Madhouse (1981)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: Georgia

Madhouse is a 1981 slasher film directed and co-written by Ovidio G. Assonitis, and starring Trish Everly, Dennis Robertson, Allison Biggers, and Michael Macrae. The plot follows a schoolteacher in Savannah, Georgia being stalked by her psychopathic twin sister in the days leading up to their birthday. The film's original title takes its name from a poem called "There Was a Little Girl" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Production

Ovidio G. Assonitis developed the screenplay for Madhouse with screenwriter Stephen Blakely after Assonitis had creative differences with his original co-writer, Roberto Gandus. The script's original title was Madhouse, though the film was released in some markets under the alternative title There Was a Little Girl. The film's alternate title refers to the poem of the same name by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid.

Trish Everly, a former wife of one of The Everly Brothers, was cast in the lead role of Julia Sullivan. The majority of the cast, including Allison Biggers, was made up of stage actors. Dennis Robertson, who portrays Father James, had previously worked in television.

Principal photography of Madhouse took place in Savannah, Georgia in the notorious Kehoe House, which has a reputation for being haunted. The budget of the film was around $2 million.

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