The Asylum

Rating:
Summary: Lacklustre presentation of classic Amicus omnibus horror
Review: Asylum is of course one of a group of anthology horror films that includes Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, etc., produced by Hammer wannabe Amicus Productions. Never as stylish, daring, or bloody as Hammer's efforts, their movies nevertheless were usually solid, entertaining mystery/horror outings. Half the fun of the Amicus pictures is watching so many terrific veteran English actors going through their paces. Asylum is a perfect example of this, with a great, mostly British cast including Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Barbara Parkins, Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland, and Richard Todd. I remember seeing the trailer for this (with the dismembered body parts) back in the early 70s at the theater and the audience went nuts. Unfortunately, decades of gore/slasher movies have lessened the impact of movies like this (see comments of other reviewers), whose horrors are more subtle, though still effective. I found it fairly absorbing and ultimately satisfying on recent viewing. Minor complaints: The film is a bit uneven, with a couple of standout episodes (the first and last) bracketing a couple of less effective, if serviceable pieces. (Anyone who's seen Robert Bloch's original 'tailor's dummy' episode of the Thriller TV series will wish the remake here was done as well.) I also would've saved the first (most blatantly horrific) story for last (somehow), and my wife did guess the "twist" ending fairly quickly. But overall still quite original; creepy at times, shocking at others, delicious fun throughout.
Sadly, Image's DVD is rather standard fare, with nary an extra in sight. The film is presented full frame 1.33:1, though it appears to have been shot this way (according to IMDb and by the way the titles and compositions are framed). The source print looks like a typical (16mm?) TV print with mediocre color fidelity, slight softness, and light to moderate speckling throughout. It's not really bad but not really great either, and put to shame by numerous other Image and Anchor Bay releases of similar type movies (see Anchor's recent stupendous Circus of Horrors disc). Fans of the film will probably buy this anyway (I did) since it's a huge gamble that it'll ever be released in a better version in the foreseeable future, but it's hard to recommend purchase to the uninitiated at this price, especially considering the mediocre quality of the source print and lack of extras. The movie gets four stars; the DVD is a solid three.

Rating:
Summary: Asylum
Review: Asylum. This film describes 4 stories told to psychologist Robert Powell by patients at a remote English countryside house. Powell is invited to be interviewed as house doctor by psychologist Patrick Magee, who promises Powell that he will get the job if he can recognise which one of the 4 patients is the former Dr B Starr, who was previously the house's chief psychologist but now a patient himself/herself. Powell meets Reynolds who looks after the patients. The first story describes a woman, Barbara Parkins, who became crazy after she discovered both the dead remains of a woman whose husband Parkins was to be married and the dead husband himself. He killed his voodoo-trained wife and cut her into small pieces, but she later killed him. The second story describes Barry Morse as a tailor who needs money to pay his rent and makes a suit for Peter Cushing's dead son, hoping to be paid well. After the suit is made, Cushing tells Morse that he has no money and demands the suit. Morse kills Cushing with a gun and uses the suit to bring a dummy to life. Morse later becomes mad. The third story describes Charlotte Rampling having an imaginary friend, Britt Ekland, who kills and makes Rampling the murderer. The last story describes Herbert Lom as a scientist who makes toy mannekins and wills his soul into one of them. Powell leaves to tell Magee he is not interested in working at the house, and Magee is killed by a knife from a toy mannekin. Powell crushes the mannekin with his foot, and finds human remains in the toy. Lom screams, and Powell sees Reynolds, who tells Powell that Lom's body was crushed. Powell tells Reynolds that Lom was Dr B Starr and goes to Reynolds' office to telephone the police. Reynolds tries to stop him but Powell discovers a dead body in his office, whom Reynolds tells him to be the real Reynolds. The fake Reynolds is actually Dr B Starr, who strangles Powell to death. The film ends with Dr Starr posing as another doctor at the home and inviting another person to interview. This is the first of 6 Amicus films consisting of short stories. The other films are Tales From The Crypt, The House That Dripped Blood, The Vault of Horror, From Beyond The Grave, and Dr Terror's House of Horrors.

Rating:
Summary: Amicus horror gem!!
Review: 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:
Summary: FRIGHTFULLY GOOD FUN.....
Review: I saw this on it's release in 1972 when I was in high school and loved it. Curiously unavailable for years , I finally got it on DVD and it's still good. A quintet of horror stories told by four inmates of an asylum that explain why they are there are done to the hilt in style. Released by Amicus, a British company that did several horror anthologies in the 70's, the DVD transfer by Image is wonderfully crisp and clean. My favorite tale is the 1st one with Barbara Parkins as the girlfriend of a man who kills his occult obsessed wife and dismembers her--putting the wrapped parts in his freezer. When Parkins comes to pick him up so they can run away together, the parts come to life and attack her! This is done VERY well. The other tales are just as good and each one is different. The great cast includes Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland , Herbert Lom and Patrick Magee. TRY to get hold of this one, it's well worth the effort.

Rating:
Summary: A GOOD ONE TO OWN
Review: Perfect to own, you will find youself wanting to watch it again. The mood is eerie enough, the stories keep you interested and it's made well. It's all about the atmosphere, get this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Well, Doctor, which inmate used to run the asylum?
Review: 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. 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 being American 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" over there and "Five Million Years to Earth" on this side of the pond. Fourth, as a corollary to the second point, you have British actors in general and 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. Plus, you know Bloch has something up his sleeve for the ending.