Asylum of Fear

I gave it a 6 could have been a 5. Unfortunately for the movie I actually fell asleep in the middle , reversed and fell asleep again-But wide awake for the beginning and the end. I think there's a little too much of the same scare tropes. Also, it's in the slasher category in a way. So be ready for for a declining number of actors, for the most part the worst actors are killed first, a thought dil touch by the director. The acting is better than most of these cheaper productions have and the story actually pulls together well. Yes, there are "plot holes" but they're passable. The plot has greater depth, development than in many high budget horror films. I think it is a easily watched , enjoyable story with some twists and an explanation which is often missing.

This reminds me of those paranormal tv shows you see every night on travel channels. Once the film gets to the asylum it was a fun watch. Good paranormal scares and the ghost hunting crew were cast really well. This film is not perfect, it's a plot that has been done repeatedly and some of the supporting characters could have been replaced. I like ghost stories and those paranormal tv shows so this was a good one. If you enjoy those as well I would recommend this movie.

Some of these reviews are terrible and unjust. Seems more like people with an axe to grind. Full disclosure, I am friends with someone attached to this movie, but i will still give my honest opinion. There are a few issues that concern me, the story and premise are obviously not very original but that can really be said about most of the fare in this genre. The acting may not be great but it's not bad and certainly not as bad as some make it out to be. Some of the pace issues could've easily been addressed in editing. The special FX are very good, especially for an indie, the art department and production design team did quite well on this and there really aren't any glaring technical issues that you tend to find in a lot of indie projects. I'm glad I gave it a whirl.

My first 2018 released movie, so how did it do?

So get this a bunch of 20 something ghost hunters go into an abandoned asylum and get picked off one by one by the ghosts within! And one of them is one of the doctors who went crazy and killed a bunch of people, original stuff right?

I've just described literally dozens of films, most famously House On Haunted Hill (1959 & 1999). Trouble is most of them did it considerably better than this. It is truly a carbon copy, I can't believe movies with this exact same plot continue to get released.

Asylum Of Fear is not a great start to 2018, 2017 wasn't great so let's hope things improve.

Looks the part, but that's about it.

The Good:

SFX are above par

The Bad:

Its been done before countless times

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

2018 has started on a big ol' low

Enough with the Asylums already unless you're gonna do something new

I judge based on expectations. A low budget horror movie gets lots of breaks, especially when I find out that a producer screwed them out or $$ and equipment.

My only serious criticism of the movie is the pathetic acting of the villain, Dr Pender, played by Matthew Urban. Horror movies are all about the villain not the protagonist. Thus, giving the most crucial role to the worst actor was an egregious mistake. My only guess is the BFA in Acting from U of Michigan, must have fooled someone into thinking he has talent, which he doesn't. I glad he has a Navy pension, because acting isn't going to pay his bills.

Kudos to Maurice Demus, who played Richard, you did the best job and I hope to see you more in the future.