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Asylum

Asylum

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Asylum
Review: 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 (played by Geoffrey Baldyon) 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 Cushing's son alive. His son kills Morse's wife, and Morse becomes made. 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 one 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: 3 stars
Summary: Decent, creepy fun only occasionally marred by cheese
Review: This horror movie has very British sensitibilities, and you couldn't ask for a better, more entertaining introduction to the type of horror movie that was popular in the 1970s, before the era of the slasher film. It's stylish and very proper, making the gore that much more shocking.

Basically, we've got a handful of "short stories" very loosely pulled together with the framing device of a psychologist visiting the asylum being asked to "figure out" which of the patients was actually the former director of the hospital. There's very little to this part of the plot, but the various stories the patients have to tell do create varying degrees of chills.

None of the stories are great, nor are they especially surprising, but they are told quite nicely and are better acted than such low-budget stuff has a right to be. Some outstanding actors such as Herbert Lom and Charlotte Rampling are featured, along with a brief but creepy turn by Peter Cushing (who, along with Christoper Lee, owned this genre of horror movie).

In many ways the film is a period piece, not so much about an era of history, but about an era of film history. It distills the style and sensibilities of the Hammer films (so called because they were made in England's Hammer Studio) into one neat, entertaining package. Will this be your favorite movie ever? Nope. But is it an amusing diversion and a wonderful slice of what was once the height of horror film making? You bet.

Check it out!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Asylum
Review: This is without a doubt one of the greatest horror films ever made. I first saw it when I was about 8 years old and haven't forgotten about it since. I've watched it several times and it still scares me all these years later. I think the head at the top of the stares is still one of the freakiest and scariest things I've seen in film. It's just a good all around horror film with that chilling English feel to it. You have to love Peter Cushing and the rest of the all star cast. If you haven't seen it yet - get it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Asylum
Review: This is without a doubt one of the greatest horror films ever made. I first saw it when I was about 8 years old and haven't forgotten about it since. I've watched it several times and it still scares me all these years later. I think the head at the top of the stares is still one of the freakiest and scariest things I've seen in film. It's just a good all around horror film with that chilling English feel to it. You have to love Peter Cushing and the rest of the all star cast. If you haven't seen it yet - get it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wierd
Review: This movie is really wierd it's got 3 different stories people might tell you it's got 4 but it's 3.The 1st one is about a woman who has a guy chop up a woman into little pieces,and the pieces come back to life.The 2nd one is about a man who makes a suit and his wife puts it on a dummy and the suit makes the dummy come to life.The third one is about a woman who has a bad side named Lucy who makes the girl kill people.You have to see this movie!

Rating: 4 stars
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.

Rating: 4 stars
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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: What a great concept!
Review: When watching this film, you have to constantly bear in mind the era in which this film was made. Doing so will mean you can enjoy the film for what it is and ignore the terrible "special effects". The idea of robert powell going to the asylum and having to guess the identity of doctor Starr to get the job is brilliant. Although the stories are a bit predictable at times its great the way all loose ends are tied up at the end. Although the "twist" was pretty obvious i think it was done really well. The film is worth watching simply to hear the satanic laughter right at the end of the film. Its truly the most terrifying, insane thing ive ever heard, definately worth a few rewinds! It only gets 3 stars because its not something worth watching more than once or twice.
This would make a great re-make.


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