Strange film this.It starts with 2 editors trying to cut a horror movie from footage from a shoot in some fictional foreign country. What follows is that you see the entire horror movie with a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type comical voice over by the two editors. The film itself looks like a work-print with captions for missing effects etc. There's a couple of cuts to a side story with the editors but this probably only accounts for about 5 minutes of screen time. What ruins this film is the actual horror movie looks watchable whilst the editors are irritatingly unfunny. The production values in the horror movie seem quite decent whilst the editor sections are amateur hour. Its just a pity we couldn't see the horror movie and lose the editors voice over.
11 Reviews
It's a horror movie and an MST3K Comedy
davannacarter1 December 2014
Important note to potential film viewers of Asylum (2014): Before you watch this movie, learn about the history of Asylum. It is extremely important that you know the history of this movie before watching this movie.
On the Asylum IMDb message board, posters have provided links to various websites giving the story behind the movie Asylum. For instance, Comedy Film Nerds has a podcast where the original screenwriter for Asylum, Chris Mancini, talks about how After Dark Films managed to completely ruin the movie Asylum. If you go to the website Comedy Film Nerds, make sure you check out podcast 219 for the original story (the actual story starts at 34:20 of the podcast). You can search via the "keyword search" and type in 219. I also read that episode 242 has more information about the story behind Asylum but I didn't listen to that one. So I'll just give a quick rundown of the story of how After Dark Films thoroughly screwed up their own film Asylum: Chris Mancini manages to sell his script to the horror production company, After Dark Films. Then he pitches his proposal to be the director: he shows storyboards; gives information of crew members who are willing to work for a lower fee than normal (some of them somewhat well known); and runs down his idea of how to make the film work on time and within the budget. The After Dark folks say, "Thanks. We'll call you after we've made our decision." A short while later he gets a brief email basically saying, "Yeah, we decided to shoot in Bulgaria and go with a Bulgarian director and Bulgarian crew. I know you wanted it but we're going to do it this way. But we'll keep you in mind for any other projects in the future." That's it. He doesn't hear anything for around a year. Then he goes to a comic con in California and meets the After Dark people. They won't show him the movie, they will show him the trailer, however. He sees the trailer and thinks, "That doesn't look anything like what I originally wrote. But the trailer looked cool, nevertheless. So it looks like everything worked out okay." Time passes and out of the blue the After Dark producers call him up and ask him for a meeting. He says he'll be there. As he's on his way, the call back to confirm if he's going to show up. He says he will. Then, while he's driving to the studio, they call him again and ask if he's coming to the meeting. He's stunned. He thinks, "This is the third time they've called to make sure I'm coming to the meeting. If they have to confirm the meeting 3 times in one day, that must mean they're desperate to see me and something went wrong." He says he'll be there. But before the phone call ends they tell him to meet him at a local bar. Again, he's stunned but he says he'll be there.
When he gets to the bar he asks the After Dark producers what's up. They won't answer him. They continuously evade his question. They tell him to have a drink. No matter how many times he asks, they urge him to have a drink and evade his question. Only after he finishes two drinks do they tell him the truth: the movie is total garbage.
It turns out After Dark Films gave his script to one of their producers, told him to take it to Bulgaria and do what he could with it, and then let him have a free rein. Apparently, the producer completely chucked Chris Mancini's original script and made a completely new one. The only real thing that stayed in the new script is the title. The producer in Bulgaria made a completely unwatchable movie. When the people at After Dark Films saw it they were absolutely stunned. They had a deal with Lions Gate Films for Lions Gate to distribute their films and they couldn't give such an unwatchable movie to Lions Gate to be distributed. So they called Chris Mancini to rewrite it into a comedy. After seeing the unwatchable film, Mancini decides to turn it into an MST3K-style comedy because that's all he can do with the remaining few thousand dollars from the original budget.
