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Asylum (1972)

Peter Cushing , Britt Ekland , Roy Ward Baker  |  PG |  DVD
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)

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Asylum + From Beyond the Grave + Tales from the Crypt  / The Vault of Horror (Midnight Movies Double Feature)
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Product Details

  • Actors: Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Barry Morse
  • Directors: Roy Ward Baker
  • Writers: Robert Bloch
  • Producers: Gustave M. Berne, Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky
  • Format: Color, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Studio: Dark Sky Films
  • DVD Release Date: July 25, 2006
  • Run Time: 88 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000FC2GFK
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,879 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "Asylum" on IMDb

Special Features

  • Commentary by director Roy Ward Baker and cameraman Neil Binney
  • "Inside the Fear Factory" featurette
  • Cast and crew bios
  • Liner notes
  • Trailers
  • Still gallery

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of the patients in an institution for the incurably insane was once its director, and a young psychiatrist (Robert Powell) has to figure out which one as they all tell him their stories. What better setting for a horror anthology? It's an inspired framing device, making this one of the better examples of the genre, even if screenwriter Robert Bloch at times resorts to gimmicks rather than invention. The first two stories are less than brilliant (the first is highlighted by dismembered body parts neatly wrapped in butcher paper wriggling back to life for revenge), but Charlotte Rampling and Britt Eklund are marvelous in the third tale, about a mentally unbalanced young woman and her dangerous best friend. Herbert Lom is also excellent in the final story as a scientist who carves an army of dolls he claims he can bring to life by sheer will power.

Director Roy Ward Baker (Quatermas and the Pit) builds momentum with each story until the dark and deliciously bloody climax. This Amicus Studios production looks visually dull compared to Hammer's gothic gloss, but it features a great British cast (including Patrick Magee and Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing), and ultimately Baker makes that gloomy look work for his increasingly creepy production. Amicus produced a series of horror anthologies, including the original 1972 Tales from the Crypt and The Torture Garden (also scripted by Bloch). --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

When Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) arrives at the Dunsmoor Asylum for the incurably insane, he expects to be interviewed by asylum director Dr. Starr. Instead he is met by Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), who explains that Dr. Starr had suffered a mental breakdown and now is one of the patients. Dr. Rutherford decides that if Martin can deduce which one is really Dr. Starr, then he will be given the position. Is it Bonnie (Barbara Parkins), whose affair with a married man turns murderous? Is it Bruno (Barry Morse), a hardluck tailor visited by a mysterious stranger (Peter Cushing) with a blueprint and very special fabric for an unusual suit? Is it Barbara (Charlotte Rampling), accused of murdering her brother and her nurse but insisting that her friend Lucy (Britt Ekland) was responsible; Or is it Dr. Byron (Herbert Lom) who claims the ability to transfer collecting.

Customer Reviews

This film is fun and from a good era for horror films. Stanley Runk  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Amicus horror gem!! December 1, 2003
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
During Hammer's Hay-day, they had competition with from Amicus. Amicus' productions tended to be lush productions with an eye to detail and costumes, with solid directing, scripting and acting. This one is no exception.

You have the marvellously talented Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth) coming to an old Gothic mansion that has been converted for a home for the criminally insane. He is applying for a job there as a doctor, and he soon find himself proving his worth in a test. He is presented with three different patients. He most go in, interview them and learn why they are there. One of them is a former doctor at the institute, but has flipped out and has been confined. Powell's task is to determine which one is the former doctor.

It's the frame works for some nifty horror tales, with fine directing by Roy Ward Baker and script by Robert Bloch.

A great fun evening with a super cast of Powell, Peter Cushing, Patrick Macnee, Herbert Lom, Barry Morse, Barbara Parkins, Charlotte Rampling, Richard Todd.

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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Amicus gem back in circulation April 20, 2006
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Long out of circulation (except in an inferior bad transfer and print) "Asylum" finally reappears on DVD. One of Amicus' finest efforts is told anthology style much like "Tales from the Crypt" and "The House That Dripped Blood" from a screenplay by Robert Bloch (the novel Psycho among many other genre offerings)most fans of the film know the story but I'll briefly recap it here after I mention the new stuff on the DVD.

For this edition from Dark Sky Films has struck a new print from the 35mm negative, transfered it in high definition and presents it in an anamorphic widescreen presentation. The extras include a commentary track by director Roy Ward Baker and Director of Photography Neil Binney, biographies for Baker, Cushing, Lom, Britt Ekland and producers Milton Subotsky & Max J. Rosenberg. There's also a featurette on Amicus entitled "Inside the Fear Factory" as well as liner notes and a still gallery. The only thing I could have asked for that isn't included is a appreciation in the form of a featurette for some of the deceased stars such as Peter Cushing.

Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) arrives at Dunsmoor a hospital for the mentally ill. Martin is challenged by the director of the hosptial Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee) to prove his mettle as a doctor; Martin must figure out who of the recently admitted inmates is Dr. Starr the former director of the hospital who's gone insane. Martin listens to the stories of different inmates (played by Barbara Parkins,Charlotte Rampling and Herbert Lom)and tries to determine which of them was the former director. Each has a bizarre story to tell from a reanimated dismembered corpse, suits that bring the dead to life to hand made little "people" that their maker can "will" himself into. Curiously Robert Bloch is credited as Robert Black on the box. Considering all the care that went into the re-release I'm surprised this happened.Also featuring Peter Cushing, Barry Morse and Charlotte Rampling "Asylum" is the gem in the Amicus crown.

The featurette features Max Rosenberg discussing the formation of Amicus and how the first couple of films came to be. For example Rosenberg discusses how he and Milton Subotsky became involved in Hammer's first successful horror production "Curse of Frankenstein". Freddie Francis also appears discussing how he got into direction, working with Peter Cushing and his work for the duo.

