Customer Reviews

ASPHYX

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Asphyx" a/k/a "The Horror of Death" is one of the most original and yet most unheralded English horror films. Set in 1870's England, aristocrat Sir Hugo (Robert Stephens) accidentally photographs an entity (mythological name Asphyx) entering a person's body at their death. Sir Hugo theorizes that each person has their own Asphyx and that if the entity can be imprisoned outside the body, the person will be immortal. Guess what happens next.

From the physiological standpoint, the concept is not that different from the idea of vampires and zombies; with the same need to suspend disbelief to really enjoy things. Although like the implications of time travel, half the fun is speculating on the ramifications of the idea.

There is a pleasant and very haunting score and the story has a nice touch of irony as Sir Hugo's first experimental subject is his eventual downfall.

The real strength of this film is the production design. Considerable effort went into the meticulously constructed sets and there was much attention to detail in the various scientific apparatus and instruments. While the historical accuracy of these advanced devices is suspect, they are certainly no harder to accept than the basic premise. All looks great on the big screen and is probably fine on the letter boxed DVD, but the VHS tape is of marginal quality and the 4x3 aspect ratio does not do justice to the frame.

Few films from the era that did a better job of filling their frames than "The Asphyx" (credit to Academy award winning cinematographer Freddie Young), but this just magnifies the problems of the full-screen version. It appears that the 1989 Interglobal Home Video trimmed nine minutes from the film and was recorded at the LP speed, so you should avoid that one if possible.

In 1870's England a scientist discovers that the spirit of death - "The Asphyx" of the title - can be trapped as it tries to enter the body at the moment of death. Using primitive photography and a chemical spotlight, he attempts to immortalise his nearest and dearest by trapping their individual asphyx as it appears. A thoughtful,and for the most part effective tale, with some genuinely ghoulish moments courtesy of the impressive (for their time) special effects. Robert Stephens gets a little frantic at times, especially in the last half-hour, but the original plot and a sinister twist in the tail raise a smile and ensure that the film won't be easily forgotten.

The DVD features the movie in a poor NTSC to PAL conversion. The movie is shown in 2.35:1 widescreen, but it is not 16x9 enhanced for widescreen TVs.

This is a review of the Henstooth Video (2009) Edition
This movie is very unusual and is well worth watching. I would highly recommend it to people who enjoy Hammer or similar movies. Please see other reviews for a full plot out line.
The main point of this review is to report on the quality of the new DVD edition. It has both bad and good points.
Bad point:
1. No extra's apart from chapter selection.
2. The picture is not restored and has a number of blemishes.
Good Points:
1. This is the full length 99 minute uncut version of the film.
2. The video has an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 which means that you actually get the full picture on this edition.
3. Although the picture is not restored it is not that bad and is quite watchable.
Overall I recommend this DVD. It is much better then previous editions and I highly recommend it.

A co-worker and I were just discussing unusual films last week, and I immediately thought of "The Asphyx", though no one else in the office had even heard of it. They're all younger than me so I guess it's excusable. I haven't seen this on the small screen yet, but did enjoy it during its initial release in 1972 on the big screen. I thought it to be thought provoking in the way of classic horror films, when the protagonist discovers (too late) that he shouldn't have been messing around with things like immortality. I've not seen or heard of it since then but I haven't forgotten it either, nor will I. A genuinely scary, gruesome movie with a moral comes along not too often. I highly recommend it and intend to buy it on DVD when it's released!

Was disappointed with this DVD - I've waited a long time for this movie to make it to DVD - the movie itself is cool, but Hen's Tooth DVD's not anamorphic, and on my tv is played as a small image in the middle of the screen.

The only reason that I continue to wade through the dross that makes up the majority of cinema is in order to stumble across films like 'The Asphyx'. Back when BBC1 and ITV in the UK used to show late night movies, films of it's ilk would regularly turn up and be etched forever into impressionable young minds like mine. I remember first seeing it after my father taped it off of the now defunct 'Thames Television' station back in the early nineteen eighties. Images from it have stayed with me to this day and, reappraising it again, I was impressed by how well it has stood the test of time and how it treats its subject matter in the kind of adult and deftly subtle manner that you very rarely see in horror-film making these days. It's a thoroughly interesting horror film because there is not really an evil character in it - indeed, the character who would generally be tarred with the "evil" brush in a less subtle treatment is deeply humanitarian and only really motivated by a profound sense of loss and a fear of being left alone in the world. It's this fear and vulnerability that will eventually set in motion a chain of events that will have devastating consequences for all involved, but, as it is, the rendering of the character by the late, great Robert Stephens engenders only sympathy for his plight as that which he holds most dear is slowly and systematically stripped away. There is virtually no onscreen gore in this film and virtually no violence, but it's denouement is still one of the most haunting that I've ever seen and leads me to wonder whether a young Stephen King didn't borrow elements of it for 'The Green Mile'. In the hands of a director like Christopher Nolan, a remake of this film would be most welcome, if crafted with same care and attention lavished on the original. Try and get hold of the Umbrella Entertainment release of the DVD if you can, as it's not panned and scanned.

