Amicus takes us into the Asylum

Amicus sure had a way of kicking of their assemblage of tales with a doozy. Asylum (1972) to me, has a humdinger, so fiendishly macabre and diabolical in how it sets up the twist in its story, and later what voodoo can do with body parts that seem to “spring to life” (maybe in the mind of the wife killing husband, believing he got away with the perfect murder) to torment a killer. “Packaged” body parts, chopped in pieces, look like parcel ready to be shipped. “Frozen Fear” uses a recognizable storyline of the adulterous couple getting rid of the wife keeping them apart, falling prey to her in the most unusual way.

The framing story regarding a candidate for a position at an asylum for the “incurably insane” is an okay device to tie the tales together, as he is told by a chief doctor’s assistant (the great Patrick Magee) that Dr. Star is now a member of his own hospital. If this candidate can determine who among the patients of a certain wing is Dr. Star he will be granted the position he seeks. It allows the patients to tell their story with the candidate pondering which of them is Dr. Star.

“Frozen Fear” has quite the dandy of a surreal conclusion as the “other woman” chops and hacks at the packaged limbs coming towards her and trying to grab her. Seeing the packaged head breathing as it seems to order on its limbs (and the torso moving is especially wild!) towards her husband’s lover has to be seen to be believed. I thought the second tale, with Barry Morse (of Space 1999), called “The Weird Tailor” was an okay follow up to “Frozen Fear” as it features him as a beleaguered tailor needing rent to stave off a debt collector, with wealthy aristocrat Cushing arriving just in time with a desire for a particular kind of suit to be made for his son. With special instructions to be followed (Midnight to Dawn) regarding when Morse’s tailor could make the suit from unusual material, Cushing has plans to use it for a purpose of black magic in regards to his son. Morse doesn’t realize that Cushing was basically penniless thanks to the purchase of a book of resurrection. A struggle, a murder, and the book, with Morse in a heap of trouble…particularly when his wife Anna puts the suit on a mannequin that seems to come alive to help her when Morse is trying to stop her from going to the authorities. The suit glowing different tones as the mannequin comes to life is quite an odd sight. Cushing’s aching performance as a father who gives up everything to return his son from beyond the grave (the tears and desperation) is a real standout even if he’s limited to just minutes in this tale. 

A stunningly beautiful Charlotte Rampling is in the next tale, “Lucy Comes to Stay” has been in hospital before, and upon her release she is brought home by her brother to be “watched” by a nurse. When the nurse must leave because of her mother, and the brother driving her to the station, Rampling is tormented by Britt Ekland’s Lucy. Rampling already proves here that she was a star in the making. Barely able to hold onto her fragile sanity, Rampling could be summoning the delicious Ekland from a vivid delusion. Ekland is that paranoid, instigating voice that motivates Rampling to “misbehave”, to act on impulse because she trusts her buddy, Lucy. You can really see it all mucking her up behind Rampling’s face and in her eyes. Amicus was quite fortunate to cast such talent. Each tale had fine, quality actors. Ekland is a feisty, wicked babe, a delusion conjured by the abuse of pills and the inability to cope with the mania inherent within her psyche. Lucy is a manifestation, and her presence provides an excuse for Rampling to be rid of those that might “hinder her freedom.” 

Geoffrey Bayldon is a lark as the orderly who is revealed to be quite the madman. The preparation of “Who is Dr. Star?” throughout sets up the twist at the end nicely. Robert Powell as the truly sympathetic doctor interested in helping the patients thinks he has an idea who Dr. Star is. Herbert Lom had some real cool parts for Amicus (like his nasty piece of work in …And Now the Screaming Starts), and I certainly relished his small role as a medical doctor stuck in a cell because he believes his dolls can be “willed to life” through mind control. "Mannikins of Horror" is the title of this tale and it works within the Framework Story. The little mini-Lom, with his head on a robotic toy, walking methodically to an eventual attack on Magee (who plans to lobotomize him and destroy the dolls), is a hoot! The scalpel to the back of the neck, the doll dropped to ground by Powell, and the foot smash revealing itty bitty guts, really punctuates the entire anthology. With Dr. Star revealing himself much to the chagrin of Powell (a body strangled and decomposing startles Powell for sure), the phrase regarding the “lunatic running the asylum” might be quite apt as the film ends with Night on Bald Mountain and another candidate unaware of what awaits him.

Asylum (1972) ****