Asylum (1972 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Asylum (also known as House of Crazies in subsequent US releases) is a 1972 British horror film made by Amicus Productions. The film was directed by Roy Ward Baker, produced by Milton Subotsky, and scripted by Robert Bloch (who adapted four of his own short stories for the screenplay).
It is a horror portmanteau film, one of several produced by Amicus during the 1960s to 1970s. Others were Dr Terror's House of Horrors: Torture Garden; Tales from the Crypt; The House That Dripped Blood; The Vault of Horror; and From Beyond the Grave. (Tales That Witness Madness was a similar film from a different company.)
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Plot
Framing Story
Dr Martin (Robert Powell) arrives at a secluded asylum "for the incurably insane" to be interviewed for a job by the wheelchair-using, authoritarian Dr Lionel Rutherford (Patrick Magee). Rutherford explains that he owes his current incapacitation to an attack by an inmate. Rutherford reveals his unorthodox plan to determine Martin's suitability for the post of head Doctor. One of the asylum's current inmates is Dr B. Starr, the former head doctor who underwent a complete mental breakdown. Martin is to interview the inmates of the asylum to deduce which one is Dr Starr. If his choice is correct Rutherford will "consider" him for the post.
The attendant Max Reynolds (Geoffrey Bayldon) admits Martin through the security door to the inmates' solitary confinement cells where he interviews each in turn.
"Frozen Fear"
Bonnie (Barbara Parkins) recounts the plot to murder Ruth (Sylvia Sims), the wealthy wife of her lover Walter (Richard Todd). Ruth is a possessive heiress who studies voodoo, and this interest stands in the way of Bonnie and Walter being together.
"The Weird Tailor"
Bruno (Barry Morse) recounts how poverty forced him to accept the unusual request of a Mr Smith (Peter Cushing) to produce an elaborate suit of clothing from a mysterious, scintillating, fabric that can animate anything, including the dead.
After a disagreement with Smith, Bruno returns with the unsold suit. His wife Anna (Anne Firbank) dresses their store mannequin in the suit and its true powers are revealed.
"Lucy Comes To Stay"
The ebullient Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) informs Martin she has been in an asylum before. After her release from that asylum she was closely monitored at home by her brother George (James Villiers) and a nurse, Miss Higgins (Megs Jenkins). This frustrated existence is relieved when her mischievous friend Lucy (Britt Ekland) comes to visit.
"Mannikins of Horror"
Finally Martin interviews Dr Byron (Herbert Lom) who holds Rutherford in deep contempt. Byron explains he is working towards soul transference with a small automaton whose head is a likeness of his own, and shows Martin several earlier models. Byron plans to "will" his mannequin to life, and explains the interior of the robot is organic, a miniaturised version of his own viscera. Martin concludes his interview and Max shows him downstairs to deliver his judgement to Rutherford.
Byron successfully brings his mannequin to life and it makes its way to Rutherford's office. When it kills Rutherford, Martin then destroys the mannequin. Then he learns in a string of twists the ugly truth about where he is and who really runs the asylum.
Soundtrack
Though Douglas Gamley is credited as having composed the music for this film, the majority of the score is drawn from public domain pieces by Modest Mussorgsky. In particular Night on Bald Mountain (heard over the opening and closing credits). Selections from his Pictures at an Exhibition are also used – "Gnomus" is heard over both an early display of artworks depicting lunatics and medical practice and during the sequence of Byron's mannequin coming to life and making its way downstairs. The booming crescendo of "The Hut on Hen's Legs" is heard over the sequence where the tailor's dummy is animated and rampages in Bruno's shop.
