Chad

Undeadcow

The first segment with he severed body parts was my favorite. I didn't care for the asylum framing because it just seemed too clinical. Maybe my bias against anthology films, which seem too segmented, hurt my appreciation of Asylum. I'll have to check out more Amicus Horror; is this film representative of an Amicus production?

clckworang

^ I pretty much exactly agree with you. I thought the body parts in the bags were creepy. It was definitely the most effective segment. I also felt that the framing of it seemed a little forced, but overall, I liked it.

Time Warrior

I have great memories of seeing this one on its initial release at a Drive-In.

The poster in the opening post had prominent appearances in newspapers for weeks leading up to the release and that image of the bound head really affected a lot of people. It is still one of the genuinely creepiest things I can recall from that era of film going.

The film experience itself was interesting. Unlike the usual babble at drive-ins, this was a fairly quiet experience, until the Patrick Magee segment. Grown men screamed like women at the climax of that part of the film - I have never been witness to anything like it since.

Seeing the film again recently it seemed only average but for whatever reasons; the location, the advertising, other stuff happening that one segment energised every fear in that audience on that one night. Men and women screaming for their souls over a B-grade film. The most terrifying thing I have ever endured.

Bladz

Thought this was a first viewing until the head rolled into the kitchen. I think I caught this on Monsters HD when that channel was still around. This is definitely one of the best horror anthologies I've seen. I'm glad it was picked because now I know what it is.

3onameathook

Very good film. This is my favorite anthology from Amicus. I guess that I am with you all on the body parts segment being the best. I will add that the worst segment for me would be the little robot / soul transferance segment.

Undeadcow - in my opinion this is one of the better anthologies from Amicus. There ae some out there that really don't stand up to repeated viewings. Yes it pretty much represents Amicus's anthologies all are relatively the same leading up to the story segments

rbrown498

A few random thoughts about Asylum:

1. I had the paperback novelization when I was a kid. It was a prized possession of mine, since I hadn't had the chance to see the film when it first came out.

2. When I finally got to see Asylum on the CBS Late Movie, I loved the first two stories. I fell asleep at some point during the third tale. I think the film would have been more effective if the order of the first three stories were reversed. Once the third story starts, I still get bored with the rest of the film.

3. I once showed the first segment to a bunch of 9th-graders for a Halloween treat. They were shrieking so loudly that the assistant principal came to the classroom to see what all the commotion was about.

4. Asylum was in the first handful of VHS tapes I bought. It was an Interglobal Video (from Canada) tape that I bought somewhere around 1983 or so. I've still got it because it opens with the Cinerama logo and the DVD doesn't.

While I enjoy the first two stories in Asylum (and was surprised to find that the second tale had been adapted for Boris Karloff's Thriller TV series as well), the rest of the film is a big letdown. I would still probably rank it as my third-favorite Amicus film, behind The House That Dripped Blood and Tales from the Crypt.

pagefrance

I though this would be a "first time viewing" for me until the last segment with Herbert Lom and the little figures where my memory was jogged and I realized I had seen it before, or at least that segment since I have no recollection of the other three.
Overall I really liked it, but then again I'm very partial to 70's British Horror in general. The movie had a great cast, Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland and Robert Powell tying the stories together. And yes, I agree with the other comments in that my favorite was the first segment.

Gobear

I remember wanting to see this when I was a kid, but of course, there was no way my mom would take us to the drive-in to watch horror movies. Now I can watch it any time I want!

The ethnic Jewish accent Barry Morse used comes off as being really forced and inauthentic, but still a good version of "The Weird Tailor." The first story with Barbara Parkins is the creepiest, but the third story's twist is obvious, and Charlotte Rampling was way too old to play a schoolgirl.

Trevor

Love any film with Peter Cushing. Agree that the last segment is the weakest, but not bad.

Spiderbite

This was a great little movie. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end. As others have said, the best and creepiest tale is the first one and the film goes downhill from there but nevertheless, it didin't stop my enjoyment of the film. Very effective especially when you see very little blood, onscreen violence, no nudity and no cursing. Could a movie like this even be made today?

I really liked it. One of the best blind viewings I have had in the horror challenge so far. This movie would have scared the piss out of me if I had seen it as a child.

My rating: ***1/2 out of *****