AC/V 1972 89m Eng N/A CAST: Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Barry Morse, Charlotte Rampling, Richard Todd, Barbara Parkins, James Villiers, Robert Powell, Sylvia Sims, Geoffrey Bayldon & Megs Jenkins CREDITS: Director: Roy Ward Baker; Screenwriter: Robert Bloch; Producers: Gustav Berne/Max J. Rosenberg/Milton J. Subotsky; Director Of Photography: Denys N. Coop; Production Designer: Tony Curtis; Editor: Peter Tanner; Music: Douglas Gamely THE SYNOPSIS England. Young, brash psychiatrist Dr. Martin (Powell) arrives at the foreboding Dunsmoor Asylum to interview for a staff position. Instead of meeting with the asylum head, Dr. Starr, he meets with wheelchair-bound Dr. Rutherford (Magee)—who informs the younger physician that Starr has mentally-snapped. Rutherford tasks Martin with meeting 4 patients—one of whom is Dr. Starr. If Martin can deduce the identity, he gets the job. The pleasant, but slightly off-kilter orderly Max (Bayldon) takes him on his journey. And so it begins: Frozen Fear: Patient Bonnie (Parkins) is the mistress of Walter (Todd) who murders his wealthy wife Ruth (Sims) in their basement, chops up her remains and hides them in a deep freezer. Hours later, the pieces come alive and murder Walter. Bonnie shows up and is facially-mutilated… The Weird Tailor: Patient Bruno (Morse) was a talented tailor, down on his luck—which suddenly changes one night when the enigmatic Mr. Smith (Cushing) comes calling. It seems that Smith needs a special suit made with some weird material. Bruno does the job and brings it to Smith’s residence some nights later. Turns out that Smith needs it to resurrect his dead son in an occult ceremony... Lucy Comes To Stay: Patient Barbara (Rampling) is a young woman recently-released from a psychiatric institution who goes to live with her older brother George (Villiers). Under his watchful eyes, and those of the live-in nurse Miss Higgins (Jenkins), Barbara is to rest and take her medication regularly. Her friend Lucy (Ekland) magically appears to guide her towards a better life—with no drugs, no George and no Miss Higgins… Mannikans Of Horror: Patient Byron (Lom) is himself a physician who creates little robots that he plans to bring to life. He transfers his soul into the robot that resembles him and sends it off to do harm… After the last interview, Dr. Martin revisits Dr. Rutherford with his decision. Bad things happen…and be ready for that twist ending! THE CRITIQUE Another of Amicus Productions’ anthology presentations (ala The House That Dripped Blood [1970], Tales From The Crypt [1972] & The Vault Of Horror [1973]), ASYLUM is an entertaining-but-imperfect little genre movie that boasts decent production values and a good cast. Speaking of which, the late, great Peter Cushing is terrific (if underutilized here), as is the wonderfully-shady Patrick Magee and the Pink Panther series’ Inspector Dreyfus himself, Herbert Lom—appearing here in what is basically a glorified cameo. The rest of the cast is composed of dependable British thespians that Amicus employs on a regular basis. Lovely ladies Parkins, Rampling and Ekland add some feminine charm to the proceedings. Behind the camera are the usual filmmaking suspects of British Horror Cinema. Director Roy Ward Baker (And Now The Screaming Starts!/Scars Of Dracula/A Night To Remember) helms the anthology with his usual flair for style and mood. The anthology was written by the late, Psycho author Robert Bloch (who also scripted The House That Dripped Blood for Amicus)—based on stories from novels past. One thing I do have to admit that works nicely is the moody and atmospheric lensing by the late, English veteran cinematographer Denys Coop (And Now The Screaming Starts!/The Vault Of Horror). His use of high-key lighting for many chilling sequences works quite nicely (a motif that I’ve noticed in other later films like Kubrick’s The Shining [1980] and even Wes Craven’s Scream [1996]). Other tech credits (editing, production design, etc.) are acceptable. Some of the SFX are cheesy (like in the Frozen Fear segment), but this is a total compliment. The practical creations sure beats much of the CGI crap out there today! THE BOTTOM LINE ASYLUM is a decent (if not altogether perfect) horror anthology chock-full of Grand Guignol touches and macabre delights. It would’ve worked with better plotting and some seriously-genuine frights. I almost enjoyed this movie, but felt it was a tad light on horror. As it is, though, the movie is ghoulish fun for British/anthology horror fans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_Productionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmmaking#Productionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmmakinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_directorandnowthescreamingstarts.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenwritinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenplayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographerandnowthescreamingstarts.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-key_lightinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Visual_Effectshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imageryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Guignolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structureshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20