Asylum, the Lost Footage

Who do I talk to about getting the last 65 minutes of my life back? This movie has a great concept as I love anything to do with abandoned places and hauntings, especially in sanitariums, and I love a good found footage flick, but this was certainly anything but good. Very poorly filmed, badly edited, terrible acting, and it's so choppy that it's painful to watch, not to mention all the edited in sound effects that just seem to come at the most random times. They try so hard to make it appear as legitimate found footage, but then there are all these dramatic shots from places where no one has a camera. As far as "found footage" films go, this is by far the worst I've ever seen... Make sure you stay till the end though, you wouldn't want to miss the corniest and most poorly done CGI ghost face ever made.

This is found film number 66 for me. So, I have, obviously, seen some VERY, VERY bad movies. Of the 66 I have seen so far, this is, without a doubt, the worst.

The only way I could possible give it an accurate rating on IMDB's system would be to go through the 1000 + movies I have seen and rate them all one star higher so that the inability to give negative stars would be compensated for.

This is a mess. There is nothing coherent about it. There is no character development at all. There is no story. Nothing happens. It breaks every rule of the genre, but it does so to no positive effect at all. I have never seen anything quite like it. Its beyond awful. And no, it is not "bad in a good way."

Entertainment cannot be found here.

Abandon hope all ye who enter.

That review summary was in no way intended to be mean (and am aware it sounds very derogatory), being somebody who has always aimed to not be mean and learn from the mistakes they made in school where social interaction was a big obstacle and attitude was affected. It also these days believe it or not take a lot for me to give anything my lowest possible rating, being generally encouraging and sometimes in some people's minds over-generous.

'Asylum: The Lost Footage' just didn't work on any level, and despite being quite angry at myself and while and after watching there is going to be a serious intended refrain from saying anything insulting as that's not fair. Am not going to hold anything against anybody that found some sort of worth in this, but 'Asylum: The Lost Footage' just didn't do anything for me, am going to have to agree with the other negative reviews here, and didn't even feel like a film. More a series of poorly shot barely connected scenes cobbled together in a very muddled way.

It looks cheap, even for a film not high in budget. There is just no sense of style or much cohesion to the editing. It actually made me physically ill, which is not something commonly said by me these days. The audio is never harmonious with what's going on and any feeble attempts at suspense or surprise is ruined by the over-obviousness of this aspect. The direction is barely there, like it was directed in a single day's work with next to no passion or heart.

Nothing illuminating, natural or engrossing in the film. Had a who care's vibe throughout, it feels stilted and rambling and nothing is learnt from what is said. The story is non-existent, other than right at the start when things are set up, and basically what was said in my second paragraph. No tension. No suspense. No engagement value. No coherence.

Instead 'Asylum: The Lost Footage's' story is very muddled and disconnected, with an interminably dull pace, dreary atmosphere and full of overlong scenes dragged out endlessly. Those in front of the camera give off the sense that they had been bribed to appear and that they didn't care for what was happening or being said or shown.

Overall, awful. 1/10

The Plot:

A group of amateur ghost hunters go missing as they journey into the bowels of an abandon Insane Asylum in a search for evidence of the 'Lady in White' said to haunt the grounds.

The only evidence of their quest of no return are video cards discovered by workman as they demolish what's left of the vacant structures.

Some of the footage was salvageable and reveals the missing ghost hunters fate as they traverse into the unknowns of the Asylum.

Stoopid movie filled with talking heads in from of jet black backgrounds and poor "found" footage which the amateur filmmakers blaming it on the environment.

This movie is god awful.

Please note -- the only good review it got (from Sam) is also "sam's" ONLY review. In other words the guy worked on this movie.

Forget it.

I was directed to the movie via social media and my independent film network and thoroughly enjoyed it. As an independent film enthusiast, I can appreciate the whole project. You could tell some of the acting was improvised which added to the appeal for me. The Insane Asylum looks like a great place to shoot and I would have loved to have to seen it back in the day. Perhaps that is my one main criticism- the film would have really benefited from some footage of how the place used to look although I understand why this is an issue. Overall, I would recommend it, especially if you're an independent film fan! If not, try it out anyway!