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.

Movie Review - The Evil Within

The Evil Within

2017

Supernova LLC / The Writers Studio : Vision Films

7.5 / 10

This is a special movie, not just because it's a brilliant and original horror movie, but because of the story behind the making of the film.

The writer and director Andrew Getty started this film back in 2002 when it was titled "The Storyteller" and was released in 2017 under the current title, two years after Getty's death due to an ulcer causing internal bleeding.  This is a shame as he spent so much money on the project and wasn't around to see his creation brought to life... or take credit for it.

The story is about a mentally handicapped man, Dennis (expertly portrayed by Frederick Koehler), living in his brother's, John (Sean Patrick Flannery), care.  Dennis is plagued by twisted and dark nightmares for which a tall grey man claims responsibility.  Then one day John and his girlfriend, Lydia (Dina Meyer) bring home a mirror for Dennis' bedroom.  Dennis hates the mirror as he doesn't want to loose his hamsters like he's lost his comic collection.  However, his decision changes when his reflection starts talking to him and offers him a way to get better... to get smarter...

It was the trailer that had me salivating at the thought of watching the film.  However, be aware the movie isn't how it looks on the trailer.  Instead of an exciting run-of-the-mill horror what Getty gives his audience is a deep and powerful insight into the human psyche and not just through Dennis, but all of the other characters have some kind of dysfunction.  John is hiding a secret.  Lydia has relationship issues.  Even Pete (Tim Bagley) - who is only in the film a few minutes - hates people touching him and invading his person space.

The film can even be taken a couple of ways.  It could be a very dark psychological thriller or it could be a supernatural entity possession, making it a horror.  It works in either genre.

The star of the show is Frederick Koehler as Dennis.  He is brilliant at portraying the character, giving him facial ticks, body form, hand gestures, and a speech impediment.  His acting is really believable and draws the audience into the film more.  However, it's Flannery's and Meyer's characters that appear flat at times, a little too dimensional and wooden; I think this may be the characters they were playing or the direction at the time of the scenes, as both of them are good actors.  It just jars the mood and atmosphere at times and this is a bad thing as the movie depends on mood and atmosphere, which Getty builds beautifully.  It's also great to see Michael Berryman again.

This film reminds me of Phantasm in its essence and spirit, and like Phantasm I will gladly watch this film again... and again... and, probably, again...  There are a lot of interesting and well thought out concepts in this story, which should send a chill down your spine.  However, if you prefer shock horror over creepy and atmospheric then this probably won't be your cup of tea.

  

Movie Review - The Road

The Road

2011

GMA Films : Freestyle Releasing / Freestyle Digital Media

8.5 / 10

If you're like me and enjoy a good movie, no matter what the language, then you should check out this Filipino gem.

What this film gives the audience is a story in three very different acts.

The first act is the present day where three friends "borrow" a car to go joy riding.  Though their version of joyriding isn't creating havoc on the road but to actually practise their driving.  While they're tootling around the town they see a police car and decide to try and find a quieter section of town.  They come across a fenced off lane and think it would be a good place to improve their driving skills.  However, it's not long before they find themselves in some scary and creepy situations.  The director Yam Laranas does a fantastic job of creating an eerie atmosphere, using shadows and light to their fullest.  The only thing I found annoying with the film was in this act... the girls really can scream... you need to turn the volume down before all the glass in your house explodes...

The second act starts to tell of the events that have led up to the present day events.  We travel back in time a couple of years to when two sisters disappear while travelling the road.  Adding to the creepiness of the earlier act the story now adds a dark and ominous feel as things become dangerous and deadly for the sisters.

The third act goes back twelve years to the very beginning and shows the psychological effects that a dysfunctional family in turmoil can experience, especially if one of the family is mentally unstable.  This is one of the strongest sections of the film as it resolves the mysterious parts of the story.  Laranas does a brilliant job of building atmosphere, once again.  This time he uses brightness and shadows to convey feeling.  Add the great acting of Carmina Villaroel who plays Carmela, a strong controlling independent woman caught in a loveless marriage due to having a child, a woman who runs hot and cold at the flick of a switch.

All of this makes the story much more interesting.   The writers, Aloy Adlawan and Yam Laranas, easily blend the styles and intricacies into a strong and believeable story that spread through the horror, thriller, psychological, and crime genres.

I would recommend this to all horror lovers and even to fans of thrillers, who wouldn't usually watch a horror movie.  This film really does work on so many levels.

This trailer does not portray how good this film really is.

Movie Review - Baskin

Baskin

(2015)

Film Colony / Mo Film / XYZ Films : IFC Midnight / Vertigo Films / Scream Factory

3.75 / 10

This is yet another of those films where the premise is solid, though, in reality, the movie turns out to be a letdown.  A group of policemen are called out to help with a unit at an old abandoned building.  Once they get there, they find the two policemen dead.  As they search through the hallways and floor of the building they come across a staircase that leads downwards.  It goes a lot further than just to a basement... it leads into the bowels of the earth.  Here they find a group of Satanists performing a Black Mass.

This could have been a great film... should have been...  The Director and one of the writers, Can Evrenol gives the audience some beautiful camera shots and builds an eerie atmosphere which is almost palpable.  He also gives them some really nasty and disturbing imagery, which should stay with them for quite some time.

Though this isn't enough to keep the film strong... and neither is the exemplary acting.

The fault with the film is the characters and the story.  The main characters are bullish and unlikable.  They take pleasure in torturing and degrading the people around them.  They think of themselves as great and untouchable.  Because I couldn't relate to any of the characters it made the film slow and boring.

There is a pomposity to the story which grated on my nerves.  When it got towards the climax and the philosophical issues started to come through they felt forced, half-formed and unconvincing.  These should have been woven throughout the story.  They may even have made me care about the characters and what happens to them.

However, when the film ended I was left cold, bored and wondering what the point of the film actually was.

Not a film I would recommend to anyone.

Video Nasty - Inferno: The Second Mother

Inferno - The Second Mother

(1980)

Produzioni Intersound : Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / Anchor Bay Entertainment / Arrow Film Distributors

8.25 / 10

In my opinion, this was wrongly given a video nasty label as it towers above the rest in that dubious genre.  Once again Argento gives the audience a beautifully shot horror movie, filled with elegant locations, bewitching choreographed death scenes, and mood lighting to chill the bones.

This time the story is larger than the first chapter as it encompasses both Rome and New York.  We are no longer confined to just one building with its tenants and this gives Argento more scope to show how widespread the occult has become and to strengthen the story.  We are shown a hidden room in a cellar.  This is an ingenious set in the movie as the room is flooded, so our heroine has to dive in when she loses a bracelet through a whole in the floor. With the use of music, camera angles, and shots through the murky water he creates a nice uneasiness.

This is one of many excellent scenes that give the movie its strength.  The mysterious Alchemist in the labyrinths of a library.  The inexplicable beautiful woman, in a Rome lecture class, with her cat.  Kazanian, the bookstore owner, in Central Park.

It's also great to hear Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, again as he composed some of the music for the soundtrack.

As with Suspiria, it's the story that is the comedown of the movie.  For it too, suffers from being muddled and confusing, though not to the extent of Suspiria.  But it's not enough to distract from the story and not reason enough to not watch the film.

This is better than Suspiria and builds on the mythos of the witches, their powers, and their histories.  Argento has shaped the movie to be a "stand alone", so it doesn't matter if you've watched the first movie or not.

I would recommend this film, not just to horror fans, but to film buffs in general, as Dario Argento, in this period was trying something new in the genre, which hasn't really been seen since.  This is a movie to enjoy.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - Inferno