THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS (2001) Reviews and overview

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The Attic Expeditions is a 2001 American horror film about a young man who is committed to an asylum where madness, mayhem and murder ensues.

Directed by Jeremy Kasten (The Dead Ones; The Profane ExhibitThe Exorcist FilesThe Wizard of GoreThe Thirst) from a screenplay co-written with Rogan Russell Marshall, the Tse Tse Fly Productions movie stars Andras Jones, Seth Green, Jeffrey Combs, Wendy Robie and Ted Raimi. Alice Cooper has a cameo role.

Blu-ray release:

The Attic Expeditions will be released on Blu-ray by Severin Films on February 23rd 2021 in a remastered version scanned in 2K from the original negative. Special features:

Cast and Crew 20 Year Pandemic Reunion and Story of Making The Attic Expeditions
Alice Cooper and Jeffrey Combs Internet Reunion.
Horror Scholar Adam Rockoff Contextualizes The Attic Expeditions

Plot:

Trevor Blackburn (Andras Jones) is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Faith (Beth Bates), in a brutal ritual. He’s sentenced to live in an experimental rehabilitation community and falls into a coma.

When he wakes up, he meets the mysterious Doctor Elk (Jeffrey Combs), who tortures Trevor in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of a powerful occult book. As other patients (Seth Green, Alice Cooper) start to disappear, Trevor begins to wonder who and where he really is…

Reviews:

“It’s bright, colorful, trippy, moves fast, and has some great work from Combs, Green, and Raimi. Does it make sense? Yes. And then no, and back again. Does that matter? Not one whit. There’s more than enough confidence and style on display in The Attic Expeditions to fuel three films, and that’s something definitely worth preserving.” Daily Dead

“ …an ambitious first feature laced with a wonderful cast, quirky charms and cool twists” Fangoria

” …the film went a little too nutty when it came to messing with me and only repeat viewings will tell if the madness can actually make solid sense or if the screenwriter was hitting the “Bear Bong” too hard while writing the script, but having said that, get in a silly mood, kick the leeches out of your pad and enjoy the buzz.” JoBlo.com

“I’m surprised more people haven’t talked this up because as imperfect as it is, it is still pretty damn entertaining, and even more so after seeing that it was effectively made by youngsters as their first “big” movie. It’s one of those constant mindf*ck movies and in the end, I don’t think it really makes much sense but it’s fun just the same.” Michael Starks

” …The Attic Expeditions is a bumpy but engaging mixture of horror, dark comedy, and surrealism […] loaded with enough visual and narrative ideas for three or four features, it’s a film that actually coheres well on a second viewing and features a wild cast clearly giving their all.” Mondo Digital

“The theme of the film is that reality is subjective. Anyone’s reality is whatever they perceive it to be at the moment. If they are in a dream state, that is their reality, etc. The technique of the film let us feel some of the confusion of the main character in trying to figure out what was going on around him.” Movie House Commentary

“The movie tries for Lynchian surrealism in spots, occasionally succeeding with some interesting visuals and a consistently strong atmosphere, but never quite getting all the way there thanks to some obvious budgetary restraints and some occasionally flat acting. Still, there are moments here that work really well, most of them involving Jeffrey Combs…” Rock! Shock! Pop!

“This is not a movie for everyone but it’s a good one. The dialogue is deliberately awkward and sometimes hilarious but true to the characters and their respective situations. Seth Green gets the best lines. Sadly, the editing is a hindrance.” Tales of Terror

“It was after about the third or fourth ‘this is all in your head’ incident that I started to lose my nimble mental grasp over the plot (I guess it could have just been a weed haze), but then they threw in some repeat full frontal and all my worries were over. All-in-all, not a terrible film. Lots of craziness, lots of confusion, definitely a film you could show to a newly developing stoner to quote on quote blow their mind.” This Mortal Coil

” …an overly ambitious slice of Grand Guignol that is none too grand in conception or execution”, and writing, “it could do small biz on the midnight circuit, although auds would have to be told whether laughing or cringing would be most appropriate.” Variety

“An attempt at Lynchian dream-logic mystery and dark subject matter with confusing plot jumps […] The movie fails because it has none of the talented nightmarish atmosphere of Lynch, and the acting is too mediocre and flat to convince anyone. This is one of those where you constantly see the cogs turning instead of enjoying the escapism.” The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

Choice dialogue:

Ronald: “Trevor, you got to get me out of here, I don’t know what’s happening to me. I can’t tell you who I am because I can’t remember a damn thing. My mind is all f*cked up in this damn puppet head, but I swear to you as God is my witness, I am not this guy’s hand!”

Douglas: “No one that you ever knew, or loved, or who loved you, or anyone who was ever anything to you that made you think that they might be as real as you are, ever proved that all six billion of the rest of us aren’t all in it together against you.”

Cast and characters:

Andras Jones … Trevor Blackburn
Seth Green … Douglas
Jeffrey Combs … Doctor Ek
Wendy Robie … Doctor Thalama
Ted Raimi … Doctor Coffee
Beth Bates … Faith
Eddy Kariti … Doctor Anderson
Shannon Hart Cleary … Amy
Alice Cooper … Samuel Leventhal
Jerry Hauck … Ronald
Brenda James … Nurse
Nancy Wolfe … Liz
Stephen Donovan … Doctor 1
Andrew Ggem … Doctor 2
Cutter Cutshaw … Orderly
Scott Levy … Orderly
Rich Lehmann … Orderly

Filming locations:

2218 S Harvard Blvd, Los Angeles, California from May 19th 1997

Technical details:

100 minutes
Audio: Stereo
Aspect ratio:

Alternate title:

Horror in the Attic

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