Arrow Video, with
domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group,
has tabbed July 17 for a new 2K restoration (from the original camera negative)
of director Richard Friedman’s 1987 horror release of Doom Asylum.
A standard motif of
slasher films is the assembly of the “victim” pool, which is usually heavily
weighted towards nubile young females.
Another popular conceit in constructing good horror films is the use of
the “haunted house” as a location for the slaughter that takes place.
It doesn’t even have to
be a house. Alien, for example, was a
haunted house thriller, only on a space ship.
An abandoned (or converted) insane asylum works just as well.
With Doom Asylum we get both a
“haunted house” and not one, but Friedman cleverly serves up two victim
pools! Talk about getting your money’s
worth!!
The story is set up with
a deadly auto accident on a remote country road that leaves Mitch (Michael
Rogen) and Judy (Patty Mullen) dead.
Well, Judy is dead for sure, but the first shock comes at the morgue
when Mitch — who isn’t looking all that well — wakes up during his autopsy and
kills everyone in the room … didn’t see that coming!
It is now ten years later
and the first “victim pool” stops by the scene of the accident to pay their
respects. One of them, Kiki (Patty
Mullen), as it turns out, is Judy’s daughter and her friends are out for a
summer outing and, as luck would have it, they end up stopping by the abandoned
medical facility where Mitch was taken and went mad.
Here they cross paths
with an all-girl puck rock band headed by a wigged-out Blonde named Tina (Ruth
Collins) — the second “victim pool” — who are using the place to practice (i.e.
make extremely loud and annoying music).
Add together an insane
killer, a “haunted house” and a very large “victim pool” and what do you
get? Doom Asylum … and some
pretty nasty killings. So who
survives? Who dies? July 17 if you don’t already know.
Bonus features include
two newly-prepared commentary options — one with screenwriter Rick Marx and a second
featuring the podcast group “The Hysteria Continues” — a new video session with
actress Ruth Collins titled “Tina’s Terror,” an archived video session with
producer Alexander W. Kogan, Jr., director Richard Friedman and production
manager Bill Tasgal, the director of photography Larry Revene is interviewed in
the featurette titled “Movie Madhouse” and lastly, the featurette titled
“Morgues & Mayhem” features special make-up effects creator Vincent J.
Guastini.
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