Asylum -2007
Director : David R. Ellis
Writer: Ethan Lawrence
Genre : Slasher Horror
RATING : R
RUNNING TIME: 93 mins
Cast : Sarah Roemer, Jake Muxworthy, Carolina Garcia
From director David R. Ellis (whose prior credits include "Final Destination 2" and "Snakes on a Plane") comes "Asylum," a psychological horror film in which a group of college students come to find that their campus was once the spot where a mad-doctor practiced his own twisted brand of medicine. A Freddy Krueger type whose patients eventually turned on him, the doctor still haunts the halls, preying on the students and tapping into their deep-seeded emotional scars. The story copies everything from other horror movies. This one feels mostly like Nightmare on Elm Street.
At this point, I'm used to the unoriginal plots in asylum horror. It's usually either an unknown patient in a non-patient role, or an insane doctor, or the ghosts of the past, etc. So, I've come to expect the normal amount of clichés in this subgenre. And, while Asylum had a few more than normal as it also adopted the clichés of children's psychology and college horror, I could look past them. In addition to the clichéd writing, the dialogue, though great for a couple of the characters, is annoying for some of the others, especially the overly sexy Ivy (Ellen Hollman, and she is a total hottie) and the Stiffler wannabe Tommy (Travis van Winkle) who is annoying as hell. As the story moves along, it takes almost no risks to separate it from the countless other films like it. There are some fairly creepy moments (doctors looming in shadows, the decrepit asylum hall, etc.) and the kills are pretty fantastic, and these are what makes it worth the 94 minutes (although the last 10 or so are laughably cheesy). Also, any cameo by the sexy and talented Lin Shaye is worthy of a watch. Especially one as hilarious as this.
Do I have anything good to say about the flick? yep. The whole thing is pretty well shot, with some really smooth camera movements and intense and viberant colors. The main cast is all appealing too. Unfortunately the material they're given is just bad. I really enjoyed Sarah Roemer in "Disturbia", she's gorgeous and likable. But I hope she starts choosing her roles better. Also, the guy that plays Dr. Burke hams it up pretty well. Too bad he has stupid lines like, "Give me your suffering". He also gives dim-witted monologues as he tortures people about how this is curing their agony. This movie had slasher cliché written all over it. All the ideas have been done to death, and the director offers nothing more to the table to make it work in anyway. THe killer was laughable as was most of this movie.
4.5/10 Stars