Main cast: Glynis Barber (Dr Jarris), William Prince (Dr Collin), and Brian Brophy (Dr Starr)
Director: Ernest Farino

Well, talk about ambitious: Mannikins of Horror is a loose adaptation of one of Robert Bloch’s short story A Home Away from Home, and this story had already been adapted as part of that 1972 anthology horror film Asylum from Amicus Productions.

This show has the testicular fortitude to tackle something that was very well received, something that was actually scripted by Mr Bloch himself! So, how does this Episode fare?

Well, we’re talking about Monsters here, so it’s pretty much what I have come to expect from this show.

This episode has tweaked the original story quite a bit. This time around, we have Dr Collin, a former very brilliant surgeon that is currently an inmate in a loony bin. He spends his time crafting very detailed clay sculptures—the Mannikins mentioned in the title—complete with hearts and hrains and all.

While Dr Jarvis is convinced that they can help Dr Collin get better, the new warden Dr Starr believes that she’s taken long enough and she’s not making enough progress to his satisfaction. So, he’d take over from now, thank you.

Unlike Dr Jarvis, who has established a good rapport with her patient, the new idiot in charge is too stuck up to realize that the supposedly crazy doctor is actually very lucid and intelligent… just someone with some interesting beliefs that have others consider him insane.

Hence, the condescending buffoon implements the usual “mad scientist in a white suit” act that sees all kinds of cruelty done to poor Dr Collin in the name of treatment of mental illness. Eventually, he orders the confiscation of Dr Collin’s “family” of mannikins.

I’m afraid there are no prizes for people that can guess what will happen next.

This episode makes it clear early on that the mannikins are alive, so it’s not that hard to correctly guess the nature of the last act. Nonetheless, this is a surprisingly well acted and well put-together episode that shows an adroit sense of pacing and atmosphere-building that is pretty rare in this show.

Oh, and there are some pretty graphic, for this show that is, scenes in the final act too, which is always a good thing where I’m concerned.

While the main characters barely become anything more than stereotypes, the cast members do a pretty good job in making these characters and the episode a very watchable one. Dr Jarvis is sympathetic and likable, if tad cynical about her job, while Dr Starr is of course an ass. Dr Collin is the mad scientist type that is nice to those that are kind to him, and gets mad and even to those that aren’t.

Also, this episode is pretty unique in that it boasts some stop motion effects for the mannikins, and these effects aren’t bad considering the usual budget of this show. These people really go all out for this one, and it’s good to see that this pays off in the end.

All in all, this one is easily the best episode of this season. It’s about time, too, as there is just one more episode to go before this first season comes to an end!

The post Mannikins of Horror (1989) first appeared on HOT SAUCE REVIEWS.