Leonora Carrington, 1917-2011, born and raised in Lancashire, was an integral part of the international surrealist movement of the 1930’s; after London and Paris she settled in Mexico City in 1942, where, surrounded by a creative émigré community, she pursued her rich and multifaceted art practice.
In partnership with her son, Gaby Weisz, Carrington art directed and supervised the sets, wardrobe and costumes for this surreal adaptation of an 1845 Edgar Allan Poe story, The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether. A mysterious figure investigating the unorthodox methods used by the doctors in an asylum discovers that the inmates have taken over and locked the doctors in a dungeon. Carrington’s animal alter ego, a white horse makes repeated appearances while the flamboyant and absurd feasts further signal her influence and surreal vision.
The Mansion of Madness is a bizarre combination of Gothic black comedy, political fable and surrealist experimental cinema – this 1970s debut feature is true to Mexican director Juan López Moctezuma’s extremely idiosyncratic form. López Moctezuma had close connections with the avant-garde Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, and is credited as a formative figure in the work of acclaimed contemporary Mexican director Guillermo del Toro.
This cult piece of cinema is considered one of the weirdest films ever made!