Very well executed

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

CRAZY AS HELL takes the good old JACOB'S LADDER approach in a novel direction. A famed psychiatrist (the always likable Michael Beach) arrives at a state mental hospital, called Sedah. He has a different approach to treating the mentally ill: He talks to them, which puts him at odds with hospital director Ronny Cox, who believes strongly in medicating and if necessary restraining them. At first, Beach seems to have some success with his approach. Then a new patient (director Eric La Salle) arrives, calling himself Satan. It's all downhill from there. While all this is playing out, a film crew is filming a documentary on the famed shrink. At one point, they catch him talking to himself when he thinks he is talking to someone, and this is a major tipoff as to what is actually going on, and what's to come. Think of the hospital's name in reverse, and you'll get it. Hell, think of the movie's title and you're bound to get it. The ending is inevitable and a real downer, sort of like a Twilight Zone episode. And a lot like JACOB'S LADDER and CARNIVAL OF SOULS. But don't let this put you off from watching it. CRAZY AS HELL is that rare gem: a TV movie worth watching. It is well acted and directed, occasionally suspenseful, and La Salle keeps things moving along at a decent clip.

***SPOILERS*** Early in "Crazy as Hell" the head nurse of the Sedah State Mental Hospital where the movie takes place Nurse Danza, Jane Carr, is asked by the head doctor there Dr. Ty Adams, Michael Beach, what she would ask "The Devil" if she ever had the chance to talk to him. Nurse Danza said the following statement that was absolutely stunning: "I'd ask him why he spends his time punishing those that he's supposed to adore to make a point to a God that he's supposed to despise?". The same statement, word for word, is later said by non other the "The Man" or "The Devil" himself to Dr. Adams. This started to make me feel that I wasn't watching some light comedy, about "The Devil", but a very serious and penetrating movie about a subject that has been on the minds of great thinkers since the dawn of recored history."Crazy as Hell" comes full-circle when it reaches it's climax. By that time I wasn't at all disappointed in what I saw in the film. Even though at first I didn't at all expect to see it when the movie started. Dr. Adams is invited to be the head psychiatrist, where there's to be made a documentary on his work on curing mental illness, at the Sedah State Mental Hospitle for a month. This is to use his ground breaking theories of curing those that are mentally ill without the use of mind-altering drugs or strong medication, like shock treatment.At first Dr. Adams' methods work as he seems to cure one of the most psychotic patients at the hospital Cheryl, Tracy Pettit,from her self-destructive actions with out the use of drugs, which up to that time had little effect on her. As Dr. Adams starts to settle down and get into the swing of things in the hospital all of a sudden a person appears there as a new patient calling himself "The Man" or what he's better known as to us "The Devil" Eriq La Salle. From then on it's all down hill for the good doctor. Dr. Adams is told by "The Devil" that he's really upset because of all the bad press that he's been receiving over the last thousands of years. He wants to set the record straight about himself and wants Dr. Adams to help him in that endeavor. At first Dr. Adams thinks that "The Man" is just a harmless eccentric. Later he sees that he knows a lot more about his past and background that he'll willing to talk about with "The Man" or anyone else."The Man" gets so under Dr.Adams skin that one afternoon at a picnic in the park with the other patients he loses it and almost comes to blows with him. Slowly Dr. Adams starts to lose his grip on reality to the point where he talks to his both deceased wife and daughter Veda & Brianna,Shelly Robertson & Khylan Jones. This strange conversation by Dr. Adams is picked up on video tape and, after seeing it, makes the administrator of the hospital Dr. Delazo, Ronny Cox, think that Dr. Adams needs to be treated for mental and psychological trauma himself.Feeling very hostile toward his patient, which is very unprofessional for a doctor, Dr. Adams now drops his non-orthodox methods in regard to "The Man" and has him put on strong drugs and put in a padded cell and in a straight-jacker for 24 hours. Unknown to him "the Man" has a big surprise for Dr.Adams. When it finally comes it's going to shock him back to where the movie started when his troubles with "The Man" was just beginning.Different yet vastly superior movie about "The Devil" and how he operates here on earth and in his underground kingdom. Michael Beach is very sympathetic in his role as the troubled Dr.Adams who's sparring with "The Devil" during the movie brings the best out of "The Devil" and the worst out of him which was "The Devil's" plan all along. The end of the movie was both sad and shocking when we, as well as Dr. Adams, see the "Grand Plan" that "The Devil" set into motion for Dr. Adams. It reveled the most darkest secrets that Dr. Adams was hiding from himself, and everyone else, that he kept hidden deep in his sad and troubled soul.Eriq La Salle was both fascinating and scary as the sharp and witty Devil and played his part as the "Man from Hell" to the hilt. The scene at the picnic with the confrontation between "The Man" and Dr. Adams showed for the first time the other side of the coin of Dr. Adams cool clam and collective personality. As he lost his cool and ended up as crazy, if not more so, then the patients that he was treating.

i didn't really appreciate this film. the dialogue was decent but they seemed to tread a thin line between spiritual and emotional, as if the writer was trying to dodge stereotype.personally, i spent a lot of time trying to figure out the "who-dunnit" scape of the cast. i first thought la salle's character was a figment of ty's psychosis in dealing with the loss of his daughter. at one time i thought that ty was a schizophrenic that killed his family, or whose family was made up to torment him. for a while i was convinced that he was in hell cause he had jumped, and his daughter was a rep of his mortal form. the director i figured as ty's real psychiatrist who was trying to convince him to go on meds for his schizophrenia. then that completely unconnected scene in the club with the girl was ridiculous, and i have yet to realize what significance the video/documentarian crew played except to limit the supernatural in the plot, and maybe develop ty's character (making it more confusing).i don't know what else to say. i ranked it 4 cause i'd rather watch something that poses intelligent with a promise of depth, than something that's all 8th grade level understanding. i just think they could lead us a little more and not be afraid to wrap it up.

I liked this story better when it was called Mr. Frost. essentially that is what this is, they have almost the exact same plot line. There are a few differences and this was based on a book, Mr. Frost was not, but it was a a lot better.Jeff Goldblum makes a much better Satan than Eriq La Salle, who seemed distracted by his directorial duties.Mr. Frost also looked like it had a considerable budget. Crazy as Hell looks very low budget. It was filmed Hi-Def and sometimes it shows. I hear focus is critical on Hi-Def cameras. There are a lot of shots here that are unintentionally soft. Particularly the opening one - not a great way to start.But technical issues aside, Crazy as Hell is just not very well written, nor plotted (there are giant plot holes) nor scored (the music is just plain awful, a couple steps below an episode of the 80's twilight zone series). The acting is okay. Only okay. Very stagey, like they had a very limited amount of time.The ending blows. Seems like La Salle was influenced too much by a movie he was in in the early nineties. Check out his list cause it will be a spoiler if I were to list it here.Worst of all. Crazy as Hell got boring, and there wasn't very much of Satan in it, which is why you'd rent this. I wanted to see a battle of wits between a Psychiatrist and someone who claims they are Satan. But you get very little of that here.If you are looking for a better handling of that premise, rent Mr. Frost with Jeff Goldblum.