Asylum Of Darkness (2017)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Richard Hatch, Tim Thomerson, Tiffany Shepis
Directed by Jay Woelfel
You can hang your hopes and dreams for the successful continuation of the indie-horror genre with the never-ending bevy of films that are released every year – some memorable, some memorably bad, but all in all, they’ve been constructed with the admiration of the horror fan in mind, regardless of your take on each particular product. So today, we delve into Asylum Of Darkness, directed by Jay Woelfel, and needless to say, this one left a lot to be desired.
Starring Richard Hatch, who sadly passed away this past February – his role is that of a man named Dr. Shaker, a medical professional with one hell of an interesting patient in Dwight Stroud (Nick Baldasare). You see, Dwight is currently confined to a mental institution, and his visions of what are (and what aren’t) real and horrifying have ultimately led to his daring escape from the padded walls that housed him. We gain somewhat of an understanding of Dwight’s plight (just rhymed), through narration and the flashes of insanity that he’s been plagued with – creatures, monsters and even a gorgeous woman in black (Shepis) who promises him they’ll be together once he’s escaped the loony bin -hell, that would be enough motivation for me! In any event, the film takes its viewers on a twisting, turning (and ultimately confusing) trip through Stroud’s conscious and sub-conscious waves – what you see might not really be what is here, and Woelfel drags the audience along whether they’re willing or not.
Look, I’d be lying through my teeth if I told you that this flick had me riveted, but the skinny here is that the film is anything but – with a painful runtime of damn-near two hours, you’ll more than likely be clockwatching as the minutes tick away with no resolution in sight. Performances are admirable, with Hatch and the lovely lady Tiffany leading the pack – both manage to hold the screen down in times of sluggishness, and at least hoist the film on their shoulders in a Herculean attempt at maintaining some sense of normalcy. Overall, Asylum Of Darkness is one of those presentations that will have fans of practical horror drooling at the lips, and lovers of psychological frights bending their gray matter into contorted shapes strictly to grasp the complex plot pathway laid out here. I’m all for some seriously deranged movie-making, but even this one made me want to strap on a straightjacket and hope for a little quiet time.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