So there it is, folks. The story behind Asylum and a little peek at the stupidity that goes on in Hollywood. After Dark Films is an utterly ridiculous film company. They used to have a festival called "8 Horror Films to Die For" but the films were so awful and so thoroughly trashed by the audiences that they stopped doing that festival and now put out fewer films since 2011. Their 2007 film "Captivity" managed to generate so much controversy and hate from feminists that Joss Whedon tried to get it banned from movie theaters. It's amazing how such a company can still manage to run. In fact, it's amazing how Hollywood still manages to run when you hear all the stories of thoroughly inept filmmaking that will make your jaw drop.
As far as the film Asylum goes, you should only watch it if you like MST3K and are willing to watch a movie inspired by it. The other reviewers didn't know about this film didn't know the story behind this movie before watching it. That's why they were completely perplexed and turned off. Knowing the story behind this movie makes it much easier to watch. I actually liked some of the jokes such as them calling Stephen Rea "lesbian Bob Dylan". If you're a fan of MST3K and have beer and potato chips, give this movie a shot. If not, then steer clear of this train wreck.
On the Asylum IMDb message board, posters have provided links to various websites giving the story behind the movie Asylum. For instance, Comedy Film Nerds has a podcast where the original screenwriter for Asylum, Chris Mancini, talks about how After Dark Films managed to completely ruin the movie Asylum. If you go to the website Comedy Film Nerds, make sure you check out podcast 219 for the original story (the actual story starts at 34:20 of the podcast). You can search via the "keyword search" and type in 219. I also read that episode 242 has more information about the story behind Asylum but I didn't listen to that one. So I'll just give a quick rundown of the story of how After Dark Films thoroughly screwed up their own film Asylum: Chris Mancini manages to sell his script to the horror production company, After Dark Films. Then he pitches his proposal to be the director: he shows storyboards; gives information of crew members who are willing to work for a lower fee than normal (some of them somewhat well known); and runs down his idea of how to make the film work on time and within the budget. The After Dark folks say, "Thanks. We'll call you after we've made our decision." A short while later he gets a brief email basically saying, "Yeah, we decided to shoot in Bulgaria and go with a Bulgarian director and Bulgarian crew. I know you wanted it but we're going to do it this way. But we'll keep you in mind for any other projects in the future." That's it. He doesn't hear anything for around a year. Then he goes to a comic con in California and meets the After Dark people. They won't show him the movie, they will show him the trailer, however. He sees the trailer and thinks, "That doesn't look anything like what I originally wrote. But the trailer looked cool, nevertheless. So it looks like everything worked out okay." Time passes and out of the blue the After Dark producers call him up and ask him for a meeting. He says he'll be there. As he's on his way, the call back to confirm if he's going to show up. He says he will. Then, while he's driving to the studio, they call him again and ask if he's coming to the meeting. He's stunned. He thinks, "This is the third time they've called to make sure I'm coming to the meeting. If they have to confirm the meeting 3 times in one day, that must mean they're desperate to see me and something went wrong." He says he'll be there. But before the phone call ends they tell him to meet him at a local bar. Again, he's stunned but he says he'll be there.
When he gets to the bar he asks the After Dark producers what's up. They won't answer him. They continuously evade his question. They tell him to have a drink. No matter how many times he asks, they urge him to have a drink and evade his question. Only after he finishes two drinks do they tell him the truth: the movie is total garbage.
It turns out After Dark Films gave his script to one of their producers, told him to take it to Bulgaria and do what he could with it, and then let him have a free rein. Apparently, the producer completely chucked Chris Mancini's original script and made a completely new one. The only real thing that stayed in the new script is the title. The producer in Bulgaria made a completely unwatchable movie. When the people at After Dark Films saw it they were absolutely stunned. They had a deal with Lions Gate Films for Lions Gate to distribute their films and they couldn't give such an unwatchable movie to Lions Gate to be distributed. So they called Chris Mancini to rewrite it into a comedy. After seeing the unwatchable film, Mancini decides to turn it into an MST3K-style comedy because that's all he can do with the remaining few thousand dollars from the original budget.
