Matty finds the joy in James Seale’s kooky — if uneven — horror flick.

I don’t want to completely spoil the surprise — but if you’ve ever wanted to see Robert Patrick and Henry Gibson dogfighting in wheelchairs, you need ASYLUM in your life.

A lively and attention-holding film which can never — ever — be called boring, this serviceable blast of hokum is anchored by a marvellous, scene-chewing turn from the peerless Malcolm McDowell. Playing an escaped inmate scurrying between the walls of the titular madhouse, popping in and out of air vents, espousing dizzying psycho-babble, Asylum stands as the last of three similarly footed hospital horror flicks that the Clockwork Orange (1971) legend appeared in in fairly close succession. It was preceded by Disturbed (1990) (the runt of the litter) and Exquisite Tenderness (1995) (the Mack Daddy).  

An unofficial reworking of Sam Fuller’s Shock Corridor (1963) (though ‘a sanatorium-based take on Death Warrant (1990)’ would be more accurate), Robert Patrick stars as a suicidal P.I. investigating why the patients at a nearby loony-bin keep disappearing.

Stylish and slickly made, Asylum looks good and moves with a spring in its step. Several scenes ably twist the suspense screws, and others exhibit a nice feel for mood and unnerving peculiarities. The overall effectiveness, however, is frequently undercut by Patrick’s disappointingly flat performance and the film’s wildly inconsistent tone. With its weighty themes of suicide and trauma, there’s a sense debuting writer/director James Seale — who’d go on to helm Scorcher (2002) and Throttle (2005), and script a sadly unmade action-comedy, ‘Mama’s Boys’, for Joel Silver — wants to make a serious point about mental illness. A shame, then, that whatever message he’s trying to convey is at odds with the flagrant wackiness. Indeed, a handful of moments even ring as full-on hackneyed when the supposed ‘thought-provoking’ stuff is juxtaposed with some of the most stereotypical, two-dimensional, cartoon-crazy inmates ever put on screen. Incidentally, McDowell’s Disturbed co-star, Irvin Keyes, and Tobe Hooper regular Adam Gierasch (Crocodile (2000), Toolbox Murders (2004), Mortuary (2005)) rank among the nutters. 

Co-produced by Canadian outfit Norstar Entertainment, Asylum premiered on HBO on 9th May 1997 and hit U.S. tape via Monarch Home Video in April ‘98. It was released in the U.K. by BMG Video, and briefly re-entered the horror fan lexicon in 2011 when it landed on Netflix USA.

Funnily, the streaming giant mistakenly promoted it as the classic Amicus anthology of the same name. 

USA ● 1997 ● Horror ● 86mins

Robert Patrick, Malcolm McDowell, Deborah Worthing, Henry Gibson ● Wri./Dir. James Seale