The Asphyx is set apart from the usual run of horror movies by its intelligent and literate script and a more thoughtful tone than we usually get from the genre
The setting is London in the year 1873 .The protagonist is a distinguished amateur scientist and beloved philantrophist ,Sir Hugo Cunningham (Robert Stephens)a man obsessed by research into psychic pheneomena ,a result of his son's accidental death some years previously.During his researches he makes a major discovery-when photographing people at the very point of death Sir Hugo finds that every single shot has a distinctive smudge on it .They depict a strange,blurry shape .It is not due to a defect in the photographic process ;the chemicals used in the process have resulted in his being able to photograph and immobilise The Asphyx ,the spirit of Death which according to ancient Greek mythology comes for every living soul at the hour of their departure.Aided by his foster son Giles (Robert Powell ) he traps the Asphyx of a guines pig thus rendering the creature immortal .He traps his own Asphyx and endeavours to do the same for Giles and his natural daughter Christie (Jane Lapotaire).Things go badly awry ,the results being tragic and truly horrible especially for Sir Hugo

The movie is not without some problems of logic -why for example did Hugo change the method of inducing death given that the original method employed worked in his own case ?Also The actual Asphyx is pretty unconvincing -it is clearly a puppet.
However what you do get is a cerebral Gothic movie with elements of horror and the supernatural .Its conclusion -some 100 years into the future- is genuinely disturbing -and the movie while morbid and a genuine oddity is also thoughtful ,well made and acted with conviction by a talented cast .It is a movie where -unusually for the genre -the scientist is a genuinely nice guy ,motivated by a desire to do good .

I urge those wanting a variation from the genre norm to give this movie a try

"The Asphyx" is a 1973 British horror film directed by Peter Newbrook. It was also known as "Spirit of the Dead" and "The Horror of Death". It stars Robert Stephens and Robert Powell.

It tells the exploits of rich Scientist-Philanthropist Sir Hugo Cunningham, who discovers an unimaginable blur being recorded while he searches the negatives of dying men whom he had recorded. Later on, at a party, he is making a motion picture of his wife and son, who are playing in a pool and ends up filming their accidental deaths as well. At first, Cunningham doesn't realize that he's captured that same misshapen blur on the camera, but once he does, he comes to a conclusion: that the blur is a person's soul leaving the body. It isn't until he re-examines the pictures and film however, that he makes the startling discovery that the blur was not moving away from the bodies of those who were dying, it was moving TOWARDS them. After doing some research, the good Doctor finds that he has found a ticket to immortality through the blur, an ancient Greek spirit known as an "Asphyx". According to legends, the spirit will appear only at the moment of a person's death to take them away to the Underworld. Cunningham, in his brilliant madness soon deduces that if he can only stop this process from happening at all, it would make any person immortal and unable to die... unless their particular Asphyx is released.

The Doctor soon goes to his task and makes a deal with his adopted son for help in perfecting and utilizing the procedures, and, from there his laboratory becomes filled with torturous devices and instruments of death. He soon comes to understand however, that immortality comes at a high price, not easily fulfilled by mortal man.

Creepy, huh?

I was first turned onto this movie by Elvira, back in the 80's. Being half asleep at the time added a surreal element to the show ("What? Who's the lady with the big hair? Oh wait that's Elvira she doesn't get decapitated zzzz..."). For many years I could not remember the name of the movie, & when I finally did remember I was hesitant to buy it - what if it's not as spooky/creepy as I (sleepily) remembered it? Only one way to find out! Luckily, I still enjoyed it, in particular the metaphor of the immortal guinea pig, ironically causing the death of the very human guinea pig who saved its' life, by doing what comes natural: Chewing on that from which it hopes to gain sustenance - a water line. Water itself was a recurring metaphor: The initial drownings, the water from the eternal drip provided by the stream above, & of course the aforementioned waterline needed to keep the containment light active, thus (like the hapless main character himself) keeping the Asphyx near-perpetually imprisoned in a decaying body, praying for release and joyful reunification. Perhaps the final scene should have been at the ocean side or a lake park, in lieu of a common traffic accident! Ah well, I ramble... On the whole, if you like horror movies and you missed this one, either because "The Exorcist" bumped it out of the theaters prematurely, or because you never watched Elvira, then consider at least renting "The Asphyx".