Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Doom Asylum Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 16, 2018

It seems to be a fairly common nightmare that many folks have experienced (sometimes recurrently) to dream that they’re being buried alive, but Doom Asylum tweaks that horrifying image a bit and arguably makes it even more disturbing by having the focal character experience being autopsied while still alive (more or less, anyway). The fact that this scene, and in fact most of the rest of the film, is played resolutely for laughs may come as at least a bit of a surprise, but Doom Asylum does have a definite sense of humor, even if some of the comedy in the film is delivered unintentionally due to some “not ready for prime time” performances. Doom Asylum’s reputation — whatever that reputation may be — may be culled at least in part from the relative scarcity of the title in its “formative years”, and also due to the fact that Sex and the City’s Kristin Davis is on hand as one of a group of teens who decide to go picnicking at the local abandoned asylum, a facility which is supposedly haunted by a Coroner who has a reputation of his own — for attacking people. Now, those among you who have functioning brains may well wonder why a group of teens would choose this particular location for their little getaway, especially since it is in the environs of the death of the mother of one of the main characters (more about that in a moment), and if you are wondering about such a setup, it must be because you’ve never seen a patently goofy horror movie like Doom Asylum. Even the film's franchise ready villain is a bit of a non sequitur, since he is in fact not a Coroner (at least not a professional one, anyway), but a badly disfigured ambulance chaser (AKA a lawyer) named Mitch Hansen (Michael Rogen) who supposedly perishes in a pre-credits sequence which sees him crashing a car, an accident which definitely claims the life of his would be main squeeze Judy LaRue (Patty Mullen).

The film’s blacker than black humor is also relentlessly cartoonish, two elements that frankly don’t always mix effortlessly, but there’s a slapdash “let’s throw what we can at the wall and see what sticks” aspect to Doom Asylum that is kind of provocatively intriguing, if not always comedically effective. Michael and Judy are obviously celebrating the ill gotten gains of a lawsuit Mitch has engineered, but his careless driving leads to calamity, but not before Judy pledges to send her little “brat” to boarding school so that she and Mitch can frolic in whatever paradise they have planned unencumbered. After the accident, Mitch awakens on an autopsy table where a Hoagie munching physician has already stripped him of part of his epidermis. Suffice it to say neither the “real” coroner nor his assistant make it through the maelstrom of Mitch springing back to life, especially after they tell him Judy has gone on to her great (?) reward.

Doom Asylum then segues forward several years to the bulk of the story, with those aforementioned kids deciding to picnic at the asylum (and speaking of questions those with a functioning brain may have about this film — why was Mitch taken to an asylum to have his autopsy performed?). The “lead couple” is Mike (William Hay), a kind of surfer dude type who has a problem making up his mind (supposedly played for laughs throughout the film), and his girlfriend Kiki (Patty Mullen), the now grown daughter of Judy who just so happens to find her mother’s shattered mirror from the long ago accident in some grass next to the road when the teens stop for a moment.

Making this entire entry even weirder is a kind of punk-goth version of Josie and the Pussycats named Tina and the Tots who have taken up residence in the institution to practice their “tunes” (those with some musical training may want to listen to the soundtrack for the song they’re supposedly performing as they’re introduced, since it features absolutely none of the instrumentation shown on the “stage” which this institution rather strangely has). When Darnell (Harrison White), a kind of trickster type friend of Mike’s who’s along for the ride, pulls the plug on the band (evidently the “abandoned” asylum still has working electricity), he engenders their animus, except for Godiva (Dawn Alvan), the band’s keyboard player who thinks he’s kind of cute (it should be noted that Darnell and Godiva are both African Americans, paired with each other for “acceptability”’s sake, evidently). Tina (Ruth Collins) is having none of it, however, and seems intent on teaching the kids a lesson, a goal that Mitch, now in his guise as the Coroner, has already started achieving.

