Asylum of Darkness

2013
Unrated
1h 57m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

After awakening in a mental asylum, a patient plans an escape to freedom, but finds an even more disturbing, supernatural world on the outside, one that threatens to keep him trapped in madn... Read allAfter awakening in a mental asylum, a patient plans an escape to freedom, but finds an even more disturbing, supernatural world on the outside, one that threatens to keep him trapped in madness forever.After awakening in a mental asylum, a patient plans an escape to freedom, but finds an even more disturbing, supernatural world on the outside, one that threatens to keep him trapped in madness forever.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

3.5/10

377

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Trivia
The last film Richard Hatch completed before his death. Hatch started other films, some of which were completed, but his part in those films was less than intended due to his dying before those films were completed.

Quotes
Van Gogh: There's danger in what we see. This insane reality can look back and see us.

Crazy credits
The end credits roll the opposite of the standard way, scrolling from the top of the screen to the bottom.

Alternate versions
Originally screened under the title "Season of Darkness" (which is the title of Artemis Finch's autobiography), but the distributor changed the name to "Asylum of Darkness."

Connections
References The Escape (1980)

User reviews14

Featured review

5/10

It's, um, creative

A murderer (Nick Baldasare), who has been assigned to a mental institution after being declared "not guilty by reason of insanity," escapes the state hospital and assumes the identity of another man. Curiously, the man's wife accepts him (Amanda Howell) and the hallucinatory story proceeds from there.

"Asylum of Darkness" (2013) was originally called "Season of Darkness" when it was screened at a festival, but the distributor adjusted the title for its 2017 release. It was written, scored and directed by Jay Woelfel for $200,000, shot in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Despite the micro-budget, it's artistic in its depiction of reality from the delusional mind of an insane person. The old school practical effects are mostly effective, but sometimes cartoonish and goofy.

It's technically superior to Woelfel's spare-change budgeted "Ghost Story" (2004); and the story is more compelling compared to his "Closed for the Season" (2010). Unfortunately, it's overlong and Tiffany Shepis' role is too small; she should've played the wife IMHO.

However, if you like artsy indies and are patient, you'll probably find something to appreciate. It's too puzzling for my tastes, but at least it's different.

Richard Hatch and Tim Thomerson appear in peripheral roles. It runs 1 hours, 57 minutes.

GRADE: C.