Asylum of Fear

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

Im almost sure the ratings that brought this film in the high 5's in the horror category were from crew members/actors and their family members. This movie is a solid 3, maybe 3.5 at best, giving it a 2 because of the false ratings. The storyline is mediocre, and the acting is 80% cringeworthy.

Kudos to new director's, actors etc in the learning process, but stop with the false ratings to gain views. It doesnt bring you any legitimacy or respect in the film world.

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.

Really not much to say here. It is what it is, I mean there are a 100 asylum movies and another 1000 movies about paranormal investigation teams, this movie has both. I do think it's in the better half of these movies (for whatever that's worth). Mainly above average because it was pretty well made, good effects and not horrible acting. Personally, I actually liked the team and individuals (as cliche as they are). So yes, it's a team of paranormal investigators going in to document a haunting, but I don't think it's a waste of time. Oh yeah, there's also a missing children angle thrown in, which is a little different. Btw that's where the worst acting occurs. The female cop must be the producers sister or something because she is awful.

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.