So there it is, folks. The story behind Asylum and a little peek at the stupidity that goes on in Hollywood. After Dark Films is an utterly ridiculous film company. They used to have a festival called "8 Horror Films to Die For" but the films were so awful and so thoroughly trashed by the audiences that they stopped doing that festival and now put out fewer films since 2011. Their 2007 film "Captivity" managed to generate so much controversy and hate from feminists that Joss Whedon tried to get it banned from movie theaters. It's amazing how such a company can still manage to run. In fact, it's amazing how Hollywood still manages to run when you hear all the stories of thoroughly inept filmmaking that will make your jaw drop.
As far as the film Asylum goes, you should only watch it if you like MST3K and are willing to watch a movie inspired by it. The other reviewers didn't know about this film didn't know the story behind this movie before watching it. That's why they were completely perplexed and turned off. Knowing the story behind this movie makes it much easier to watch. I actually liked some of the jokes such as them calling Stephen Rea "lesbian Bob Dylan". If you're a fan of MST3K and have beer and potato chips, give this movie a shot. If not, then steer clear of this train wreck.
Oddest Garbage Perhaps ever made.
arfdawg-118 November 2014
The plot
An eleven-person riot squad races to an insane asylum to quell a recent inmate outbreak and hostage situation.
They arrive, only to be caught off guard by a sudden barrage of insane patients.
When they've finally fought off a wave, two of their squad members are missing, their communications return only static, and the doors are locked.
They're trapped.
They break up into three teams to track down the lost members.
Strange sounds and religious iconography suggest something beyond insanity has taken over the inmates.
Sure enough, a simple rescue mission quickly morphs into relentless life or death battles with possessed.
When McGahey, a trained, rational hostage negotiator, discovers the ringleader of this possessed insanity is none other than his brother, it falls on him to stop nothing less than the opening of a portal to Hell.
This is one bizarre movie.
It's sort of like Mystery Science Fiction Theatre. Very hard to describe and follow.
It starts out with a priest and then cuts to these guys who appear to be editing or adding special effects to a movie.
The rest of the movie shifts back and forth between the asylum and voice over of these two editors making dumb funny comments about the movie which, BTW was supposed to be found footage, and the producer back in the US.
It's nearly impossible to watch. Nothing makes sense.
Stephen Rhea has really dropped into the abyss.
Words cannot describe how bad this movie is.
An eleven-person riot squad races to an insane asylum to quell a recent inmate outbreak and hostage situation.
They arrive, only to be caught off guard by a sudden barrage of insane patients.
When they've finally fought off a wave, two of their squad members are missing, their communications return only static, and the doors are locked.
They're trapped.
They break up into three teams to track down the lost members.
Strange sounds and religious iconography suggest something beyond insanity has taken over the inmates.
Sure enough, a simple rescue mission quickly morphs into relentless life or death battles with possessed.
When McGahey, a trained, rational hostage negotiator, discovers the ringleader of this possessed insanity is none other than his brother, it falls on him to stop nothing less than the opening of a portal to Hell.
This is one bizarre movie.
It's sort of like Mystery Science Fiction Theatre. Very hard to describe and follow.
It starts out with a priest and then cuts to these guys who appear to be editing or adding special effects to a movie.
The rest of the movie shifts back and forth between the asylum and voice over of these two editors making dumb funny comments about the movie which, BTW was supposed to be found footage, and the producer back in the US.
It's nearly impossible to watch. Nothing makes sense.
Stephen Rhea has really dropped into the abyss.
Words cannot describe how bad this movie is.
Worst film ever
dwalton48631 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I don't know what is going on here, it's a film within a film, and I only managed to watch 50 minutes before I had to skip to the end.
It's simply put the worst film I've ever seen ever, I do enjoy films, particularly horror and I can be quite forgiving. But this film is so bad, after year of using IMDb, I've made a profile just to write this.
This film is terrible, and should be seen by no one ever. It's not even a train wreck as you could at least have some sorta morbid interest in seeing that.
