797415
- ISBN 13 9780615797410
- BindingSingle Issue Magazine
- Edition number1
- Number of pages40
- EditorScott Marcano
- IllustratorJuan Romera
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Book Description Condition: Good. Juan Romera (illustrator). Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00035482189
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