Asylum (1972) by Roy Ward Baker

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Year: 1972

Country: United Kingdom

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Anthology

Plot:

Upon arriving at Dunsmoor Mental Asylum, a new charge is told that one of the patients under its care is the former doctor in charge of the asylum, and that to keep his job he must find him based only on the stories told.

Review:

Frozen Fear-Growing tired of his wife's goody-goody nature, her husband decides one day to kill her and store her in the freezer downstairs for safekeeping so that his affair with his mistress can continue. Agreeing to run off together, however, something in the basement keeps stirring and making him feel uneasy while he's waiting. This one is one of the more obvious Hammer-inspired tales in here, and the atmosphere drenched up is quite nerve-wrecking. The sequences in the basement are some of the most ingenious and creepy moments ever. It's also got a real great ending to it that plays off quite nicely so while it tends to move along a little slowly waiting for the inevitable when it occurs there's a lot to like with this one.

The Weird Tailor-Down on his luck, a suit-maker is given an assignment from a mysterious stranger who requests a suit made for a child. He also makes some strange requests about making it, but promises to make and deliver it when finished. When arriving at his mansion to pick it up, he makes a shocking discovery. This was a pretty boring affair, mostly, with only one real surprise that could be seen coming along a mile away. At the time, it might've worked, but the shock doesn't register for today's audiences, who have seen it countless times since and can guess it quite easily. The rest of the time here is spent with this one following the creation of the suit itself which is just flat-out boring and devoid of any interest.

Lucy Comes to Stay-A woman and her brother arrive at their country home for a rest and relaxation where he warns her of a friend who has been troublesome in the past. When a series of murders occurs around the house, all the signs point to his twisted friend despite her repeated claims of innocence. Just like many of the segments before it, all the signs in this one point to a twist ending that is pretty obvious and not at all creepy or ingenious. It's been done too often to have an effect on viewers. I also doubt it would have much effect on viewers then which is so dismal that it really lowers this one considerably.

Mannikens of Horror-While he makes little figurines on the side, a doctor creeps people out with his attention to detail and his constant raving that the creatures are alive. When he gets tired of people not listening to him, he sets the creatures free and they proceed to terrorize the non-believers. Overall, this was a pretty straightforward tale which is mostly helped with some fantastic special effects and a clever twist that for once actually works for these, as the previous ones didn't really have that great of a twist. As well, the simple storyline allows this to be more violent than the other tales which also doesn't really hurt either, even if the story could've been told a little better without making its conclusion so obvious.

Overview: ****/5

A surprisingly good Anthology in the series, there's several solid stories in this entry that manages to hold off a few minor drawbacks that hold it off against a few slight issues in these stories. Those with an interest in this era of the genre, who enjoyed the previous entries in the saga, or who are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like while most others out there should heed caution.