Avoid this film, do not watch this film, it's not a horror, and it's not a comedy it's just bad.
It's simply put the worst film I've ever seen ever, I do enjoy films, particularly horror and I can be quite forgiving. But this film is so bad, after year of using IMDb, I've made a profile just to write this.
This film is terrible, and should be seen by no one ever. It's not even a train wreck as you could at least have some sorta morbid interest in seeing that.
Avoid this film, do not watch this film, it's not a horror, and it's not a comedy it's just bad.
Just... awful
niryncro20 November 2014
I've used IMDb for years now, and have suffered through many a terrible movie during those years. This is the first comment I've made. This is certainly one of the top three worst movies I have ever seen in my life--probably number one.
Have you ever watched a flick with one of those friends that talks and makes stupid jokes throughout the whole thing? Did you enjoy that? No? Then you won't enjoy this movie. Imagine that friend, only a million times worse. It is... I can't even think of a word. I'm inclined to create a new word to describe just how terrible this flick is. My head hurt after watching it from all the brain cells that committed suicide.
Do not watch this. Don't even read any more reviews on it. If you took the time to read this one, you have already wasted too much time on Asylum. It's not even ironically bad. There is nothing that redeems this flick. The director should be exiled and barred from even thinking of producing something that a human being might see.
Have you ever watched a flick with one of those friends that talks and makes stupid jokes throughout the whole thing? Did you enjoy that? No? Then you won't enjoy this movie. Imagine that friend, only a million times worse. It is... I can't even think of a word. I'm inclined to create a new word to describe just how terrible this flick is. My head hurt after watching it from all the brain cells that committed suicide.
Do not watch this. Don't even read any more reviews on it. If you took the time to read this one, you have already wasted too much time on Asylum. It's not even ironically bad. There is nothing that redeems this flick. The director should be exiled and barred from even thinking of producing something that a human being might see.
OMG what a mess
kaefab18 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This could have been a good movie, the plot was good for an horror movie but what ruined it for me was the stupid comments like those idiots at mk3000 or something, the ones that critic and laugh at a movie and are so bad doing so. I really hated MK3000 and i was very disappointed that this movie went this direction. Going from the main plot to theses 2 morons and back to the main plot while you hear idiot comments true out the movie. If they would have scraped that part the movie would have been OK not amazing but OK.
And then they wonder why illegal downloads are so presentable on the internet and almost everyone does it now a days, maybe its because people are tired of paying for movies that suck so bad like this, i sadly paid 6$ for this crap and watched 15 minutes of it before i turned it off.
And then they wonder why illegal downloads are so presentable on the internet and almost everyone does it now a days, maybe its because people are tired of paying for movies that suck so bad like this, i sadly paid 6$ for this crap and watched 15 minutes of it before i turned it off.
Absolute Garbage
mboyd198624 October 2018
Whoever thought that turning bad movie into a good one by having two idiots talk continuously over what is happening on screen needs their head examined.
It's not funny, it's not horror, it's simply annoying.
Who else would make a film and then add on a couple of idiots talking about how bad it is? What is the point of that?
The original film was probably better than this version with a couple of idiots constantly criticising it .
This is one of the reasons I don't go to cinemas - to listen to other people talking while I'm trying to watch the film, no matter how bad it is.
I hope they made a huge financial loss on this garbage. And I hope the person who decided to add the two voices on top of the original film never works again.
It's not funny, it's not horror, it's simply annoying.
Who else would make a film and then add on a couple of idiots talking about how bad it is? What is the point of that?
The original film was probably better than this version with a couple of idiots constantly criticising it .
This is one of the reasons I don't go to cinemas - to listen to other people talking while I'm trying to watch the film, no matter how bad it is.
I hope they made a huge financial loss on this garbage. And I hope the person who decided to add the two voices on top of the original film never works again.
