THE ASYLUM (REVIEW)

previously titled EXETER

Dir. Marcus Nispel

Reviewer. Martyn Wakefield

From the director of FRIDAY THE 13TH and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (the remakes) comes a teen horror take on the exorcism sub-genre. THE ASYLUM (previously titled EXETER) sees a group of teens partying in an old asylum but one of the group get possessed and all Hell breaks loose.

It sounds pretty generic and the film is a mess for the first hour but one thing that this film can't be called is dull. While the film seems to jump from scene to scene taking away any opportunity for tension or scares, the film certainly makes up for in gross out violence and it never lets go. The first hour is jumpy (in editing not scares) but fun however, the film cranks it upto 11 for the final half hour and it turns into a fearful horror film with a thirst for blood.

And despite its criticisms, it's a genuinely fun horror movie that doesn't rely too much on humour and has a real cult classic feel to hit, mostly because the teens are actually likable without the weight of the world on their shoulders and the effects rely heavily on the side of practical providing some of the best assault on bodies the genre so richly deserves.

THE ASYLUM is an old school horror that doesn't hide behind scares but rather forces your face into the spinning blades of a mower and doesn't let go.