Doom Asylum

If you follow my reviews, you'll already know that the 1985 British production  Slaughter High  is to me one of the best partly tongue-in-cheek slasher movie spoofs ever made, not to mention one of my all-time favorite films period. It set a precedent for combining horror, gore, comedy, and all-around fun that few have ever matched. It had a very limited theatrical release and then became a hit in the home video market shortly thereafter.Another movie emerged two years later that was clearly influenced by the former but that was never even released theatrically, that being the 1987 direct-to-video slasher parody "Doom Asylum."So many scenes and the general plot in the latter seem to be modeled on the classic "Slaughter High." They both take place in a big abandoned building (in "Slaughter High" it was a school, in "Doom Asylum," a mental institution) in which a crazed, horribly disfigured killer offs the young, attractive and energetic cast one by one. They both are done in a satirical fashion that shows that even stomach-churning gore can be used as a means for myriad quips and one-liners. And they both have an abundant level of comedic timing and an all-around FUN factor that makes them always a joy to watch (and rewatch... And rewatch...)"Doom Asylum" was directed by Richard Friedman, who had previously worked primarily in the television horror market, having directed various episodes of "Tales from the Darkside" and "Friday the 13th: the Series" in 1986-87. Judging by the fact that references to heavy metal bands like Metallica, Slayer and Ozzy are spray-painted on the walls of the asylum in this film, my guess is that Friedman worked with a mostly young, inexperienced crew with (very) little money to spare but mega talent on display and a real desire to deliver the goods. These "goods" include a wacky all-girl punk/noise band (led by "B" movie queen Ruth Collins) that practice in the asylum, a scene-stealing performance by "Sex and the City's" then 22-year-old Kristin Davis (in her first film role) that clearly shows the makings for a real star, and the gorgeous, eye-catching special make-up effects by Vincent J. Guastini. The cast appears to be as young and inexperienced as the film crew was, making for what is like a big party in slasher movie-dom that the viewer is always a part of and in on the joke.An extremely obscure title in its day, "Doom Asylum" has since built a well-deserved cult underground following. Code Red released it on DVD not once but twice in the 2000s, the initial pressing in January 2007 and then a reissue a mere year and a half later in the summer of 2008, the latter bearing a much more prominent and much sexier picture of Kristin Davis shown on the cover. The latter version (the one I own) is the harder to find of the two by far. Code Red seemed to keep it in print for about 15 minutes tops and now it's rarer than natural cubic zirconia on the internet, as prices for the few remaining copies on Amazon currently range from $150 to nearly $200 (!). Luckily, a DVD-r version is also now available for sale on Amazon but the second Code Red version is the one to get, not just for the cover, but it boasts a far superior remastered picture and an 11-minute featurette which constitutes an interview with Friedman and the producer.All in all, fans of serious horror like "the Shining" and "Maniac" may find little appeal in an obvious parody of the genre, but those just out to witness some great gore, see a couple of boobs bared (courtesy of Ms. Collins), share a laugh with the young cast and just have a great time will find much to savor in "Doom Asylum." For late '80s direct-to-video horror, it's a true diamond in the rough and just might be worth shelling out the serious moolah for it that it is currently commanding.

I can't really be mad at this movie. I knew it was going to be bad, don't get me wrong, but I'm a fan of bad movies. But what I didn't know was that this movie would feel nearly identical to every screenplay I wrote when I was a precociously pretentious 15 year old in high school who wanted to make his own horror movie.At first when I started watching this movie and it didn't come to me right away. I thought "Wow, the dialogue is awful," (beat) "But then again the special effects are pretty good." But then the main characters show up and they start giving some really bizarre exposition, like the main female lead calling her love interest "Mom" (for reasons I'll let you watch and judge) and the slightly reserved girl who constantly talks about psychiatry. But then it hit me! This is a satire. I didn't know that when I bought the digital video which just said "Horror/Comedy," I was thinking in the "Evil Dead 2" sense of horror-comedy, but this is a flat out satire of slasher flicks in general.You've got all the stereotypes in one movie:The dumb blondethe indecisive jockthe annoying nerdthe "smart girl"the tough girl who might be gayand of course:the black guy who dies first.The dialogue is deliciously awful, like, not even Mystery Science Theater 3000 could touch this because it's already trying too hard to be satirical. The main villain is a deranged coroner who lives on the grounds of this abandoned insane asylum where he regularly kills trespassing teenagers in creative ways, one of which was obviously seen by Sean Cunningham and written down for the then-future film "Jason X" (the one where Jason is in space). The acting is so below par that I'd say the director TOLD the actors to act as poorly as they could because of the weird comical nature of the movie. The pacing's actually pretty good once we get to the first kill (the black guy-- it follows that trope) and from there on out it's pretty much just mischief and mayhem the rest of the movie. It did manage to break the tradition of "the killer takes them at night" because the entire movie takes place in the middle of a broadly lit, sunny July afternoon, I'm not sure if this was due to budget restraints that prevented them from filming at night or if they just wanted to try something different, but it works well, either way.One thing that bugged me when watching it was the slow realization that all the actors in this movie are now my parents' age. And it made me wonder what my parents were doing in the mid 1980s right before they decided to have me. I don't know if either of them were involved with indie film, but I'm going to be calling them up a little later to make some inquiries-- just in case.Other than that, the movie really appealed to me because the script felt like something I would try to write when I was a teenager-- the movie even features clips from some old 1930s horror movies, which, like many aspiring and wannabe teenage filmmakers you tend to watch a lot of at that age. All in all, it's a dumb but harmless little independent piece of horror from the 1980s that was totally worth the purchase.

why certain titles do not receive the same affection is beyond me...

This movie is a genre in itself. It satirizes the horror genre to a point that I truly bought into it. There is nothing about this unique film that can be taken seriously...but there is no reason to. Doom Asylum is unadulterated fun. All you have to do is just sit back and go for the ride...and what a ride it is. Obviously low budget, the filmmakers went beyond the call of duty to squeeze every ounce of humor and pathos from their budget. Kudos to the director, Richard Friedman, who unashamedly went for it and didn't hold back! Kristen Davis in her first role took it seriously enough to be funny. This is one film not to miss!

I've seen much worse. It's a film that's willing to make fun of itself, which is nice in this genre. It's intentionally overdone in spots, reminded me of Troma movies that I've seen. Not a movie to take seriously, but if you're into b-grade horror/comedy, it's better than many.

I have been wanting to watch this movie for quite some time. I never got a chance to rent the vhs back in the day and never picked up the dvd. When Arrow announced a blu ray of this, I was thrilled. The fact that a movie like this even gets the treatment it did is fantastic. Arrow, and a few other companies really show these old low budget films the respect they deserve. Now, this isn't a good movie by any means, but its a fun and entertaining one. It's cheesy, low budget and over the top, and it works. None of it is taken seriously and that is part of the charm. The acting is stiff, but it works here. Its a shame that Patty Mullen wasn't a star, as she should have been. Her resume is sadly very small. Kristen Davis also shows up and that was welcome as well. If you love the old 80's and early 90's low budget cinema, then this is for you.

Utterly cheesetastic gore film now given a second lease of life on blu-ray, why I'm not 100% sure, as a dvd would've sufficed. The acting ranges from passable to outrageously bad, and the fashion's are firmly set to 80's excess. The film does however have one redeeming factor which is the gore. Admittedly it's pretty rough around the corner's and isnt going to fool anyone for a minute but it is provided in spades. An interesting addition to Arrow's range of forgotten "gems".

This horror-comedy is amazing! It’s cheesy, badly acted, gory and features a wise-cracking killer. If you like yourself a good 80’s slasher than be sure not to miss Doom Asylum!

This was hilarious to watch as the actors were clearly trying to be over the top and cheesy...the special effects were not that good...but i hardly noticed as i was laughing so much...audio good...picture quality good...I was pleasantly surprised..you can see all the elements of a troma film..even though it probably wasn't from troma...I would recommend this dvd to anyone who loves 80's and 90's comedy horror..

Meh I don't do reviews. I just love this movie!

Another Arrow Video great!