Doom Asylum

directed by Richard Friedman
USA 1987

Four annoying teenagers (including pre-SEX AND THE CITY Kristin Davis) decide to trespass at an abandoned insane asylum but the lesbian-communist punk band already trespassing in the area is the least of their problems as they and the band are stalked and killed by a gruesomely disfigured ex-lawyer nicknamed "The Coroner" just because his weapons of choice happen to be the readily available autopsy instruments left over in the hospital. There is much wandering through hallways (as pointed out by the filmmakers in the commentary) but it largely comes to naught as potential suspense is killed off by cutaways to the Coroner sitting in his basement hideout watching Tod Slaughter movies (the distributors owned the rights to his films at the time) whose action is used to parallel that in the film proper. This uncut edition features the gore missing from the VHS release and it is unrated but the gore itself is too outrageous to be taken seriously. Once you get past the horrid acting and even worse New Jersey accents and realize that a certain degree of its cheesiness is intentional, its rather enjoyable (Ruth Collins as the band leader is a hoot as is Farin as she repents her communist beliefs as she tries to avoid getting killed).

Eric Cotenas

Theatrical Release: DTV

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DVD Review: Code Red DVD - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Code Red DVD Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:18:45
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.46 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Code Red DVD Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary with director Ricahrd Friedman and production manager Bill Tasgal • Interviews with Friedman, Tasgal and producer Alex Kogan Jr. (10:54) • BOARDINGHOUSE trailer (4:3; 1:14) • THE DARK RIDE TV spot (4:3; 0:30) • THE FARMER trailer (4:3; 2:07) • SILENT SCREAM trailer (4:3; 1:10) • THE FOREST trailer (16:9; 1:06) • DEVIL TIMES FIVE trailer (16:9; 2:11) • HUMAN EXPERIMENTS trailer (4:3; 2:27) • NIGHTMARE trailer (4:3; 2:31) • STINGRAY trailer (4:3; 3:04) • LOVE ME DEADLY (4:3; 0:50) DVD Release Date: July 15, 2008 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

Code Red's DOOM ASYLUM was previously released in 2007 with a different cover but this edition under review is the 2008 reissue now that Code Red releases are being distributed by Navarre Corporation (they were previously handled by Media Blasters). The shot-on-film, edited-on-video image necessarily comes from a video master but looks good on an interlaced TV but soft on flat panel monitors.

Director Friedman and production manager Tasgal provide a loose commentary in which they express constant amazement at their luck in finding such a genuine, atmospheric location and how many of angles of Kristin Davis in a bikini they managed to capture. They also point out the footage that was cut from the video release (for better or worse, this footage looks as good as the rest of the film). Friedman and Tasgal appear in an on-camera interview with producer Alex W. Kogan Jr. Trailers for several upcoming Code Red releases round out the package.

- Eric Cotenas

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