Asylum 2014 do not watch
Keithfitz55521 November 2014
Sweet Jesus !! This is the worst movie I have ever watched !! .. I would rather nail my hand to a table and set fire to it .. Watched this on virgin " front row " it would appear that these films aren't vetted before scheduling .. If your considering watching this movie then I suggest buying a bag of glue 3.99 ( same as it cost to rent this movie on virgin ) as this would then numb the brain sufficiently so , as to make listening to those 2 clowns talking over the whole movie bearable..
That's two films in the last two weeks I've bought that have these unbearable very poor Z list American actors who have children that will in turn be at school getting bullied for ever more because their parents feel the need to appear in this tosh !! ....
That's two films in the last two weeks I've bought that have these unbearable very poor Z list American actors who have children that will in turn be at school getting bullied for ever more because their parents feel the need to appear in this tosh !! ....
Asylum: What a bizzare film
Platypuschow13 May 2018
Asylum, there have to be a dozen films by that name. It kind of makes you wonder why they bother, is it so hard to come up with something original?
This one however is very memorable, though I'm not entirely sure for the best reasons.
Imagine a really quite dire horror movie starring Bruce Payne and Stephen Rea with a side story about the movies creation and comedy narration over it similiar to Mystery Science Theatre 3000. That's what this movie is, and it's totally bizzare.
So it tells the story of a swat team who are tasked with going into an Asylum and the whole thing is dreadful from plot to the actors who range from bad to bored. The saving grace is the narration and truth be told some of it is genuinely hilarious.
But it's not so good to make this a watchable 90 minutes, the movie itself is really damn bad but the narration mocks it every step of the way and often speaks exactly what you're thinking.
It's hard to identify who this is aimed at, all I can say is that it isn't a horror and does have enough comedy to make it watchable.........barely.
The Good:
Some genuine laughs
Caroline Ford
The Bad:
Bruce Payne
SO many films called Asylum
Plot is a mess
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Chris Brown jokes, still funny
I will not be able to look at Stephen Rea again without thinking lesbian Bob Dylan
If an ally gets pulled into a fridge by unknown forces.........shoot the fridge
This one however is very memorable, though I'm not entirely sure for the best reasons.
Imagine a really quite dire horror movie starring Bruce Payne and Stephen Rea with a side story about the movies creation and comedy narration over it similiar to Mystery Science Theatre 3000. That's what this movie is, and it's totally bizzare.
So it tells the story of a swat team who are tasked with going into an Asylum and the whole thing is dreadful from plot to the actors who range from bad to bored. The saving grace is the narration and truth be told some of it is genuinely hilarious.
But it's not so good to make this a watchable 90 minutes, the movie itself is really damn bad but the narration mocks it every step of the way and often speaks exactly what you're thinking.
It's hard to identify who this is aimed at, all I can say is that it isn't a horror and does have enough comedy to make it watchable.........barely.
The Good:
Some genuine laughs
Caroline Ford
The Bad:
Bruce Payne
SO many films called Asylum
Plot is a mess
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Chris Brown jokes, still funny
I will not be able to look at Stephen Rea again without thinking lesbian Bob Dylan
If an ally gets pulled into a fridge by unknown forces.........shoot the fridge
Terrible
gallagher-2437912 June 2015
I actually signed up for IMDb for the first time, after reading hundreds of reviews, to complain about how terrible this film is, 100% a result of the completely boring voice over.
They should re-edit this film and remove them and I'd probably jump up 6 stars.
Maybe they were trying for this type of reaction, if so I want to commend them.
It's honestly worse than listening to people talk in a movie theater, please god don't rent it, see it, or even watch a preview.
At least I can yell at the people in the theater.
They should re-edit this film and remove them and I'd probably jump up 6 stars.
Maybe they were trying for this type of reaction, if so I want to commend them.
It's honestly worse than listening to people talk in a movie theater, please god don't rent it, see it, or even watch a preview.
At least I can yell at the people in the theater.
Rather fun and wholly cheesy effort
kannibalcorpsegrinder18 September 2016
Called out to an insane asylum, a SWAT team and their lead negotiator manage to find themselves in a much bigger struggle than they expected when they find a possessed soul from their past catching up to them and must find a way of saving themselves.
