Asylum of Darkness

Dwight Stroud (Nick Baldasare) is a dangerous psychiatric prisoner who breaks out of the asylum and assumes another man's life, but he's tortured and haunted by crazy visions that may or may not be delusions.

Writer/director Jay Woelfel has never gotten the budget or recognition of Croenenberg or Lynch, but like those filmmakers, he's got a unique style all his own. Most of his films are slowly paced, hallucinogenic, psychological mindforks with very low budgets, some amateur Ohio actors, and a Lovecraftian creature. If you're down with that, Asylum of Darkness is an enjoyable ride, but if you want a more "Hollywood" movie, look elsewhere for your entertainment.

Up front, I gotta say, the film's title and poster are misleading. Only a tiny fraction of the film takes place in an asylum, and the poster makes it look like some fast-paced monster movie. That's bad marketing, hence the low IMDb rating from folks who expected something very different.

The story and tone zigzag in a way that's engaging if you can roll with it. Every time it seems like the plot's settling into normality, something really weird happens -- but it feels a little long and could stand to be tightened by 15 minutes. The practical FX are generally very good, and the ones that aren't are serviceable.

Nick Baldasare has grown as an actor since "Beyond Dream's Door" and "Heartland of Darkness" (both shot in 1989), and he does a fine job in the lead. Amanda Howell is genuinely charming as his love interest, Richard Hatch camps it up as a crazed doctor, Tim Thomerson is Tim Thomerson, and likewise, you get what you'd expect from Tiffany Shepis.

All in all, I enjoyed it and don't feel like it was a waste of 2 hours, but I knew what I was getting into with this director.

I decided to watch this because it stars Tim Thomerson and the late Richard Hatch, both sci-fi stars of yesteryear (Trancers and Battlestar Galactica respectively). The six reviews as of this writing were also above average, praising the twisty, innovative, and unpredictable plot. Well, apparently I watched a different film. This thing is a boring unfocused mess. It jumps from scene to scene with no discernible pattern or purpose, let alone character development. People are slashed, tentacled monsters crawl into orifices, and all to absolutely zero purpose. The excuse (as stated in the IMDb summary) is that the main character is committed to an asylum and therefore insane. But this proves nothing and is no reason to abandon screenplay logic. It is also childishly easy to predict which episodes aren't real. If the six critics listed call this stew "unpredictable", then I recommend viewing 1990's "Brain Dead", starring Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton. Now THAT is a disorienting and effective asylum chiller. Or if it's inspired gore you're after, try the blood-spattered "Insanitarium" from 2008 instead. Either one is preferable to "AOD".

Now for the acting. As I said above, it was Thomerson and Hatch that initially drew me in. Somehow I think both of them knew exactly what they were signing up for, and totally mailed it in. I've seen boards that are less wooden. As for the main star (Nick Baldasare), the less said about his sleepy zombie-like acting, the better.

Were I forced to praise something (anything?) about this film, it would be the gore and monster effects, which are fine. Blood is blood, and a gouged eyeball is a gouged eyeball. But there are far better asylum films to choose from. I strongly suggest you do so.

This Has A Very Love-Craftian Taste To It (Although There Is No Reference) But I Thought This Was A Bit Of A Good Surprise ... An Escaped Patient Tries To Make Sense Of The World Outside The Asylum As Everyone Sees Him As Someone He Isn't ... As The Truth Of What Is Going On Unravels Itself He Finds That To Make Things Right He Must Delve Deeper Into The Insanity ... The Acting Is Not Top Notch But The Story Is Interesting And Captivating ... Fans Of H.P Lovecraft Would Enjoy This One ...

I haven't seen a film this strange in a while and appreciate it's attempting to be different. Does it succeed as a good movie though? Depends on what your looking for. Positives: the lead performances were all convincing for a low budget genre title. Nick Baldasare had the arduous task of portraying a person on the edge of sanity. His performance could have warped into a lot of cliché "crazy" type acting, but he made it believable. Richard Hatch also delivers the goods in one of his final roles. I thought the look of the film was also a plus and the effects, while old school, had a nice retro feel that added to the fun. The only negative was the film's length. I thought it could have been cut by 20 minutes and been a little better experience. All in all, you will like this movie if you don't need details and plot points spoon-fed to you. Expect the unexpected and enjoy!

Watching Asylum of Darkness... it's a weird, but intriguing movie... its weirdness is actually what keeps me interested... it reminds me of the feel of Necronomicon (1993) or other Lovecraft-influenced stories, tales from the crypt, creepshow... it's pretty insane, with a lot of gory alien-ness and old B movie sci fi actors from the '70s and '80s... I have to say it's a lot better than I thought it would be... totally crazy movie...

Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica) is great, and apparently this is the second film in a trilogy... Season of Darkness (2012) is part 1, this is part 2, and Heartland of Darkness which I'm not sure if it ever came out...

This is considered the "lost" film of Scream Queen Linnea Quigley (Silent Night, Deadly Night, The Return of the Living Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master). Director Eric Swelstad abandoned the project before finding a distributor and the title has yet to be released to a mass market audience. Over the years various producers including Jim Wynorski, Rob Spera and Jody Savin have expressed an interest in putting the finishing touches on the film, with the intention of finally releasing it.

Showing a poor 3.3/10 rating on IMDb, to me is so undeserved and likely from people who aren't embracing of low budget weird horror... but I think they're treating it unfairly... my rating: 7/10