HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Asylum Can I Play With Madness?
Year: 1972
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Stars: Robert Powell, Patrick Magee, Geoffrey Bayldon, Richard Todd, Barbara Parkins, Peter Cushing, Barry Morse, Britt Ekland, Charlotte Rampling, Herbert Lom, Sylvia Syms, James Villiers, Megs Jenkins, Anne Firbank
Genre: HorrorBuy from Amazon
Rating:  7 (from 1 vote)
Review: Young psychiatrist Dr Martin (Robert Powell) arrives at a remote mental asylum in the country to apply for a position there. He expects to meet Dr Starr, but the man who meets him is the wheelchair-bound Dr Rutherford (Patrick Magee), who claims to have been attacked by one of his patients. When the liberal-minded Dr Martin asks where Dr Starr is, he is told that Starr is now one of the patients, and Rutherford poses the psychiatrist a puzzle: go and interview four inmates, and work out which is Dr Starr. If he gets it right, he gets the job, and can implement his more lenient practices.

Definitely one of the better of the horror anthologies from Amicus, Asylum was scripted by Robert Bloch. What Dr Martin finds when he goes up to interview the four patients is more than just an excuse for their short tales of terror to be told - it's a framing device that builds to a clever climax. But before all that, we're in comfortably familiar territory for this studio, with four people drawn into the presence of vengeful, supernatural forces. The first story is a simple revenge tale, the second an awful warning, and the third a story of genuine madness.

First up is Richard Todd, who murders his wife (Sylvia Syms) and chops up her body to put in a freezer cabinet so he can be with his mistress (Barbara Parkins). However, his wife is a student of mysterious arts, and her body parts, all wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string, return to life. Next, poor tailor Barry Morse is visited by a shadowy figure (Peter Cushing), who gives him magical material with which to make a suit. Then, schizophrenic Charlotte Rampling is taken to a country retreat by her brother (James Villiers) to recover, but her imaginary friend Lucy (Britt Ekland) comes too...

Subtlety isn't necessarily a bonus in Amicus films, so the actors have little time to go into any depth with their characters. However many of the performances are nicely handled; in particular, the scenes that Morse and Cushing share are very well played, but it's the actors in the framing story who have the most fun. The last story, you see, concerns a mad doctor (Herbert Lom) who believes he has brought tiny robots to life, and as Dr Martin complains to Rutherford about the conditions in the hospital, one of the robots begins to stalk them.

One of the appealing things about these films is how plainly ridiculous some of the ideas look on screen, but how the comparitively cheap production gets away with them through sheer cheek. There's not much in the way of outright humour ("Rest in pieces," the dead wife is told at one point), but instead there is an amusing conviction about the horrors that makes them entertaining. A bunch of moving body parts or a dinky killer robot are not without their charms, and even the straightest story, the Charlotte Rampling one, has a neat visual punchline. It's crazy, but it works. Music by Douglas Gamley, which includes some classical excerpts.

Asylum has been released on DVD as part of the Amicus Collection. The film comes complete with audio commentary by director Roy Ward Baker and star Robert Powell.
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 13295 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 

Roy Ward Baker  (1916 - 2010)

Reliable British director who worked his way up from teaboy to assistant to Alfred Hitchcock to overseeing his own hit projects from the 1940s to the 1970s. Making his debut with The October Man, he continued with Morning Departure, Don't Bother To Knock, Inferno, The One That Got Away and what is considered by many to be the best Titanic film, A Night To Remember.

After the failure of The Singer Not the Song in the sixties he turned to television, including episodes of The Avengers, The Saint and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), then to Hammer, where he directed many of the later favourites associated with the studio: Quatermass and the Pit, The Anniversary, The Vampire Lovers, Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. He also made Asylum, Vault of Horror and The Monster Club for Hammer's rivals, then returned for the remainder of his career to TV with episodes of Minder and Fairly Secret Army, among others.

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
  Stuart Watmough
Paul Shrimpton
Darren Jones
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
   

 

Last Updated: