Verdict
Summary
An Amicus production, the horror anthology film Asylum is good fun for fans of Tales From the Crypt and similar style anthology movies (think Creepshow). Written by Robert Bloch (Psycho), and directed by Roy Ward Baker, who made some films for Hammer, the film is classy and just spooky enough to keep you invested with its weird and macabre tales. ’70s horror was such a great playground for filmmakers and studios to explore the genre in tons of different ways, and this one covers a lot of bases for even the most hardcore fans.
Plot:
A young psychiatrist speaks to four patients at an asylum he is going to be employed at, only to be shocked when he realizes something isn’t right with the asylum.
Review:
Young Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) drives to a mental asylum for his first – and only – interview to become one of the asylum’s new doctors. His interviewer is Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), who is in a wheelchair, and he tells Martin to explore the asylum and speak to some of the patients to become acquainted. He speaks to an attractive woman named Bonnie (Barbara Parkins), who tells her story: She was the mistress of a man named Walter, who killed and dismembered his wife Ruth. Only Ruth didn’t stay dead! Her dismembered parts came back to haunt Walter, and Bonnie witnessed it, going crazy in the process. Next, Martin speaks to a tailor named Bruno, who was becoming desperate to pay his rent when a mysterious man (played by Peter Cushing) walked through the front door, offering to pay well above the going rate for a brand new suit for his son, but the suit had to have very specific requirements, and after Bruno makes the suit, he realizes that the suit is for the man’s dead son, whom he may have murdered! Next, Martin sits down with a beautiful young woman named Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) who was on some very heavy anti-psychotic medication when she may or may not have killed some people. Barbara insists that it was Lucy (Britt Ekland), but Barbara and Lucy are one and the same! Finally, Martin has a brief chat with a twitchy man named Byron (Herbert Lom), who was into some very weird voodoo. Byron had a hand made collection of robot dolls he created – and one that was his own doppelganger – which carried out his wishes, which leads to the moment one of his dolls barges into Dr. Rutherford’s office and kills him! Dr. Martin realizes – too late – that the lunatics have literally taken over the asylum!
An Amicus production, the horror anthology film Asylum is good fun for fans of Tales From the Crypt and similar style anthology movies (think Creepshow). Written by Robert Bloch (Psycho), and directed by Roy Ward Baker, who made some films for Hammer, the film is classy and just spooky enough to keep you invested with its weird and macabre tales. ’70s horror was such a great playground for filmmakers and studios to explore the genre in tons of different ways, and this one covers a lot of bases for even the most hardcore fans.
Severin’s upscale of Asylum to 4K Ultra HD (a Blu-ray disc is also included) was scanned in 4K from the original camera negative, bringing a new vibrancy to the film that sparkles and resonates for what I assume will speak and answer for future generations of physical media collectors the world wide over. With close to three hours of bonus features and a sturdy slipcover (limited edition only), this is a gorgeous presentation.
