Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Excellent, a Must See

Charming and brutal

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Yet another slice of early '70s British horror, once again in an anthology format, and from who else but Amicus, who were responsible for lots of films like this. ASYLUM has a powerful Gothic atmosphere which literally oozes off the screen in the opening moments, when the mansion appears and a loud, Gothic score plays out. There is another good scene where Powell looks at a number of classic paintings of insane people while the music again plays loudly, this is reminiscent of the opening titles of BEDLAM. The film benefits from being written by Robert Bloch (the man who wrote PSYCHO).The first story is a typical tale which looks like it was filmed on the same set as the Terry-Thomas segment from THE VAULT OF HORROR. It would be an interesting if oversimplistic tale if it wasn't for the amazing special effects which are really striking when first seen. The severed, animated limbs are all moved ingeniously and you can never quite work out how they are moved. The use of the crinkly brown paper on the soundtrack is also effective, and quite simply these moving body parts are some of the best special effects ever to be seen in a '70s British horror film.The second story has a more complex plot and is once again enlivened by some original special effects. The horrors of the landlord demanding money and the moving dummy are nicely juxtaposed throughout the story, which makes you really feel for the poor tailor involved in the hassle. Peter Cushing is once again on top form as the man who wants to bring his deceased son back to life, giving a moving performance of grief, anguish and finally desperation. The special effects are mainly involved in the climax where a shop dummy comes to life, and take the form of a shimmering, shiny suit. The effects are quite startling as the colours twist and fade in quick succession and it's definitely different. A bit of originality goes a long way in these films.Of course there had to be a dud somewhere in the film and the third story is it. It's a little tale of psychological trauma, and, while it has its interest, it doesn't really fit into the formula which these films have. Charlotte Rampling puts in a good performance as the tortured Barbara, while Britt Ekland and James Villiers lend solid support, but they can't do much with the bland story which has been addressed many times before, and an ending which you can spot a mile off. It's definitely not one to write home about and has no redeeming qualities at all really, apart from the fact that its thankfully short.Happily, if you manage to sit through the third story, the fourth story is just about the best of the bunch. Herbert Lom puts in an excellent performance as Doctor Byron, a man who's created life in his own image. The story also ties in nicely with the wraparound story involving Powell and Magee, and the scenes in which the doll comes to life and makes its way downstairs are genuinely spooky, helped by the return of the Gothic music which played over the opening credits. The ending is also unexpected and a classic twist. Patrick Magee puts in a solid performance and Robert Powell is a charismatic lead.All in all, ASYLUM is an excellent example of the anthology film at its best, and definitely one of the best films that Amicus put out. With a superb cast, excellent special effects and three out of four stories also being good, it really is unmissable entertainment for those of us who enjoy classic British horror.

Quite a fun horror anthology. Four horror stories that are corny in their way yet enjoyable to watch. A mystery is involved too - who is Dr. Star?! Out of the four stories it is the third story that I like the best, the story of Lucy.The first story, "Frozen Fear", is of a murdered wife that gets her revenge. This is not a typical ghost story - it's quite different. I found humor in this one - a bit silly.The second story, "The Weird Tailor", is about an unusual suit that a tailor has to make. Really it's not the tailor that is so weird - it's more the man that ordered the suit that is odd (played wonderfully by Peter Cushing).The third story, "Lucy Comes to Stay", is about a woman who thinks her brother is plotting against her and wonders if she's gone insane. Her 'friend Lucy' shows up to help her out.The fourth story, "Mannikins of Horror", is of a man who creates robots but makes the heads of them very human - life-like.Then we find out who Dr. Star is. Can you figure out who he is before the answer is reveled? Pretty fun - campy in a way.6.5/10

