Asylum (2008) (V)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

David R. Ellis

Writer:

Ethan Lawrence (writer)

Release Date:

15 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Once you're in, you can never get out.

Plot:

Six college students discover their dorm was once an insane asylum that conducted gruesome lobotomy's on its teenage inmates during the 1930's.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Asylum | Trauma | Janitor | College Student

Cast

Sarah Roemer	...	Madison McBride
Jake Muxworthy	...	Holt
Mark Rolston	...	Doctor Burke
Travis Van Winkle	...	Tommy
Ellen Hollman	...	Ivy
Carolina Garcia	...	Maya
Cody Kasch	...	String
Lin Shaye	...	String's Mother
Joe Inscoe	...	Wilbur Mackey
Gabe Wood	...	Officer Kelso
Randall Sims	...	Rez
Andrea Powell	...	Carol McBride
Pete Burris	...	Lloyd McBride
Caroline Kent	...	Madison, age 11
Brantley Pollock	...	Brandon, age 12

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence and terror, disturbing images, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Color (technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Germany:18 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | UK:18 | Australia:R | Singapore:M18 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

South Carolina, USA

Company:

Mad Scientist Productions

Quotes:

Madison: It's the first week. It's always hard.

Movie Connections:

References Jaws (1975)

I Would Like to Give My Suffering for Watching This Movie

The teenager Madison McBride (Sarah Roemer) is traumatized by the loss of her deranged father when she was nine year–old and the suicide of her beloved brother Brandon one year ago. She decides to join the Richard Miller University, where Brandon committed suicide, to overcome her demons. While walking to her dorm, she meets the weird janitor Wilbur Mackey (Joe Inscoe) that tells her that the place is haunted. Madison befriends the recovering drug addicted Holt (Jake Muxworthy); the geek outcast String (Cody Kasch); the sexually abused Ivy (Ellen Hollman) and Maya (Carolina Garcia); and the joker athlete Tommy (Travis Van Winkle). All the schoolmates have traumas and the veteran Rez (Randall Sims) is responsible for them. String discovers in Internet that in 1935, their dorm together with an attached abandoned section was an asylum administrated by Dr. Magnus Burke (Mark Rolston) and considered a safe refugee for troubled teenagers with state-of-art treatment. However, in 1939, the interns uprose against the insane doctor, killing and disclosing the truth about his treatment. Sooner they find that their dorm is haunted by Dr. Burke that is seeking for tortured souls.

The lame "Asylum" is a forgettable collection of clichés that do not frighten or make laugh. The villain Dr. Burke slightly recalls Freddy Krueger with his sharp blades and bringing nightmarish memories to his victims. The characters are destroyed the same way they appear, without any development or care with the consequences. In accordance with the story, Mackey was eleven year-old in 1939. Therefore, in 2007, he would be seventy-nine year-old, still working and in an excellent shape. In the end, I would like to give my suffering for watching this terrible movie. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Asylum – Não Estamos Sozinhos" ("Asylum – We Are not Alone")