'Asylum'
(Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland, et al / DVD / PG / (1972) 2006 / Dark Sky Films)
Overview: A young psychiatrist interviews four inmates in a mental asylum to satisfy a requirement for employment. He hears stories about 1) the revenge of a murdered wife, 2) a tailor who makes a suit with some highly unusual qualities, 3) a woman who questions her sanity when it appears that her brother is conspiring against her, and 4) a man who builds tiny toy robots with lifelike human heads.
DVD Verdict: I just finished watching Amicus Productions' "Asylum" and was thoroughly entertained throughout! This collection of macabre tales is imaginative, intelligent and contain some genuine thrills! As the trailer for the film advertised, "come to the asylum..." we have a young doctor arriving to take the head position of the psychiatric department. That is, if he can first identify the former doctor, who is now a mental patient of the asylum and is now residing upstairs with the other "incurably insane." We meet each of the patients one by one as they reveal how they became patients of the asylum. (1) British actor, Richard Todd (Disney's "The Story of Robin Hood" and "The Sword & The Rose") stars in the first story revealing a murder with a dash of voodoo mixed in for some truly chilling results, you'll never look in your deep freezer again, without remembering this horrific scene! (2) The second story gives a new meaning to "owning a good suit." Peter Cushing hires a tailor to make him a new suit for his son. The material Cushing brings is "special" and even glows! Wait till you see Cushing's son, and then how the suit effects the tailor's store mannequin! (3) The lovely Britt Ekland stars as the friend of a wealthy young girl, who is on the edge of insanity. Is Britt real or a figment of the girl's pill induced imagination? (4) The fourth and final of the tales, involves the great Herbert Lom (Hammer's "Phantom of the Opera" and as Chief Inspector Drefus of "The Pink Panther" films). Lom's character is a psychotic genius, which has invented several doll-like robots that not only can do his bidding, but the robot becomes the actual person it is created to resemble. This one is the best of the tales and rounds up the collection with a good solid finale. This is a Full Screen presentation (1.78:1) and comes with the Special Features of:
Commentary by director Roy Ward Baker and cameraman Neil Binney
"Inside the Fear Factory" featurette
Cast and crew bios
Liner Notes
Trailers
Still Gallery
www.DarkSkyFilms.com