Boy they liked their horror anthology movies back in the 70's didn't they, well Amicus certainly did. This movie actually has a genuinely eerie title that has of course been reused since, and the movies poster is actually quite scary too. Usually these old horrors have cheesy titles with very daft posters but this one breaks that mould somewhat.So its an anthology movie, therefore as you might have guessed its the same premise yet again with a selection of four short tales sandwiched between a bookend tale usually with a narrator of sorts. This time a young Robert Powell plays a young doctor who is visiting an asylum to apply for a position within. Oddly he is set the task of interviewing all four patients within the asylum to figure out which one used to be the head of the asylum...if he can he gets the job, just like in reality.First patient and first tale recounts a plot to murder the wife of a wealthy middle aged couple. The murder is planned by the gent of the couple and his bit on the side. The thing is the gents wife studies voodoo, as white middle aged wealthy folk do, and when she is killed off she comes back for revenge. Its a very rudimentary vignette that doesn't really show much imagination methinks, although I must admit it is quite unnerving when the dead wife comes back in the form she does. This was probably the very first old fashioned horror tale in these anthologies that actually gave me the willies, very creepy.Second patient who is an ex-tailor, tells us of a mysterious man (the mighty Cushing) who orders a fine suit to be made out of a special material. The catch being this tailor must make the suit under a specific set of instructions that must be followed precisely. Once completed and taken to Cushing in his dark dark residence we discover the suit is for his long dead son. Why you ask? well it can bring inanimate objects to life, not dead but inanimate as we find out when a store mannequin is accidentally dressed in the suit. This is again a simple tale that didn't really grab me, many questions are raised as usual and as usual left unanswered. Not really an issue as I'm used to this with these movies but the ending is very weak with this one, I guess the tailor made it out of the situation alive then, how very unexciting.The third patient is a female who appears to be suffering from dissociative identity disorder, in other words she has multiple personalities or in this case a second personality. The young woman in question believes she is being told to escape her boring life by another young woman which results in her murdering her brother and a nurse. This whole short is very predictable and really rather unimaginative I think, its pretty obvious the young blonde is a figment of the girls imagination and what follows is bland to say the least.The final patient is played by the legendary Herbert Lom and his little vignette blends into the bookend story involving Powell. Bizarrely this short story looks like a forerunner to the horror movie franchise 'Puppet Master'...kinda. Lom is creating a little toy robot that is a likeness of himself (why a likeness?), he intends to transfer his mind (somehow) into the toy robot so he can...escape? not too sure actually. I can't quite see how this will benefit this patient if his mind is inside a small slow waddling toy robot but there you go. Plus how on earth did he manage to recreate a miniature working version of his own viscera for the little robot and why would it even need that??! This short offers an intriguing premise but it makes no real sense as I've already pointed out, the final outcome seems coincidental and I'm not even sure if that was the characters actual game plan. It merely serves to run into the bookend story which in itself is weak and ends on a flat note that wasn't setup well in the first place.Overall I found this anthology tame and very clichéd with stories that have been told a billion times before, there is nothing much on offer here that feels really fresh. Yes the casting is top notch as they tend to be and the visuals/effects are particularly well done this time round but the stories are sooooo routine, there is better out there.4.5/10

During a job interview for the position of senior houseman at an insane asylum, Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) is set an unusual test by Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee): after talking to four of the institution's incurably insane patients (played by Barbara Parkins, Barry Morse, Charlotte Rampling and Herbert Lom), he must try and identify which of them was once the asylum's director, Dr. Star.It's got a cool setting, a great cast, and a decent enough director in Roy Ward Baker, but the success of any anthology horror film ultimately lies in the strength of its tales, and this collection of the macabre from Psycho scribe Robert Bloch just isn't quite up to scratch.The first tale, 'Frozen Fear', as recounted by pretty patient Bonnie (Parkins), is probably the best of the bunch and sees her adulterous lover Walter (Richard Todd) turning to murder to escape his marriage, chopping up his wife and storing the pieces in a chest freezer; she doesn't stay dead for long, however, her assorted body parts crawling out to seek revenge. The sight of a severed leg, arm or head wrapped in brown paper and string pursuing its victims might be a little silly perhaps, but the deliciously ghoulish nature of the tale still makes it work.Sadly, it's downhill from here on in.Tale number two is 'The Weird Tailor', which sees Mr. Smith (Peter Cushing) hiring Bruno (Morse) to make him a suit from special material according to precise instructions found in an old book. A solid performance from the ever excellent Cushing cannot save this story from mediocrity, the dreary story ending with a weak twist even more laughable than Morse's dodgy accent.Lucy Comes to Stay boasts a good central performance from Rampling as mentally ill, pill popping Barbara whose best friend Lucy (Britt Ekland) is as deadly as she is beautiful, but the twist to this tale is terribly predictable, preventing it from being as shocking as it otherwise might have been.The final patient Dr. Martin visits is Dr. Byron (Lom), who believes that he is able to transfer his consciousness into a toy robot bearing his likeness. Dr. Martin dismisses this claim, but realises too late that Byron is telling the truth when the miniature model comes to life and kills Dr. Rutherford. In the film's final surprise, Dr. Martin discovers who Dr. Star really is, shortly before being strangled to death by the nutter.