dismal, dreary, and too long

Jonny_Numb

Well, if you're looking for a film more apt than "Apt Pupil," feel free to knock yourself out with "In a Glass Cage."  A Nazi doctor confined to an Iron Lung is tormented by a former victim who poses as a housekeeper (but is even more mentally unbalanced than the good doctor himself) in order to learn the tricks of torture he used during the war.  Despite the good performances, the psychological bond between these two is rather half-baked and unbelievable (partly because it's so weakly written), even more so when the kid starts performing his own murders in the doctor's witness.  The script is much more content to wallow in its own outre subject matter than approach it with a fresh, absorbing insight--basically, we hear the same rants on molestation and murder over and over again, but the film isn't curious about exploring these themes on anything other than a very basic level.  The mood of the film (and that is one thing it DOES have, in abundance) is often broken by elements that seem lifted from a slasher film (the wife's hanging is a prime example), and it simply goes on too long, playing the same repetitious notes over and over again.  If you want to see a truly disturbing film that is a masterpiece of both depravity and intelligence, try Pasolini's "Salo"; "In a Glass Cage" only has the depravity.

5.5/10

score 7/10

Jonny_Numb 29 October 2003

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0227781/