The previous edition has been out of print for far too long. It looks as if the plentiful extras and usual care that MPI takes with their releases is here as well. It's taken a while for this gem to become available again but I'm happy it has finally come "back to life". This creepy horror thriller scared the heck out of me as a kid and while some of the edge may have been dulled by the more explicit horror films out there for younger horror fans the subtle direction and storytelling has kept this film vital and makes this film an essential horror thriller to pick up on DVD.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely brilliant horror movie February 3, 2003
Format:VHS Tape
As one who has often panned for gold in the stream of little-known horror delights, I have discovered much more fool's gold than gold dust, but Asylum is a magnificent gold nugget. Produced by Amicus, the British equivalent of Hammer Studios, this classic film features a remarkable cast bringing to life a compelling, delightfully shocking tale which comes straight from the pen of none other than Robert Bloch. I think the whole idea of the movie is brilliant, especially the way everything is put together, meshing four largely unrelated tales into one overall and amazingly successful story. We begin with Dr. Martin's arrival at the asylum in pursuit of a position. He is surprised to learn that Dr. Styles, the asylum director and the man he expected to speak with about the job, is now one of the incurably insane inmates housed upstairs. Dr. Rutherford is willing to hire Dr. Martin, but only if he passes a certain test. There are four inmates upstairs, and he must determine which one is actually Dr. Styles (who has assumed a brand new identity for himself). As Dr. Martin makes the rounds, accompanied by the doctor posted upstairs, we are presented with each individual's story as to how they came to be institutionalized.

The first story, that of Bonnie, is a wholly remarkable one. Her lover, having finally agreed to kill his divorce-denying wife and run off with her, chops his wife into several pieces and stows everything in the freezer, including her voodoo-ish protective bracelet He is quite shocked shortly thereafter to see the head, wrapped in butcher's paper, roll into view upstairs, and he is even more surprised by what happens next. When Bonnie arrives, she finds herself menaced and attacked by the separate body parts of the seemingly undead murdered woman. Next we have the story of Bruno the tailor. Facing economic ruin, he is offered two hundred pounds to make a suit for a rather strange gentleman named Mr. Smith (played magnificently by Peter Cushing). The suit must be created under the unusual conditions specified by the customer and must be made from the remarkable fabric Smith has provided Bruno. This metallic, strangely glittering coat is actually an instrument of magic, Bruno finds out upon delivering it. Supposedly it has the power to give or restore life to whoever wears it. Cushing's performance helps make this the strongest of the four stories, in my opinion. Next up is Barbara, who denies having committed the murders that resulted in her institutionalization. It was her friend Lucy, she says. The story plays pretty well until the end, when whatever mystery lingered concerning the truth about Lucy is rather unnecessarily done away with. Finally, we have Dr. Baron, maker of robotic men; actually, he says, the creatures are quite human on the inside, and he claims to have the power to will his own mind into one such creation and essentially make it come alive with his own consciousness. This tale has its weaknesses, but its effect on Dr. Martin is profound and sets in motion the thrilling conclusion of the movie. This conclusion, I must say, is remarkably good, treating me to a wonderful surprise and devilishly good twist.

The plot of Asylum does have a weakness or two in it, but the film's overall effect on the viewer is so gripping that minor questions cease to matter very much. Frankly, I have never seen an anthologized movie such as this succeed so well. Few movies can combine separate tales and succeed as a unified whole, but Asylum accomplishes this feat quite easily. This is an intelligent horror movie that fans of the genre can point to with great pride.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Herbert Lom bit worth waiting for but...
These portmanteau (sp) films are often uneven. Above average for the genre though below original Tales from Crypt . 'Suprise' at end not really much of 1.
Published 17 days ago by MICHAEL E BOUTOT
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it
I saw this movie in the theatre as a kid, and the chills are STILL there! Stuff that comes to life that shouldn't is just creepy:)
Published 2 months ago by IP Freeley
3.0 out of 5 stars Brown Paper Packages Tied Up In String
Once upon a time the local movie theatres actually placed sizable print ads in small town newspapers--and I well remember this one, which showed a paper-wrapped head tied up with... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Gary F. Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars The Aslylum
A classic that I haven't seen since the late 1970's. I grew up watching this kind of movies and have not seen it in decades.
Published 19 months ago by Marco Gallardo
4.0 out of 5 stars Company Did the Right thing.
I ordered this VHS tape and when it arrived it was shattered. It probably happened in delivery. The vendor was WONDERFUL! Read more
Published 20 months ago by Barbara Malloy
5.0 out of 5 stars I've got something for you....!
Amazing film, top of the Amicus pile, pretty much because its really understated. I bought from UK as it's not available here, extras are great, the commentary guys obviously are... Read more
Published on March 6, 2011 by lomesa
4.0 out of 5 stars Great movie for those who love 70s anthology horror
A popular movie format in the 1970's was to compile short stories into a full length film by tying the shorts together with an overarching plot. Read more
Published on February 22, 2011 by Channel KDK12
1.0 out of 5 stars Movie, The Asylum
I purchased this movie because the title showed that Peter Cushing was in the film. I saw this film when it first came out. Read more
Published on April 20, 2010 by Munga
5.0 out of 5 stars Polished Amicus Anthology Film Featuring Plenty Of Murder, Insanity...
As all true lovers of British horror undoubtedly know the production companies of Hammer and Amicus ruled the horror scene for most of the 1960's and early 1970's with their... Read more
Published on October 6, 2009 by Simon Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Look in the Deep Freeze!
FLASHBACK- High School and we are asked by teacher if we'd like to attend a movie in the auditorium. Read more
Published on May 9, 2009 by sosposeidon
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