Asylum Night

Asylum Night is a gleefully demented horror movie that trawls through the depths of horror, splatter and low-budget shockers with the abandon of a seasoned grave robber. Playing like an extended episode of 'Urban Gothic' 'Asylum Night is by no means the perfect film but has almost all the ingredients of a perfect cult film.

The plot, such as it is begins with a smooth homage to the Amicus classic 'Asylum' and follows Ellen Cole (Adrienne Carlyle) as she goes undercover to find her missing brother. Murderous inmates, seductive nurses and dangerous experiments with the inmates and vampires chase a script that's surprisingly well-written but all this is incidental to the film itself, a demented jolt of electricity shot to the temples by a director who's clearly in love with his source material.

And there's enough to spare. From the 'Ultraviolet' inspired soundtrack to the frequent film references (Temple Of Doom, From Dusk Till Dawn and Angel Heart all get tipped a cheeky wink) and while Watson falls for many first-timer tricks (crazy camera-angles down the corridor) he delivers something in the vein of Ken Russell's excellent 'Lair of the White Worm'.

Admittedly, the film does suffer from pacing problems and the production design has set back the progress of independent film making a few years. Foley is non-existent and the lack of location is painfully evident as the technical mistakes: those professional hang-ups that are as evident as the 555 number given in Hollywood phone numbers.

That said, the sheer energy with which the cast and crew sink their teeth into this film is infectious – I couldn't help but smile every time I saw the next cliché make a welcome appearance on the screen. Horror films are paradoxically the easiest and hardest features to make and a great way for raw directors to cut their teeth on a low budget: Sam Raimi's 'Evil Dead', Peter Jackson's 'Bad Taste' and Eli Roth's 'Cabin Fever' all spring to mind.

This isn't a film for those who like polished movies slavishly adhering to the dull world of Anne Rice or those who demand something new be bought to the table. What this film offers is energy, raw talent and a promise of a good night in with perhaps many more to come.

This is a film where the excuse of no budget has been ignored. Yes it's obvious there was hardly a budget and a few effects and sets creak a bit ( a lot at some points), but the imagination and sheer determined mind of the director and his actors to simply make an entertaining and sometimes impressive film can't be ignored.

Dialogue clunks and unnecessary subplots tend to distract, but the overall momentum, sense of fun and intelligent undertone stop this from falling into the pit of bad low budget films to a film that has a hell of a lot going for it.

A higher budget will no doubt let these imaginations fly. Bravo!

Firstly, you have to look past the below par acting, the lack of production values and silly storyline, and then you'll be ready to appreciate what this film has to offer.

I saw this on the Horror Channel, and while at first I was a little disappointed to find it was not a full-blown production, but something resembling a feature length student project, I soon warmed to it. The gore is well executed and nicely over the top. In the absence of decent gore effects, doing it over the top is better. The story is run of the mill, but is carried out playfully, albeit by a cast who don't seem to deliver the lines with much conviction. There is humour a plenty, some involving poo. Although not the inspired wit of fellow Brit flick "Shaun of the Dead", it's still entertaining nonetheless. Think one notch down from Dog Soldiers, with clunkier effects.

If it's serious body-shock horror you're looking for, give this one a wide berth. If you like to see a brainless 90 or so minutes of silly gore, poo and scenes involving running through corridors, this is a great film. I recommend for a drunk night in with your buddies, so you can have a good laugh.

I caught this movie on the horror channel and was very impressed and entertained by the sheer energy of the cast, and filmmakers, so i then purchased the DVD.

Obviously this film is a low budget production, but scores big with its over the top humour and gore content.

The filmmakers have used what little they had with regards to the budget and have still managed to deliver a superb gore fest roller-coaster of a movie.

The script and acting is of a much higher calibre than you would normally expect from such a movie and i can only hope that it gets to a wider audience.

There are not many independent English films, but these filmmakers seem to be intent on creating a conveyor belt of these types of films in the tradition of Roger Corman, I found the making of section of the DVD to be very entertaining.

I highly recommend this film.

This is the 'kick in the arse' that low budget digital film making has been waiting for!