It
was yet another large employer in the Detroit-area that closed in the late
1970s. Technically, a few administrative support jobs remain to this day, but
most of the 78 buildings are vacant or demolished. Yet, unlike the factories
forced out of business, not so many locals mourned the passing of the Eloise
Mental Hospital. Of course, the bad vibes generated by all that shock treatment
of whatever will not simply evaporate. It still lingers, waiting to ensnare a
group foolish enough to venture into the spooky abandoned section in Robert
Legato’s Eloise (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
Jacob
Martin is rather surprised to hear he potentially stands to inherit his
estranged father’s fortune and even more confused to learn the only
complication is the Aunt Genevieve he never knew he had. Presumably, she died
while committed to Eloise, but the remaining skeleton staff is in no hurry to
retrieve her file from “the annex.” Being proactive but misguided, Martin’s
childhood pal suggests they break in and find it themselves, with the help of
Eloise internet historian Scott Carter.
It
turns out, Carter is the special needs brother of tough-talking doe-eyed bartender
Pia Carter. As one would hope and expect, she is against the misadventure, but
the dudes already have him fired up, so she figures it will be easier for her
to just go with it. Of course, that turns out to be a profoundly bad call. The Carter
brother holds up his end, leading the group to the annex rather directly, but
nobody is prepared to deal with the ghosts of Eloise past, particularly the
sadistic director, Dr. H.H. Greiss. That old cat just doesn’t know when to give
up the ghost.
Screenwriter
Christopher Borrelli arguably takes the road less traveled in the third act,
opting for a Twilight Zone sort of
complication rather than a standard issue gore fest. In fact, the big twist is
pretty clever, yet it is sufficiently supported by the groundwork already laid.
Frankly,
Eliza Dushku doesn’t seem to be trying very hard as sister Pia (a name that is
probably considered bad karma in Hollywood). Conversely, Chace Crawford is a
better-than-average stubbly-faced horror movie protag. P.J. Byrne goes all-in
as the slightly problematic brother Scott, which is both good and bad. However,
it is always fun to watch Robert “Terminator Cop” Patrick glower and do his
thing as Dr. Greiss.