Product Description

Six unsuspecting college co-eds discover their dorm was once the site of a notorious insane asylum infamous for conducting gruesome lobotomy's on its teenage inmates during the 1930's. When the dorm begins to echo scenes from its torture chamber past, the beautiful heroine (Roemer) questions her sanity and if she will make it out alive.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54803 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 93 minutes

Customer Reviews

"Give me your suffering!"
"Asylum" is a horror film about a group of students who live in a dorm that was once part of an insane asylum. The asylum was once the scene of gruesome procedures that were performed on patients by a deranged psychiatrist. While exploring a section of the dorm that has yet to be restored, they inadvertently awaken ghosts of the past, so to speak.

Overall, the film isn't a bad horror film, just a bit unoriginal - but what horror film these days really breaks new ground? While watching this film, I couldn't help but think of "Nightmare on Elm Street 3," which takes place in a mental institute. The plots are very similar. The acting is typical horror movie level acting. While not original, the setting provides some creepy elements. There are some bloody scenes and moments where you'll cringe, but the film lacks the over-the-top level of violence that seems to be the trend, as seen in movies like "Saw" and "Hostel." If you're into horror films, and if you liked "Nightmare on Elm Street 3," then check this movie out. It's quite good when compared to the hordes of horror films that are getting churned out lately, most of which aren't even worth watching.

A very pleasant surprise
Several college students attending freshman orientation get placed in a dorm where a psychiatrist years ago performed bizarre experiments on children suffering from mental disorders. Not surprisingly, his body was never found after his reported demise. Also not a shock, all of our youngsters have some secret that affects their psyche to some extent, more than your typical teenage angst. Characters begin to disappear and meet their ends in bloody and imaginative fashion, and it's up to the remaining students to solve the mystery and end the terror before there is no one left.

There is little new here, and that does lessen the suspense to a certain degree, but there is more to enjoy that to hate. The acting is above average for a film like this, it looks good, there is a creepy atmosphere present throughout most of the film, and the villain and death scenes are good enough to hold your attention. It goes without saying the characters are not exactly well-developed, but if that was a concern, surely you wouldn't be considering watching this. It's passable evening entertainment that, quite frankly, is still better than recent horror at the theater, and it's more than worth a rental.

DVD Flawed for Panasonic Players -- I didn't see it yet
I rented this movie from Blockbuster to view it, and discovered that the dvds have a fatal flaw. I took it back to blockbuster, and they tested it, and then we tested multiple copies, each dvd had the same problem.

It could be just a problem with how the panasonic made dvd players work though, as the particular blockbuster I went to also had a panasonic made DVD player though of a different model.

The movie does this: it puts up a menu screen informing the viewer that the dvd exceeds the rating limit on the dvd player (even if you have no limit set) it does ask if the viewer would like to bypass the lockout, but doesn't actually allow you to select yes or no, or press the enter button on the selection and it freezes the player.

I sent a comment to comment@mgm.com but it is the website author as I couldn't find an email address for consumer complaints. But I thought I'd let anyone here at amazon know if they have a panasonic player, it may not work for you. They did tell me at blockbuster that I was the first person to bring the issue up, but the movie just came out 5 days ago :)