"Dark Asylum" is a better-than-average, if still somewhat decent slasher.
**SPOILERS**
Following a rampage through the city, serial killer The Trasher, (Larry Drake) is caught and sent to Crestmore Sanitarium, bringing psychologist Maggie Bellum, (Paulina Porizkova) out to interview him. Meeting up with Dr. Conrad Fallon, (Jurgen Prochnow) the owner of the facility, the two decide to get to the bottom of what is driving him and causing him to commit the murders, to no avail. Managing to get loose, he goes on a violent rampage, forcing the prison to go into lock-down mode and trapping them inside with the freed killer. Finding out that prisoner Quitz, (Judd Nelson) managed to escape the slaughter, they soon become the target of the homicidal maniac and try to outwit him to get out of the prison.
The Good News: This was a somewhat decent slasher entry. One of the better things about it is that there's a fantastic setting for a fantastic-looking chase. The last half of this is a great chase by the three through the asylum, utilizing plenty of great tactics on both-sides, from the cat-and-mouse games over the intercom to the shower-room confrontation that leads into the chase through the air-ducts and the spectacular counter to the discovery in the over-head pipes by destroying the roof, all leading together for some high-end fun. There's also a lot to really enjoy from these, as the film goes all-out being incredibly creepy, suspenseful and exciting series of scenes that make for a lot of fun with all the variations and versions that are shown within. It's really hard to pick one of them from within the asylum scenes, so there's so much to really love for it's action, suspense or thrilling encounters, and once it moves away into the sewers at the end, it's almost as good. The creepy setting is again kept, with the chase through the darkened sewers being really nice, the brawling confrontation with the killer in the pit of water being nice as well and the rather explosive finale providing some nice thrills. Even the opening, with the descent into the flooded sewers providing a ton of suspense and thrills makes for some really tense moments. The discovery in the flooded lair is excellent and gets a marvelous jump out of it. The last part to this is that there's a really imposing killer in here. He's a large, burly, imposing person who hulks over everyone else and really uses that to physically lord it over his victims. That leaves a great view of the killer here, which combined with the other factors makes up this one's best points.
The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot really wrong with this one. One of the biggest flaws here is that this one has an odd way of placing the kills around it's story. Nearly everyone is wiped out by the forty minute mark, which leaves the big chase between the groups with no kills at all, a really curious decision. It drags the pacing somewhat oddly and really seems put together weirdly. That also brings up the other flaw with the kills, the rather lame way we see them. There's two problems with it, and the bigger is that there's really no blood or gore in them. They're brutal, graphic and definitely should've had something in here, yet this one is pretty dry compared to what it could've been. We see merely violent aftermath, yet there's no oozing wounds or even arterial spray from some of the more violent ones in here. Also quite problematic is that some are even done at an angle that prevents a look at it actually happening even though we see what's being done. That alone is what's so aggravating about these, since it's got plenty of opportunities for much more yet there's little actually done. The last flaw is the questionable way this ends. There's no need for this to bring in the family history, especially since it brings the daughter into the mix when it didn't need to. It's quite weird to do this since it's hard to come up with a rationale for it's inclusion. These here are the film's flaws.
The Final Verdict: A couple of really great parts and some flaws to it make this one a somewhat overall decent slasher that's watchable at best. Give this one a chance if you're into slashers in general or find this one interesting, while those who find the flaws in here too much should heed caution.
Rated R: Graphic Language and Violence
**SPOILERS**
Following a rampage through the city, serial killer The Trasher, (Larry Drake) is caught and sent to Crestmore Sanitarium, bringing psychologist Maggie Bellum, (Paulina Porizkova) out to interview him. Meeting up with Dr. Conrad Fallon, (Jurgen Prochnow) the owner of the facility, the two decide to get to the bottom of what is driving him and causing him to commit the murders, to no avail. Managing to get loose, he goes on a violent rampage, forcing the prison to go into lock-down mode and trapping them inside with the freed killer. Finding out that prisoner Quitz, (Judd Nelson) managed to escape the slaughter, they soon become the target of the homicidal maniac and try to outwit him to get out of the prison.
The Good News: This was a somewhat decent slasher entry. One of the better things about it is that there's a fantastic setting for a fantastic-looking chase. The last half of this is a great chase by the three through the asylum, utilizing plenty of great tactics on both-sides, from the cat-and-mouse games over the intercom to the shower-room confrontation that leads into the chase through the air-ducts and the spectacular counter to the discovery in the over-head pipes by destroying the roof, all leading together for some high-end fun. There's also a lot to really enjoy from these, as the film goes all-out being incredibly creepy, suspenseful and exciting series of scenes that make for a lot of fun with all the variations and versions that are shown within. It's really hard to pick one of them from within the asylum scenes, so there's so much to really love for it's action, suspense or thrilling encounters, and once it moves away into the sewers at the end, it's almost as good. The creepy setting is again kept, with the chase through the darkened sewers being really nice, the brawling confrontation with the killer in the pit of water being nice as well and the rather explosive finale providing some nice thrills. Even the opening, with the descent into the flooded sewers providing a ton of suspense and thrills makes for some really tense moments. The discovery in the flooded lair is excellent and gets a marvelous jump out of it. The last part to this is that there's a really imposing killer in here. He's a large, burly, imposing person who hulks over everyone else and really uses that to physically lord it over his victims. That leaves a great view of the killer here, which combined with the other factors makes up this one's best points.
The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot really wrong with this one. One of the biggest flaws here is that this one has an odd way of placing the kills around it's story. Nearly everyone is wiped out by the forty minute mark, which leaves the big chase between the groups with no kills at all, a really curious decision. It drags the pacing somewhat oddly and really seems put together weirdly. That also brings up the other flaw with the kills, the rather lame way we see them. There's two problems with it, and the bigger is that there's really no blood or gore in them. They're brutal, graphic and definitely should've had something in here, yet this one is pretty dry compared to what it could've been. We see merely violent aftermath, yet there's no oozing wounds or even arterial spray from some of the more violent ones in here. Also quite problematic is that some are even done at an angle that prevents a look at it actually happening even though we see what's being done. That alone is what's so aggravating about these, since it's got plenty of opportunities for much more yet there's little actually done. The last flaw is the questionable way this ends. There's no need for this to bring in the family history, especially since it brings the daughter into the mix when it didn't need to. It's quite weird to do this since it's hard to come up with a rationale for it's inclusion. These here are the film's flaws.
The Final Verdict: A couple of really great parts and some flaws to it make this one a somewhat overall decent slasher that's watchable at best. Give this one a chance if you're into slashers in general or find this one interesting, while those who find the flaws in here too much should heed caution.
Rated R: Graphic Language and Violence