This one wasn't all that bad of a horror parody that does have some solid moments to it. The film's central premise of the cutting crew watching the footage and then commentating on the material as a type of commentary track ripping and poking fun of the material present is quite funny and enjoyable for the most part, as once you get used to it there's plenty of great quips that emerge from their work. That they're kept off-screen and spend the majority of the time just doing quick little one-liners that poke fun of the situation in truly great manners with them pointing out absurdities in the story, riffing on the goofiness present and really just having a fun time ripping it to shreds in a really enjoyable manner. When they're not quipping at the movie, there's some more good fun to be had at the type of utterly cheesy type of film this originally was as the concept of the SWAT team sent to a rioted asylum and coming across a more supernatural presence than they expected which allows for the film to go for the crazy unbelievable type of set-ups that can't possibly happen in a real scenario as the sudden antics of the deranged, possessed individuals running around at inhuman speeds or jumping around for impossible abilities gives this a rather creepy vibe that makes for a typically creepy offering. There's a wide array of confrontations here that throw them into the fun action scenes of them finding the possessed maniacs in the asylum, the great series of pop-up attacks in the small rooms of the asylum or the big action scene in the boiler room where they encounter the possessed in the hallway for the shootout that turns out to be a ruse with the dead coming back under the possessed's command and then spilling the entire plot line gives this a rather enjoyable series of action scene here with a lot to enjoy. This one also manages to work out a solid finale that's even more fun with the fire-filled church and the gathered minions making for a wholly enjoyable finale that's really fun in a rather cheesy manner that gives this the biggest flaw overall. The cheesiness and utterly obvious low-budget attempt here on display is rather distracting rather than appealing when almost every scene is marked with what needed to be added to the finished scene that are so continuous and part of so many scenes here that it really doesn't get the full effect of what's going on. It just makes this feel all the more cheesy and corny that makes for a rather goofy time here beyond the film's running commentary vibe that runs throughout here that might turn some off completely. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot really wrong here.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.
This one wasn't all that bad of a horror parody that does have some solid moments to it. The film's central premise of the cutting crew watching the footage and then commentating on the material as a type of commentary track ripping and poking fun of the material present is quite funny and enjoyable for the most part, as once you get used to it there's plenty of great quips that emerge from their work. That they're kept off-screen and spend the majority of the time just doing quick little one-liners that poke fun of the situation in truly great manners with them pointing out absurdities in the story, riffing on the goofiness present and really just having a fun time ripping it to shreds in a really enjoyable manner. When they're not quipping at the movie, there's some more good fun to be had at the type of utterly cheesy type of film this originally was as the concept of the SWAT team sent to a rioted asylum and coming across a more supernatural presence than they expected which allows for the film to go for the crazy unbelievable type of set-ups that can't possibly happen in a real scenario as the sudden antics of the deranged, possessed individuals running around at inhuman speeds or jumping around for impossible abilities gives this a rather creepy vibe that makes for a typically creepy offering. There's a wide array of confrontations here that throw them into the fun action scenes of them finding the possessed maniacs in the asylum, the great series of pop-up attacks in the small rooms of the asylum or the big action scene in the boiler room where they encounter the possessed in the hallway for the shootout that turns out to be a ruse with the dead coming back under the possessed's command and then spilling the entire plot line gives this a rather enjoyable series of action scene here with a lot to enjoy. This one also manages to work out a solid finale that's even more fun with the fire-filled church and the gathered minions making for a wholly enjoyable finale that's really fun in a rather cheesy manner that gives this the biggest flaw overall. The cheesiness and utterly obvious low-budget attempt here on display is rather distracting rather than appealing when almost every scene is marked with what needed to be added to the finished scene that are so continuous and part of so many scenes here that it really doesn't get the full effect of what's going on. It just makes this feel all the more cheesy and corny that makes for a rather goofy time here beyond the film's running commentary vibe that runs throughout here that might turn some off completely. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot really wrong here.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.
See also
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