Movie Review - Asylum

Asylum

1972

Production Companies:  Amicus Productions & Harbour Productions Limited.

The first thing which should draw you to this little horror flick is its writer... Robert Bloch, the man who penned Psycho - that in itself should have you excited.  I had totally forgotten he'd written this anthology, so it brought a massive smile to my face when I saw it in the credits.  Another plus for this movie is the great cast.  I didn't know of any of the director's other work, but after watching this film I would be very happy to watch anything else he may have directed.

Bloch's stories are strong and teeter on the edge of sanity and the paranormal.  Both he and Baker do an excellent job of using the fifth story to tie all the others together.  Dr Martin arrives at Dunsmoor Asylum to start work only to find Dr Rutherford is standing in for Dr Starr, who appears to have suffered a mental breakdown.  Dr Starr has been moved upstairs to be confined with patients of a similar malady.  So Rutherford sets out to test Martin by challenging him to talk to the patients on the ward and to diagnose which one is Dr Starr.  Once on the ward, we are introduced to the inmates and their delusions.

The first tells of a married man who's having an affair.  However, when his wife informs him that she'll never let him go he has to take extreme measures... though she has some ideas of her own on the matter.  Tale two tells of a struggling tailor about to lose his business.  Needing a quick influx of cash he takes on the job of creating a suit for a stranger, out of some strange material...  Story three is of a sister returning to her family home after a stay in a hospital.  Upon her return, her best friend starts to weave doubts into her mind over what her brother and the nurse are really after.  Can she be telling the truth or does she have an ulterior motive?  Story four is about Dr Byron and his creations.  At the moment they are just effigies of his former colleges, though he has a plan to bring them to life...

Each story is acted superbly by its cast (I found nothing bad about any of the performers or their portrayals) and are beautifully filmed.  There are some wonderful camera shots, not too outlandish but very subtle that you don't notice them.  For example, when Martin enters the Asylum he is met by a nurse.  The camera follows behind her slowly.  Once they are acquainted they turn down a hallway and the camera pans with them.  As they stand outside Rutherford's door they are just silhouettes.  The camera work is so steady and smooth.  In today's film, it'd be jerky - to give it a "realistic" feel - and they would more than likely stay with them or have quick cuts from hallway to outside the door.  I know which I prefer.  Baker does a good job of using not only the camera work but lighting and sound to create atmosphere.  In the first story, where there's a little action, he creates a creepiness though with an exciting sting to it.  For the second story, Baker ups the eerieness element to unnerve the audience.

The only reason it didn't get full marks is that I am marking by today's standards, which means that some of the special effects let it down a little.  I've never been one for the "Stuffed attacking beast" or "decapitated body part" attacking scenes - I've always known it's nothing more than the actor holding a prop.  As a viewer I want to lose myself in the story, incidents like these just bring me out of that story a little... usually with a giggle.  This hurts the film and the enjoyment of it because you're meant to be scared - not amused.  That said, some of the other effects are top notch.  Loved the dolls internal organs and the mirror scene was pretty much perfect.

I would recommend this film to every horror fan out there as this is how it should be done.  Though it isn't perfect I would still watch this over a lot of the "so-called" horror of today.  Well worth a watch and well worth keeping.