Asylum (1972)

Action, Horror
Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland, Peter Cushing, Barbara Parkins
The young Dr. Martin goes to a job interview at a psychiatric hospital. Thinking he would meet Dr. Star, he instead meets with his assistant Dr. Rutherford. Dr. Martin is confused until he finds out that Dr. Star can not interview him because he has just gone insane! Dr. Star is now a patient instead of the director. Dr. Rutherford wants Dr. Martin to interview several patients as a test of his competence for the position. Rutherford is behaving oddly but Dr. Martin complies with the test. The first patient is Bonnie and her tale in this anthology is called "Frozen Fear". Bonnie is having an affair with a married man named Walter. His wife, Ruth is aware but is not letting him go. So, Walter takes her to the basement and kills her with his ax and freezes her as he wishes her to rest in pieces. Then he calls Bonnie to tell her that the deed is done. They are going to take a plane and then they decide to take Ruth's frozen pieces along to dispose of them. Oh but there is a problem. Ruth's pieces escape and she gets her revenge by choking Walter to death and her head and other parts send Bonnie over the edge and into the Asylum in a very creepy sequence. Of course Ruth made sure that Bonnie was framed and left scarred forever. The next patient is named Bruno and his tale is the "Weird Tailor" and he tells it to Dr. Martin as he is sewing a garment. Bruno is in danger of being evicted and losing his tailoring business. As his and his wife's fear and stress mount, a stranger (Peter Cushing) arrives, offering a large sum for an unusual job. Bruno works on the suit of strange material, and then delivers it at midnight as instructed to. He travels to the large mansion to find that his customer is broke so they must wait for his son to return for the tailor to be paid. Then Bruno learns that the stranger's son is a corpse and the two begin to fight. Peter Cushing drew a gun and of course was killed, like he is in all of his movies. Bruno returned home after taking a rare book as payment. Bruno's wife puts the suit on a mannequin. When the couple fights over the murder of the stranger, the mannequin comes to life and settles the score. Next the Dr. visits with Barbara and she tells her story, " Lucy comes to stay". Barbara's brother George, and his assistant Miss Higgins bring her home from the mental hospital and are quite controlling. Then Miss Higgins' mother becomes ill so she leaves for the hospital with George offering to give her a lift to the station. Barbara stays home and that is when Lucy appears. The beautiful Lucy greets Barbara and shares her plan. Lucy is adventurous and mischievous and proves that as she cuts the phone lines and manipulates Barbara. Much to Barbara's shocking dismay, Lucy did not just use the shears to cut the lines, but she buried them into George's chest. And Miss Higgins who has just returned, is next. Who was Lucy? Was she a ghost, a villain, or a second personality? You must watch to unravel this one. The last patient is a man that calls himself Byron. He tells the tale of "Mannikins of Horror". Byron claims to be a Dr. and tells Martin that Rutherford is a liar. Dr. Martin has seen enough and is disgusted with how the hospital is run and how no attempts to bring the patients back are made. As Martin lectures Rutherford, Byron and Dr. Star, unleash a surprising but deadly force to destroy Rutherford. Which Dr. or Drs. meet their doom? The answer is hidden in the absolutely chilling and outstanding conclusion brought to you by Dr. Star! Of course, now Star is ready for his next interviewee.
  • 1972-07-06 Released:
  • N/A DVD Release:
  • N/A Box office:
  • N/A Writer:
  • Roy Ward Baker Director:
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