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Rated: 5.00/5 | Votes: 3 | Views: 37 |Submitted: 07/22/08

Interview with Insanitarium Director Jeff Buhler

By Heather Wixson

When he was in college, Jeff Buhler’s life took a dramatic turn.  He was in school studying biochemistry, on the path to most likely become a doctor.  Then, one day a light bulb went off and he realized that he needed something else to make him happy; so, on a whim, he decided he wanted to direct movies.  And it’s a good thing he made that change because Buhler just celebrated the release of his first feature film, Insanitarium (which is now available on DVD).

Insanitarium stars Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives), Peter Stormare (Fargo), and Kiele Sanchez (TV’s Lost). In the film, Metcalfe in pretends to be crazy in order to save his sister (Sanchez) from being hospitalized and isolated from him. Once he fakes his way inside the institution, he soon realizes that the head doctor (Stormare) is using his patients like lab rats, forcing them to take a drug called Orpheum that strips away “all the bad stuff” and ends up turning them into flesh-eating psychopaths. (Writer’s Note: I basically summed it up as One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets 28 Days Later).

“We really wanted to get our proverbial foot in every genre door possible,” said Buhler. “There’s a little horror, a bit of a camp classic feel (with some straight forward and over-the-top performances to balance each other out), some zombie qualities and a bit of a mad scientist feel thrown in too.”

“I also wanted to pay homage in my film to horror movies and play into the B-movie status too,” added Buhler.  The movie makes references to George Romero, Hannibal Lecter (through a patient played by Buffy alum Armin Shimerman), as well as Jack Nicholson (who’s no stranger to playing crazy, but more specifically to his role in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest). This probably comes from the fact that Buhler himself has been a horror fan since he was a youngster.  In fact, when he was just 8 years old, he was making 8mm horror movies with his friends, using hamburger buns and ketchup for the “gory” special effects.

However, not even those 8mm films or his college experience could prepare him for that first day behind the camera.  Buhler described the experience as both “nerve-wracking and terrifying.”

“Nothing prepares you for that first day,” added Buhler. “The cast and the crew were both committed 110% so that made my job that much easier.  It was definitely exhilarating after I got past that first day.”

One would be safe to assume that Insanitarium was a step up in terms of effects from the old hamburger buns and ketchup days, especially when you are dealing with humans killing and eating other humans.  When it came time to devise his vision for the effects, Buhler told his team he just wanted to stick to the “old school” feel.

“I told them I wanted to have practical effects,” explained Buhler. “I wanted as little CGI effects as possible and I really wanted everything to seem more realistic to the audience.  When it looks more authentic, you get a better reaction from the audience.”  This is definitely true as the movie features not only one of the more gruesome and realistic arm breaks I have seen on film in a while, but also a cat getting its head ripped off and then what’s left meets the same fate.

Buhler’s worked as a screenwriter for the last 8 years and Insanitarium is one of the first scripts he ever wrote. One of his more recent screenplays is the adaptation of Clive Barker’s legendary short story, Midnight Meat Train, which is set for a limited theatrical release on August 1st.  Buhler is currently working on the script for The Hell Within, directed by Brazilian director Dennison Ramalho.  One he finishes up on that project, he’s looking forward to doing more projects for himself.

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