The insane asylum is one of the greatest horror/psychological thriller tropes of all time, largely because it deals with a kind of sickness that any one of us can fall victim to - even doctors - and these movies do a great job of making us feel like we could be the ones in the padded cell.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) / Image credit: United Artists
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey, this iconic film starring Jack Nicholson centres on a criminal who chooses a psychiatric hospital instead of hard labour, only to find that it’s not the cushy sentence he thought it would be.
It was the first movie in 41 years to win all five major categories at the Academy Awards and very deservedly so. It’s described as a comedy-drama, and you can’t deny the humour of some of the characterisations. On the other hand, others chill you to the bone; indeed, Nurse Ratched has been such an excellent villain that she got her own story on Netflix with 2020 series Ratched.
Possibly one of our favourite pieces of trivia is the fact that the superintendent from the hospital the film was shot in, Dean Brooks, played the part of ward doctor Spivey in the movie.
Girl, Interrupted
Starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, this touching drama is based on Susanna Kaysen’s 1993 memoir of her time in a psychiatric hospital. This isn’t the usual exploration of a corrupt institution with cruel nurses and inhumane treatments, but a truthful look at a real institution where staff are often unfairly disliked and the patients are always more troubled than first meets the eye.
Susanna Kaysen is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder upon her admission to hospital, and her short stay soon turns into 18 months when she begins to learn the difference between sanity and insanity.
Shutter Island
Probably one of the most underrated Leonardo DiCaprio movies, Shutter Island is an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name and directed by Martin Scorsese. It sees US Marshal Teddy Daniels visiting a hospital for the criminally insane to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of a patient. He soon begins to believe he’s been brought to the island for nefarious reasons, but the deeper he digs the more it becomes clear that not everything he perceives is real.
When you’re really struggling to decide who to trust, that’s when a movie gets interesting. And this particular film has one of the most jaw-dropping resolutions we’ve ever seen.
Gothika
Not one for the faint-hearted, this asylum-horror starring Halle Berry follows a psychiatric doctor who finds herself imprisoned in her own penitentiary under suspicion of murdering her husband. She’s suffering from vivid hallucinations of a young woman and major gaps in her memory, and now she finds herself faced with the task of uncovering a terrible truth about people she thought she knew.
The film was massively panned by critics, and it’s true that the film is hardly the best, but there’s enough suspense, creepy visuals and unexpected twists and turns to keep it entertaining nonetheless.
Sucker Punch
A steampunk fantasy directed by Zack Snyder, Sucker Punch sees a young woman nicknamed Babydoll incarcerated in a mental asylum by her evil stepfather for the accidental killing of her sister. He’s also illegally arranged to have her lobotomised, and so Babydoll plans an elaborate escape. She slips into a fantasy whereby the hospital is a brothel and she and the patients are sex slaves, and soon the line between what is real and what is not becomes indistinguishable to her.
Confusing though the plot may be, and somewhat shallow if truth be told, the visuals for this movie are what make it such a great cinematic experience. And sometimes the artistry of a film is enough to keep you gripped.
MORE: Watch a clip from A Cure for Wellness
Stonehearst Asylum
This gothic film is loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe’s 1845 short story The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether. It stars Kate Beckinsale as Eliza Graves; a mental patient who may or may not be suffering from actual mental illness. This is another film where “all is not exactly as it seems” but this time, there’s a staggering twist on another more predictable plot twist.
Plus, it stars Ben Kingsley of Shutter Island once again playing a seemingly dodgy doctor, and it’s his performance as well as Kate’s that lends such engrossing drama to the story.
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