Asylum (1972) ( House of Crazies )

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 stylish horror films and tales of the macabre. While the product of Hammer Studios, especially their well known Gothic horrors, are well known and loved world wide the output of Amicus often receives less acknowledgement and is often confused with those films produced by Hammer. Amicus won its main fame from the tremendous "Anthology" films it produced where a linking story allowed three or four seperate mini tales to be told. In this wonderful Dark Sky DVD release we finally have one of the later and most polished efforts of the Amicus production company to enjoy in a beautifully prepared DVD release. "Asylum" has first rate credentials having been directed by veteran horror master Roy Ward Baker and written by acclaimed horror writer Robert Bloch. If that was not enough the film boasts a superb international cast including Barbara Parkins, Patrick Magee, Britt Ekland, Charlotte Rampling and of course horror legend Peter Cushing in an intriguing set of tales framed around the main story of the arrival of young Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) for a job interview at an isolated and suitably eerie looking asylum for the criminially insane. Dr. Martin soon finds out that Dr. Starr who was to interview him has had a breakdown and is now confined to one of the upstairs rooms. Dr. Martin is then challenged by Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee) to work out which one of four patients is the mysterious Dr. Starr and during the course of his meetings with each of the four patients their individual stories are unfolded.

The four stories while varying in quality are all well produced and very well acted by the talented performers who bring them to life, they are:

"Frozen Fear"
Starring Barbara Parkins, Richard Todd and Sylvia Sims.
A cheating husband and his mistress get more than they bargained for when they do away with the chief "obstacle" to their new life together with suitably grizzly results.

"The Weird Tailor"
Starring Peter Cushing and Barry Morse.
A financially troubled tailor receives the unexpected offer of a high paying job from a mysterious man wanting an unusual suit made for his son. However the suit is not intended for the usual purpose of such an item and has very sinister consequences for all who come into contact with the strange garment.

"Lucy Comes To Stay"
Starring Charlotte Rampling and Britt Ekland.
A young girl returns home to live with her brother after having suffered a complete mental breakdown. However her happiness is soon complicated by the arrival of her strange "friend" who seems to have an overpowering influence on her, or does she?

"Manniikins Of Horror"
Starring Herbert Lom and Geoffrey Bayldon.
A doctor confined in the asylum creates strange little robots with faces resembling his former collegues which are not as innocent as they first seem with the one modelled after himself created for a very deadly purpose which belies its small size.

While I can't say that "Asylum" is my favourite Amicus Anthology story,(that honour goes to the superb "The House That Dripped Blood" which was also written by Robert Bloch), there is much to recommend here for fans of British produced horror and mystery. We have a suitably sinister looking main setting of the mist shrouded asylum complete with a main staircase lined with nightmarish etchings of victims of insanity, the terrific cast in all four stories, and best of all the very disturbing feeling that almost every character and setting is not exactly what they first appear to be. A grand viewing experience is guaranteed in a multi story film the type of which is rarely produced nowadays. Dark Sky DVD here have continued their first rate DVD presentation efforts and have gone all out with a deluxe presentation of this film. Presented in its correct widescreen and aspect ratio the film has never looked or sounded better having been restored with great clarity and vivid rich colour. On top of this Dark Sky have really put the icing on the cake with some wonderful extras including commentary by the film's director Roy Ward Baker and cameraman Neil Binney, cast and crew biographies and a terrific featurette "Inside the Fear factory", which details the history of the famous Amicus Productions with input from many of those who helped create this great company. In short the whole DVD is a horror fans delight and cannot be faulted. I know this Dark Sky release is now a treasured part of my Amicus horror DVD collection and I highly recommend this release as an example of how classic horror should be released onto DVD. Enjoy!

I absolutely love this film, from the first glimpse of the groovy orange MGB GT to the discovery of which character is the deranged Dr. Starr, it's a corker and has a magnificent soundtrack. The cast too are fabulous and you will instantly recognise some, if not all of the protagonists on display here.

I have rated the movie as a 5, that score is for the movie, but for the picture quality the disc scores 1. I have had a TV recording of this movie for many years, from a BBC transmission mid-nineties, and the picture on it is crisp and clear, but the image quality on this release is more akin to an NTSC 525-Line domestic recording, the picture looks washed out and grainy which absolutely destroys the atmosphere of the film. As we all know the majority of the charm films like this have is due to the lighting, the design and the colours, all subtlety is lost here though in a blurred mess.

To sum up then, this film is fantastic but only buy if you can't wait to see it, if you can wait then wait til they transfer a good quality print to DVD and buy that.

Another very strong entry in Amicus films long series of portmanteau films, Asylum features stories written by Robert Bloch, the author of Psycho, and is directed by horror regular Roy Ward Baker.
A young psychiatrist Dr Martin(Robert Powell) arrives at an asylum set in the countryside, to be told by acting head Dr Rutherford(Patrick Magee)that in order to get the job he has applied for, he has to correctly identify the previous head of the Asylum, Dr Starr, who has gone native and become one of the inmates after attacking and crippling Rutherford. These scenes are excellent as Martin baulks at Rutherford's antiquated terminology concerning the inmates
Martin then goes up a large foreboding staircase to meet the patients who may or may not be Dr Starr. We then get four stories involving the patients he meets.
In the first story, a cheating husband disposes of his wife, only to face vengeance from beyond the grave. In the second, a tailor facing poverty and eviction from his home, gets an order for a very unusual suit. The third concerns a fragile woman who has a devious friend, who may be real or imaginary, and in the fourth Martin meets a man who claims he has created a race of tiny living mannequins.
All four stories are enjoyable, with a great cast lining up and giving their all. The second story 'The Weird Tailor' has a camp but enjoyable climax, and the story involving the mannequins is wonderfully gory. The aforementioned cast includes Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Barry Morse, Richard Todd, Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland and Megs Jenkins to name just a few. Also Geoffrey Bayldon should be mentioned in a small but important role as Reynolds the hospital orderly in the framing story.
So great cast, great stories, great twist ending all add up to make an excellent British horror film that should entertain from beginning to end. Also of note is the music used in the film-Night On Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky- is a wonderful foreboding piece, well suited for this film.
The DVD transfer is perfectly adequate, and also contains a commentary by the director Roy Ward Baker.