Asylum
Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the patients in an institution for the incurably insane was once its director, and a young psychiatrist (Robert Powell) has to figure out which one as they all tell him their stories. What better setting for a horror anthology? It’s an inspired framing device, making this one of the better examples of the genre, even if screenwriter Robert Bloch at times resorts to gimmicks rather than invention. The first two stories are less than brilliant (the first is highlighted by dismembered body parts neatly wrapped in butcher paper wriggling back to life for revenge), but Charlotte Rampling and Britt Ekland are marvellous in the third tale, about a mentally unbalanced young woman and her dangerous best friend. Herbert Lom is also excellent in the final story as a scientist who carves an army of dolls he claims he can bring to life by sheer willpower. Director Roy Ward Baker (Quatermas and the Pit) builds momentum with each story until the dark and deliciously bloody climax. This Amicus Studios production looks visually dull compared to Hammer’s gothic gloss, but it features a great British cast (including Patrick Magee and Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing), and ultimately Baker makes that gloomy look work for his increasingly creepy production. Amicus produced a series of horror anthologies, including the original 1972 Tales from the Crypt and The Torture Garden (also scripted by Bloch). –Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
During Hammer’s Hay-day, they had competition with from Amicus. Amicus’ productions tended to be lush productions with an eye to detail and costumes, with solid directing, scripting and acting. This one is no exception.
You have the marvellously talented Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth) coming to an old Gothic mansion that has been converted for a home for the criminally insane. He is applying for a job there as a doctor, and he soon find himself proving his worth in a test. He is presented with three different patients. He most go in, interview them and learn why they are there. One of them is a former doctor at the institute, but has flipped out and has been confined. Powell’s task is to determine which one is the former doctor.
It’s the frame works for some nifty horror tales, with fine directing by Roy Ward Baker and script by Robert Bloch.
A great fun evening with a super cast of Powell, Peter Cushing, Patrick Macnee, Herbert Lom, Barry Morse, Barbara Parkins, Charlotte Rampling, Richard Todd.
Rating: 5 / 5
I absolutely love this film, from the first glimpse of the groovy orange MGB GT to the discovery of which character is the deranged Dr. Starr, it’s a corker and has a magnificent soundtrack. The cast too are fabulous and you will instantly recognise some, if not all of the protagonists on display here.
I have rated the movie as a 5, that score is for the movie, but for the picture quality the disc scores 1. I have had a TV recording of this movie for many years, from a BBC transmission mid-nineties, and the picture on it is crisp and clear, but the image quality on this release is more akin to an NTSC 525-Line domestic recording, the picture looks washed out and grainy which absolutely destroys the atmosphere of the film. As we all know the majority of the charm films like this have is due to the lighting, the design and the colours, all subtlety is lost here though in a blurred mess.
To sum up then, this film is fantastic but only buy if you can’t wait to see it, if you can wait then wait til they transfer a good quality print to DVD and buy that.
Rating: 5 / 5
We were pretty leery of horror films back in the early Seventies in those dark, dreary days before “Halloween” ushered in the era of the slasher film ad infinitim. But the more you heard about “Asylum” the more you had to be optimistic. First, you have Robert “Psycho” Bloch as the writer, which is always a good sign. Second, it is a British film, and while Amicus Productions did not have the cinematic cachet of Hammer Studios, it is still British, which was always better than any and all American imports back then. Third, you throw in director Roy Ward Baker, who directed one of my all-time favorite horror flicks known as “Quatermass and the Pit” here and “Five Million Years to Earth” on the other side of the pond. Fourth, as a corollary to the second point, you have a nice group of actors in general with Peter Cushing, Patrick Magee, Barry Morse, Herbert Lom and Robert Powell on the eve of the role of his lifetime in “Jesus of Nazareth.” Then we have Britt Eklund, Charlotte Rampling, and Barbara Perkins. Sold yet?
Oh, you want to know the story Bloch came up with.
Well, Powell plays Dr. Martin, who has arrived at the friendly neighborhood mental institution to see if he can land a job. “Asylum” offers up four bloody little stories of madness and murder told by four inmates. Yes, it is an “anthology” film, but remember all those good points up above and try to think about all the bad anthology films you have seen in your life. But this is Bloch. There is a twist. Dr. Martin gets the post if he can figure out which of the four inmates telling the story is the former head of the asylum: There is Bonnie (Perkins), who was attacked by her lover’s dead wife; Bruno (Morse), who makes a magical suit that brings back the dead son of one of his customers (Cushing); Barbara (Rampling/Ekland) a schizophrenic who is being made paranoid by her brother; and Byron (Lom) who puts his consciousness in a killer little doll. “Asylum” stops short of being great, but it is certainly very good. There are moments of silliness, but the horror elements still win out in the end.
Rating: 4 / 5
As one who has often panned for gold in the stream of little-known horror delights, I have discovered much more fool’s gold than gold dust, but Asylum is a magnificent gold nugget. Produced by Amicus, the British equivalent of Hammer Studios, this classic film features a remarkable cast bringing to life a compelling, delightfully shocking tale which comes straight from the pen of none other than Robert Bloch. I think the whole idea of the movie is brilliant, especially the way everything is put together, meshing four largely unrelated tales into one overall and amazingly successful story. We begin with Dr. Martin’s arrival at the asylum in pursuit of a position. He is surprised to learn that Dr. Styles, the asylum director and the man he expected to speak with about the job, is now one of the incurably insane inmates housed upstairs. Dr. Rutherford is willing to hire Dr. Martin, but only if he passes a certain test. There are four inmates upstairs, and he must determine which one is actually Dr. Styles (who has assumed a brand new identity for himself). As Dr. Martin makes the rounds, accompanied by the doctor posted upstairs, we are presented with each individual’s story as to how they came to be institutionalized.
The first story, that of Bonnie, is a wholly remarkable one. Her lover, having finally agreed to kill his divorce-denying wife and run off with her, chops his wife into several pieces and stows everything in the freezer, including her voodoo-ish protective bracelet He is quite shocked shortly thereafter to see the head, wrapped in butcher’s paper, roll into view upstairs, and he is even more surprised by what happens next. When Bonnie arrives, she finds herself menaced and attacked by the separate body parts of the seemingly undead murdered woman. Next we have the story of Bruno the tailor. Facing economic ruin, he is offered two hundred pounds to make a suit for a rather strange gentleman named Mr. Smith (played magnificently by Peter Cushing). The suit must be created under the unusual conditions specified by the customer and must be made from the remarkable fabric Smith has provided Bruno. This metallic, strangely glittering coat is actually an instrument of magic, Bruno finds out upon delivering it. Supposedly it has the power to give or restore life to whoever wears it. Cushing’s performance helps make this the strongest of the four stories, in my opinion. Next up is Barbara, who denies having committed the murders that resulted in her institutionalization. It was her friend Lucy, she says. The story plays pretty well until the end, when whatever mystery lingered concerning the truth about Lucy is rather unnecessarily done away with. Finally, we have Dr. Baron, maker of robotic men; actually, he says, the creatures are quite human on the inside, and he claims to have the power to will his own mind into one such creation and essentially make it come alive with his own consciousness. This tale has its weaknesses, but its effect on Dr. Martin is profound and sets in motion the thrilling conclusion of the movie. This conclusion, I must say, is remarkably good, treating me to a wonderful surprise and devilishly good twist.
The plot of Asylum does have a weakness or two in it, but the film’s overall effect on the viewer is so gripping that minor questions cease to matter very much. Frankly, I have never seen an anthologized movie such as this succeed so well. Few movies can combine separate tales and succeed as a unified whole, but Asylum accomplishes this feat quite easily. This is an intelligent horror movie that fans of the genre can point to with great pride.
Rating: 5 / 5
I never give any film, cd, book or anything else top marks, cos no matter how good it is, I always know it could have been improved just a little bit, or there’s something else a little bit better.
Asylum couldn’t possibly be improved, in any way shape or form, and I know that no other film will ever top it. The reason I love it so much is because it’s a horror film that actually does creep you out. Before I had watched any older horror films, I’d always thought horror films were a bit lame. You can tell that modern horror films are trying to scare the viewer, but save for a few fine exceptions, they only succeed in making the viewer laugh. Asylum, unlike modern horror films, doesn’t rely on multi-million pound special effects.
The film maintains a fantastic chilling atmosphere throughout. It’s essentially made up of four short stories, with three being the reasons for patients ending up in the asylum and the final one set in the asylum itself. My favourite is the very first one. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who’s never seen this chunk of genious, so I’ll say no more apart from:
You MUST see this film. Over and over again.
Rating: 5 / 5