El asilo de Satanás

When Lucina (Carla Borelli) wakes up at Pleasant Hill Hospital, she has no idea how she got there, or what sort of nightmare awaits her. Kept as a veritable prisoner, Lucina is drugged, and begins to lose her grip on reality.

As the title suggests, ASYLUM OF SATAN is about a mental hospital where satanism is the only true therapy. This is a bare-bones production from Director William Girdler, with most of the budget apparently going toward the frilly shirts worn by the devilish Dr. Specter (Charles Kissinger). Very low on action, calling this movie a "slow-burn" is like calling the Sahara Desert "a bit dry". Still, it has enough charm and delirious dialogue to make it enjoyable.

Best Scenes:

#1- When the female patient is "gassed" in a room by what can only be fire extinguishers shot through a wall vent! She's also covered by -obviously- rubber bugs for good measure!

#2- Lucina being chased by the most ridiculous ghoul in movie history!

#3- The swimming pool snake attack!

#4- The "severed head" with suspiciously lifelike movements under the eyelids!!

Be sure not to miss the satanic ritual and "shock" finale!

The perfect candidate for your next drunken movie night...

Scrubby but watchable occult nonsense, ASYLUM OF SATAN finds an attractive young woman being subdued within a strange private hospital. Waking from sleep in fear and confusion, she is told by staff that she has been placed under the special care of a certain doctor, along with a handful of other patients with various personal afflictions which said doctor insists he can treat. There's one problem, however...his sure-cure is the same for all maldies, and the most common side-effect is rigor-mortis. One-by-one the patients disappear, leaving our young heroin to search for a means of escape. The mystery culminates in a Black Magic ritual which conjurs Satan himself...and he is one scrawny, bedraggled looking Lord of Darkness, I must say.

While this is unquestionably a B minus production, it does manage to entertain, and it more-less succeeds in keeping itself steeped in a creepy, otherworldly atmosphere. As 70s drive-in fodder goes, ASYLUM OF SATAN might be a bug's nose above the yardstick...neith fish nor fowl.

4.5/10

So William Girdler's screen debut was running a little slow through 1972 but it's not all that bad! Charles Kissinger is a great actor in which he later appeared in almost of all of Girdler's other films. Nick Jolley superfly hero of the 70's appears also wondering why he was'nt in anything else. ASYLUM OF SATAN is a good film about a girl taken hostage to the Asylum were doctor's zombies and critters run wild! Kissinger plays Satan himself. Give ASYLUM OF SATAN a shot if you are a big fan of Girdler's films. Yes the film is very violent with way too much sex, but hey it's still worth watching.

A young woman finds herself held against her will in an eerie mental asylum by the sinister "Dr. Specter" and his masculine-looking assistant, Martine. She begins to suspect that the visions of horror she experiences are not nightmares and that she is due to be sacrificed to The Evil One. A laughably awful film if I've ever seen one, "Asylum of Satan" is highly enjoyable, cheesy trash. Bad acting from everyone, especially the lead actress, a terribly dated score, and the fakest-looking Satan you'll ever see make this steaming pile one worth checking out if you like bad movies. Oh, and the death scene are a stitch! (Apperantly people can die from cockroaches crawling all over them...) My rating for "Asylum of satan"--2/10.

William Girdler made his directorial debut in 1972 with the surprisingly decent exploitation flick Three on a Meathook, and since then basically everything he's directed has gone on to become notorious - though mostly that's because his films are so low quality, not because of any content. That is certainly the case with Asylum of Satan; a mind numbingly bad horror film which features nothing that would shock an audience of young children. The film focuses on a woman who wakes up in asylum, despite her feeling that nothing is wrong with her. The doctor is adamant that she must stay...and it son transpires that there's more to this medical centre than meets the eye. The film is very short; running at under eighty minutes and I am really glad it wasn't longer as the majority of the duration is mind-numbingly boring. The plot basically just plods along for the entire film and the 'twists' to the story do nothing to make the film any more interesting and it gets tiresome quickly. The title does promise an appearance from the dark lord, and the film doesn't disappoint in that respect. It takes a long time to get there, but the ending is at least hilariously campy - the appearance of Satan is memorable for all the wrong reasons, however. Overall, this really is a horrible film and I would recommend it only to hardcore William Girdler fans...if there are any.