Anyone coming to Doom Asylum expecting anything much above Grade-Z level theatrics will probably come away disappointed, but the film has some fun (if undeniably hokey at times) gore effects, and some of the humor does find its target, even if a lot of the delivery tends to undercut it. The film goes exactly where you’d expect something like this to go, including having damsel in distress Kiki marauding through the halls of the asylum clad in nothing other than a swimsuit and high heels. The Coroner was obviously modeled to be a wisecracking killer, and he does have a couple of good lines, but the film could have probably used some even tighter writing and at least some cast members not so prone to playing to the second balcony.

Doom Asylum Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doom Asylum is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in either 1.78:1 or 1.33:1 (as is indicated in screenshot 21, even some of the video inserts in the 1.78:1 version are in 1.33:1, see screenshot 5 for one of those, and refer to both screenshots 21 and 22 for some background on the two framings). Arrow's insert booklet has the following information on the transfer:

Doom Asylum is presented in both the 1.85:1 and 1.37:1 aspect ratio [sic] with mono audio.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution, graded and restored at OCN Labs. The original video masters were sourced for the video inserts. The grade was supervised and this restoration was approved by director of photography Larry Revene.

The soundtrack was sourced from a set of original ¾" tape masters. The audio synch will appear slightly loose against the picture, due to the fact that the soundtrack was recorded partly in post-production.

Given that above information, it's perhaps unavoidable that Doom Asylum has a somewhat heterogeneous appearance, but that variability even extends to some moments of the non-video insert parts of the feature (in both aspects ratios). A lot of this transfer looks great, and will in fact probably astound fans of the film who may have first been introduced to it on less than optimal previous home video releases. Detail levels are quite good in the brightly lit outdoor scenes, but understandably tend to falter a bit in the "catacombs" sections where the Coroner is evidently having a hard time catching his breath as he makes his way to his next victim (that's a bit of a joke for those who have seen the film). In fact detail is so good in some of the better lit scenes that the literal "seams" on some of the makeup or mannequin effects are completely obvious, something that may in fact only add to the charm of the film for some viewers. The palette looks natural, though there are some minor fluctuations in color temperature. There are some fairly noticeable variabilities in grain and grain resolution at selected moments, where suddenly things can look a bit coarse or splotchy, but these tend to be passing moments, and perhaps surprisingly not dependent upon the darkness of any given scene. The video inserts have the typical signs of upscaling at times, with aliasing and stair stepping, as well as some passing combing artifacts, especially when motion is fast.

Doom Asylum Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Doom Asylum's LPCM Mono track gets the job done without any major problems, even if the narrowness of the track doesn't completely support some of the musical choices, including the inimitable Tina and the Tots, as well as some kind of weird source cue choices (including "House of the Rising Sun"). While audio sync is occasionally a bit on the loose side, as mentioned above in Arrow's information, fidelity is generally fine, though there are some minor fluctuations in ambience which may be a side effect of the post-dubbing. There are no signs of damage or distortion.

Doom Asylum Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Two Framings (1.78:1 and 1.33:1) are included, see screenshots 21 and 22 for further details.


• Tina's Terror (1080p; 17:56) is a new interview with Ruth Collins.


• Movie Mad House (1080p; 19:00) is a new interview with director of photography Larry Revene.


• Morgues & Mayhem (1080p; 17:38) is a new interview with makeup effects creator Vincent J. Gaustini.


• Archival Interviews (1080i; 10:56) include executive producer Alexander W. Kogan, Jr., director Richard Friedman and production manager Bill Tasgal.


• Stills Gallery (1080p; 3:05)


• Audio Commentaries

  Audio Commentary with Screenwriter Rick Marx

  
  

  Audio Commentary with The Hysteria Continues

Doom Asylum Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of Doom Asylum will most likely love this release, since it features upgraded video and some enjoyable supplements. Newcomers to this film had best prepare themselves for some fairly silly humor and hyperbolic performances that at times tend to be funnier than anything that's been written for the characters to say. Arrow has once again provided a release with generally solid technical merits and a nice array of bonus features, for those considering a purchase.