Asylum (1972)

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Starring: Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom

Run Time: 88 mins

Certificate: 15

 

Plot Outline: A young psychiatrist interviews four inmates of a mental asylum in order to meet a requirement for employment. He hears stories about the revenge of a murdered wife, a tailor who makes a unique suit, a woman who questions her own sanity and a man who builds tiny robots with lifelike human heads. The psychiatrist must decide which of them was the former head doctor in order to get his job.

The Review: Amicus were Hammer's biggest rivals in British horror output in the 60s and 70s and although I'm not a great fan of most of their work, they did manage to churn out quite a few decent anthologies. Amicus' film looks pretty dull and devoid of colour compared to the glossy Hammer flicks but this works in its favour. The gloomy look adds to the creepiness of the asylum.

The first story isn't particularly exciting about a husband who kills his wife because she won't give him a divorce. It's not great although it does feature a highly memorable image - that of a woman's severed head, wrapped in brown paper, come back to life and began to breath through the paper. It's quite an unnerving effect. But no reason is given for the woman's body parts coming back to life and this somewhat sours the whole episode.

The second story is also pretty low key as an impoverished tailor is paid a visit by a mysterious stranger who gives him an even more mysterious material from which to make a suit for his son. Barry Morse gives a sympathetic performance as the tailor and Peter Cushing adds a touch of class as the stranger with a lot to hide. The material glows quite weirdly and the set up to the finale is quite nice, if somewhat predictable.

The third story is arguably my least favourite but is probably the best developed of the four as a young woman is released from a mental home to stay with her brother. But she keeps having visions of her friend 'Lucy' who tells her to run away. Charlotte Rampling gives a good performance as someone who is delusional but Britt Ekland is her usual self: looks good but doesn't cut it in the acting chops. The twist in this film is highly predictable right from the start even for the least seasoned horror veterans.

The final story doesn't last too long and is basically a set up for the finale as Herbert Lom's doctor creates little robots with lifelike human heads and says he can bring them to life by the power of thought. The robot looks extremely freaky with the human head but the segment isn't really meant to be as long as the others. It leads right to the finale when we find out just who is the doctor and it's quite a twist ending.

Final Verdict: As far as anthologies go, Asylum is a nice way to spend 88 minutes. The production is professional enough, the atmosphere suitably creepy for the setting, there are some big names to hold the cast together and there's a little bit of gore too. Harmless horror.

Rating: