The company Amicus were absolute masters of the horror anthology in the 1960's and 1970's, and "Asylum" is a fine and typical example of the work they did. Now, granted, it's hard not to just laugh at some of the things here, but the filmmakers could well have been going for tongue in cheek the entire time anyway. Never really scary, but certainly creepy on occasion, the movie nevertheless maintains a high fun factor. Even taking its tendency towards predictability into account, it's highly enjoyable stuff.
The young Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) is interviewing for the top job at a mental asylum; the man who seems to be in charge, Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), tells him that if he can answer a riddle, he will get the job. The riddle is, who among the patients to whom he will be introduced used to be the head doctor, a person named Starr?
He first meets Bonnie (Barbara Parkins), whose story is told in "Frozen Fear". Planning on running away with married lover Walter (Richard Todd), she is forced to deal with the results when Walter chops up his wife Ruth (Sylvia Syms) and puts her body parts in the freezer. Turns out, Ruth was into studying voodoo...
Then it's on to Bruno (Barry Morse) in "The Weird Tailor". Which is actually inaccurate, as it's Bruno's customer, the mysterious Mr. Smith (Peter Cushing) who is the weird one. Bruno desperately needs a paying customer like Mr. Smith in order to pay his rent, but he'll find that there are worse things than losing one's place of business, as the job of manufacturing a suit from the strange material provided by Smith has macabre consequences.
The story of Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) is related in "Lucy Comes to Stay". Barbara has gotten out of a mental hospital, and must take the bad with the good as her reckless "friend" Lucy (Britt Ekland) does what she feels is best for Barbara.
Finally, we and Dr. Martin are introduced to Herbert Lom's Dr. Byron in "Mannikins of Horror". Dr. Byron has created some intriguing little robotic figurines, one in his own likeness, that supposedly contain organic matter inside.
The last story is brief as Dr. Martin (incorrectly) then thinks he's figured everything out, and has it out with Dr. Rutherford, disgusted by his methods, only to have everything go bad quite quickly.
The resolution is delicious (with our antagonist breaking the fourth wall before the end credits begin rolling), and a peerless cast makes the most of the material, written by Robert Bloch of "Psycho" fame. The movie gets off to a great start with Modest Mussorgsky's "A Night on the Bald Mountain" on the soundtrack, letting us know we're going to be in for a good & ghoulish time. Genre pro Roy Ward Baker is in the director's chair, and does his usual efficient work. All in all, "Asylum" is a worthy viewing for any fan of the horror anthology.
7/10
The young Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) is interviewing for the top job at a mental asylum; the man who seems to be in charge, Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), tells him that if he can answer a riddle, he will get the job. The riddle is, who among the patients to whom he will be introduced used to be the head doctor, a person named Starr?
He first meets Bonnie (Barbara Parkins), whose story is told in "Frozen Fear". Planning on running away with married lover Walter (Richard Todd), she is forced to deal with the results when Walter chops up his wife Ruth (Sylvia Syms) and puts her body parts in the freezer. Turns out, Ruth was into studying voodoo...
Then it's on to Bruno (Barry Morse) in "The Weird Tailor". Which is actually inaccurate, as it's Bruno's customer, the mysterious Mr. Smith (Peter Cushing) who is the weird one. Bruno desperately needs a paying customer like Mr. Smith in order to pay his rent, but he'll find that there are worse things than losing one's place of business, as the job of manufacturing a suit from the strange material provided by Smith has macabre consequences.
The story of Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) is related in "Lucy Comes to Stay". Barbara has gotten out of a mental hospital, and must take the bad with the good as her reckless "friend" Lucy (Britt Ekland) does what she feels is best for Barbara.
Finally, we and Dr. Martin are introduced to Herbert Lom's Dr. Byron in "Mannikins of Horror". Dr. Byron has created some intriguing little robotic figurines, one in his own likeness, that supposedly contain organic matter inside.
The last story is brief as Dr. Martin (incorrectly) then thinks he's figured everything out, and has it out with Dr. Rutherford, disgusted by his methods, only to have everything go bad quite quickly.
The resolution is delicious (with our antagonist breaking the fourth wall before the end credits begin rolling), and a peerless cast makes the most of the material, written by Robert Bloch of "Psycho" fame. The movie gets off to a great start with Modest Mussorgsky's "A Night on the Bald Mountain" on the soundtrack, letting us know we're going to be in for a good & ghoulish time. Genre pro Roy Ward Baker is in the director's chair, and does his usual efficient work. All in all, "Asylum" is a worthy viewing for any fan of the horror anthology.
7/10