Tubi Thursday: Asylum (1972)

 Does this count as doing another Asylum Film?  I sure hope so!

This 1972 Film is a Horror Anthology Film, since I'm kind of on a streak with them.

A young Doctor is brought to an Asylum and told that he'll be hired...if he can prove which of the Patients is actually the Doctor who originally called him to work there.

I mean, I've had worse Job Interviews...

A woman tells the tale of 'Frozen Fear.'

In it, a man kills his rich wife after taking her down to see the new Freezer.

He chops her body up, wraps each section and waits for his lady (the Patient) to come over.

So, who's strangling him?

As it turns out, the body parts are still alive separately- something to do with voodoo and an unreliable narrator- and killed him.

They tried to kill the Patient, but she hacked at it near her face until she was found- wounded- and brought in.

In 'The Weird Tailor,' a man- Peter Cushing- hires a Tailor to make a strange garment with a very specific schedule (only after midnight).

He's super vague and sketchy, but the guy owes rent.

Things go horribly wrong, Cushing dies, and the suit is taken back to the shop.

The wife- not knowing its dark origins- puts it on the dummy in the shop, which comes to life!

In 'Lucy Comes to Stay,' a woman returns home, but her brother is convinced that she needs to be coddled based on her past experience.

When she takes the Pills she wasn't supposed to, Brit Ekland shows up and someone dies.

Robert Bloch- of Psycho fame- wrote this Film and intended for THIS to be the first Story.  Oh well.

In the final Story, he meets Byron- Herbert Lom- who wants to put his mind into a doll- as you do.

Oddly, this one just kind of stops abruptly and goes back to the Framing Device.  Confused?

To find out the strange, dark secrets (and obvious twists), stream the Film now.

An Anthology Film with varied Stories, notable Actors and weird twists tied together with a simple Framing Device.  Why couldn't Dan Curtis ever do that?  Was he just 'too cool' for it?

In any event, let's skip from mocking the dead to praising them.  Asylum has a nice variety of tales, good Acting, strange moments and a decent, if predictable Story.  I'm one of those guys who wouldn't use Time Travel to say, kill Hitler or punch Jesus.  No, I'd use it to do stuff like see this Film in 1972 and see if anyone didn't guess the twist in real time.

That's why we Science, folks!

As far as the Segments go, the first one is good, the second one is generally better (but mostly setup) and the third is alright.  It's just not, well, directly weird enough for me.  Maybe they did the right thing by making it the Third Story.

Asylum is a better than average Horror Anthology which should be expected with Bloch writing it and Roy Ward Baker- a great British Director- behind the camera.  It also beat Full Moon to the punch with killer dolls, though I don't know if anyone sells a Wind-Up Herbert Lom Doll these days...

A fun, if not amazing Anthology Film.  It's weird and wacky enough with a straight face for everyone to enjoy.