Welcome to Briarcliff

Episode aired Oct 17, 2012
TV-MA
44m

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

6.8K

YOUR RATING

Evan Peters in American Horror Story (2011)

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Watch American Horror Story: Welcome To Briarcliff (German)

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Drama Horror Sci-Fi Thriller

After a life-changing experience, a young man is admitted into a notorious insane asylum, while a local reporter is determined to get the full story.After a life-changing experience, a young man is admitted into a notorious insane asylum, while a local reporter is determined to get the full story.After a life-changing experience, a young man is admitted into a notorious insane asylum, while a local reporter is determined to get the full story.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

6.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The song "Dominique" that plays constantly in the common room was not chosen at random. Jeanine Deckers - also known as Soeur Sourire or "The Singing Nun" had recorded the song to raise money for her convent's mission in Brussels. She eventually left the order to be with her lover, a novice nun eleven years younger than herself. When the two took their own lives together in 1985 she was deeply in debt for the taxes owed on the over $100,000 in royalties the iconic song earned. Money she never saw a cent of, as all profits continued to go to the Catholic church.

Goofs
At the very beginning, Leo Morrison is seen using a Leica M7 camera, taking a few photos of his wife in rapid succession. The Leica M7 is an analog 35mm camera, where the film needs to be advanced manually after each shot using the the film advance lever, making the taking of photos in rapid succession impossible.

Quotes
Sister Jude Martin: Here, you will repent for your crimes to the only judge that matters: the Almighty God.
Kit Walker: There is no God. Not a God who would create the things I saw.
Sister Jude Martin: Your story about little green men? That won't do here.
Kit Walker: They weren't human. They were monsters.
Sister Jude Martin: All monsters are human. You're a monster.

Connections
References The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Soundtracks
Dominique
(uncredited)
Written by Soeur Sourire and Noel Regney
Performed by Soeur Sourire

User reviews11

Review

Featured review

9/10

Season 2 - Asylum

"Mental illness is the fashionable explanation for sin"

The cast from the first season (Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe), supported by some new faces (Joseph Fiennes, Lizzie Brocheré, James Cromwell), returns to us in a new story, with new, no less impressive characters.

This time the story is set in the sixties of the last century, in a notorious mental institution, under the administration of the Catholic church. The patients range from completely insane criminals, through severe mental illness, to people who don't belong there at all. The story follows a young man accused of massacring several women and a journalist who wants to write a first-hand story about him at all costs.

In my opinion, the series is still more of a psychological drama and thriller than horror, but in the second season there are more horror elements, and there is also a bit of SF. "Asylum" has all the qualities of the first season, and the finale, although in a similar manner, was done much better. However, the second season left a slightly weaker overall impression on me.

8,5/10.