Insane, Psycho from Sweden

A rundown hotel that hasn't seen a guest since the highway was moved. The owner, a weird guy with mother issues. A beautiful female guest with secrets. No, not the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, but 2010's "Insane." Filmed in Sweden and starring Swedish actors and actresses, this work gives us a glimpse as to what Swedes think of us Americans, as the film is set in the U.S. From this film it appears that Swedes believe Americans are violent psychos. To be fair, in a country of 300 million citizens, at least 50 million of us are fairly sane.

The Swedish Norman Bates

As our story begins, a beautiful Swede (Sanna Messo), playing a beautiful American, is the only guest at the creepy Bridgeburn Hotel. Over the next four minutes, she will be stalked by a gas-mask clad killer and her death will be quite memorable. Jenny (Alida Morberg) checks in next. This nubile babe will befriend the polished but creepy hotel owner, David (Lars Bethke). The two will flirt and even dine together. So sad, the nubile Swede...I mean American babe will suffer a similar fate as the aforementioned bather. We suspect David, though there is doubt that he is in fact the killer.

The unfortunate bather

Again, a beautiful Swede...I mean American babe, Sarah (Johanna Leamo) checks in as the hotel's sole guest. She has a mission. You see, Jenny was Sarah's sister, and Sarah is looking for her. As Sarah gets to know the creepy David, and explores the hotel, her findings will be horrific. When Sarah calls in her boyfriend John (David Lenneman) to help, David is offended. John and Sarah will take a break from looking for Jenny in order to have pre-marital sex. This ticks off David, probably because of his mommy issues (...which you will learn of through flashbacks). The killings continue and some of them are quite gory. In fact all of the kills are very well shot and bloody. Now Sarah and John are pursued by the gas-mask guy. Uh oh...some surprises await Sarah from very unexpected sources.

Is that David?

What will become of Sarah and John? Is David the killer, could he be the gas-mask guy? What secrets does this hotel hold that may explain all the dead babes? Did Swedes set this tale in the United States to take focus off their overburdened social welfare system? Yeah, like that makes sense. For a sometimes quirky, very gory, and sometimes awkward slasher film, enjoy Sweden's "Insane."