Asylum

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Asylum

PG

1972

1h 28m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

52%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

When Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) goes on a job interview at a British insane asylum, he learns that he must interview the asylum's inmates in order to be considered for the position. Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), who is wheelchair-bound because of an assault by an inmate, tells Dr. Martin that he will consider him for the position if he can discover which of the inmates is Dr. Starr, a former head doctor at the asylum who suffered a nervous breakdown.

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Jeremiah Kipp

Slant Magazine

06/19/2006

2.5/4

Asylum tries telling similar tales (twice) and comes up pathetically short in the scare department.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

10/23/2004

2/4

If nothing else, a horror movie about cabbages could help Rosenberg work through his obsession and save a lot of analyst's fees.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 16

3/4

The final twist is particularly satisfying.

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Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

10/29/2020

3.5/5

Asylum's individual tales of madness and terror don't end up entirely live up to the pulpy brilliance of its framing narrative.

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Robert Sullivan

Los Angeles Free Press

01/03/2020

Robert (Psycho) Bloch's script is tightly and intelligently written, but at times he tends towards predictability.

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

07/26/2019

One of Amicus's best

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Erock T

@Erock1991 Dec 25

Absolutely love these old anthology horror movies. And Asylum nails the creep factor with it's stories. A must see in my opinion!

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Garry A

@heavyg Jul 12

This anthology horror flick is really good. The stories are creepy and weird. The music is a nice compliment.

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Brenda M

@RT01732896 02/05/2025

As a young child, for some bizarre reason, I was allowed to stay up and watch this! Absolutely terrified me! Such fond memories...of course it doesn't hold up as well to some of the cinematic and story telling techniques of the 2020's but fabulously terrifying in 1972!

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Horror fan 4

@Horrorfan4life 12/01/2024

Another great anthology film from amicus productions. Peter Cushing is in all 7 movies. Tim Treakle

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Kalin D

@KalinD 04/01/2024

Weird but wonderful.

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Ben T

@RT56031441 11/27/2022

A great all star cast including Hammer Horror icon Peter Cushing star in this anthology of four stories told by inmates of an asylum. Written by Robert ‘Psycho' Bloch. The stories are all very entertaining and at times quite gruesome, especially one story featuring dismembered body parts which come back to life. Made by Hammer's rivals Amicus, they became well known for their anthology films in the 1970's. This is one of their best.

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Synopsis

When Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) goes on a job interview at a British insane asylum, he learns that he must interview the asylum's inmates in order to be considered for the position. Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee), who is wheelchair-bound because of an assault by an inmate, tells Dr. Martin that he will consider him for the position if he can discover which of the inmates is Dr. Starr, a former head doctor at the asylum who suffered a nervous breakdown.

Director: Roy Ward Baker
Producer: Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky
Screenwriter: Robert Bloch
Production Co: Amicus Productions, Harbour Productions Limited
Rating: PG
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 11, 1972, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 6, 2016
Runtime: 1h 28m

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