The Asylum Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Is 'Paranormal Entity' a Sequel to 'Paranormal Activity'?
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », Home Entertainment »
From Horror SquadI love Paranormal Activity. It's one of my favorite horror films (for a variety of reasons), yet its absolutely insane success has proven to be a double-edged sword for horror fans. On the one hand, it gives a level of legitimacy not often seen within the horror genre outside of the throngs of fans who live for it. Conversely, it gives The Asylum an opportunity to make another movie.
In the wake of the film Walking Distance changing its name to Experimental Activity, which much like the very existence of The Asylum is nothing more than a shameless attempt to capitalize on the success of others, it would seem the company behind stellar films such as The Day the Earth Stopped and Transmorphers (which may or may not be better than the film it's emulating) has decided to make their own adaptation of Oren Peli's smash hit, known simply as Paranormal Entity.
Those wonderful folks over at Quiet Earth even got a look at the poster and revealed a brief synopsis for the "mockbustermentary" (my word, not theirs):
"Actual found videotape footage of the 2008 "murders" of the Finley family."
Short and sweet. The film will pollute video stores on December 29th of this year.
By: Brad McHargue
Trailer for 'Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus' is ... Awesome!
Filed under: Action », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy »
We like to poke fun at The Asylum for churning out low-budget "copycat" flicks like Snakes on a Train, The Da Vinci Treasure, Death Racers, The Terminators, When a Killer Calls, Hillside Cannibals, King of the Lost World, The Day Earth Stopped, Pirates of Treasure Island, Invasion of the Pod People, and the upcoming Transmorphers 2: Fall of Man, but now it looks like we have an all-new reason to throw an arm around The Asylum's shoulder and say "Ha, that's a good one!" All I have to say is: Mega Shark. Lorenzo Lamas. Giant Octopus. Debbie Gibson. If that doesn't spell out it for you, enjoy this brief taste of lunacy...Weren't prepared for that, were you? Never before have the terms "mega shark" and "giant octopus" been taken so literally. Obviously I cannot wait to see this flick, which is scheduled to hit the shelves on May 19. That's next week!
The Asylum Update: Here Comes 'Street Racer'!
Filed under: Action », Home Entertainment », Trailers and Clips »
We wouldn't have it any other way: just a few weeks after the Wachowskis' Speed Racer hits theaters, the Asylum will unleash its knock-off-of-the-month: Street Racer! (To read up on what Asylum is all about, take a look at my post about Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls from a month or so back.) The plot: "After serving time for a tragic accident, in which a young boy is crippled, an illegal street racer finds himself dragged back into the world of high speed competition on the side streets and highways of Los Angeles."If you thought that the company's efforts to make spartan, homemade versions of studio blockbusters were lovable, or in some other way admirable, take a look at their Street Racer trailer and you may change your mind. Obviously unable to come up with anything resembling the Wachowskis' blue-screen fireworks, the Asylum opted to essentially make The Cheap and the Furious and cynically tie it in to Speed Racer. Of course whether it's actually any more cynical than I Am Omega or Transmorphers is an open question. And the film's tagline, which the Asylum is clearly proud of -- "You're never more alive... Or closer to dead!" -- is kind of awesome, in a horrible way.
The director, Teo Konuralp, made a no-budget sci-fi thriller called Feedback a few years ago that actually got some good reviews. If Street Racer represents "selling out," then he's sure found an odd way of doing it.
The Asylum Unveils Mandatory 'Indiana Jones' Knock-Off
Filed under: Action », New Releases », Newsstand », Movie Marketing », Trailers and Clips »
We at Cinematical love The Asylum -- and how could we not? No outfit that has enough chutzpah to cash in on Hollywood's blockbuster successes by releasing cheap direct-to-DVD films with titles like Snakes on a Train, The Da Vinci Treasure, Pirates of Treasure Island, Transmorphers, Alien vs. Hunter and I Am Omega (which the courageous Matt Bradshaw reviewed here) can deserve anything but unbridled affection, especially if one is shrewd enough to avoid watching the actual films. When they make a mistake and hitch their wagon to a movie that bombs -- like The Invasion, which spawned The Asylum's Invasion of the Pod People -- my love for them only grows.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull must have seemed like a pretty safe bet, though, and so on April 29th (almost a month before Crystal Skull's May 22nd release), The Asylum will bust out -- are you ready? -- Allen Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls. You can see its product page, complete with stills and a trailer, right here. The DVD case proclaims this to be "the story that inspired Indiana Jones," and the website helpfully clarifies that the film is "a retelling of H. Rider Haggard's classic novel King Solomon's Mines, featuring the adventurer who was the inspiration for Indiana Jones" (a claim I can't authenticate). The trailer is pretty incredible, featuring a villain who seems to be channeling Daniel Plainview and culminating in a climactic shot of our hero nonchalantly picking up his hat and leather jacket off what looks like a hotel bed.
The Case of the Missing Train Snakes
Filed under: Action », Horror », Independent », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie »
With New Line's Snakes on a Plane only a few days away, a lot schlock-hounds (including me) were really looking forward to checking out The Asylum's homage/ripoff Snakes on a Train. But I've noticed a few strange little things recently...- Despite its having a release date of ... yesterday (8/15), you cannot buy a new copy of Snakes on a Train at Amazon. Or DVD Empire. Or Deep Discount DVD. You can't even rent it from Netflix.
- I was at Best Buy last night, and they didn't have any copies of the DVD. Ditto Circuit City.
- Snakes on a Train cannot be found on IMDb. I coulda sworn it was there a few weeks ago ...
- And unless I'm really stupid, it doesn't look like you can even buy a copy from The Asylum's website, either. (Though it seems that Blockbuster did receive a few copies, as that's how my pal David Cornelius was able to review the flick.)
Frankly I have no idea. If anyone out there has any info, let me know. I'd like to see Snakes on a Train. Yeah, seriously. (And I absolutely refuse to give any money to Blockbuster, no matter what.)
UPDATES: 1. One kind commenter points us towards a new release date at VideoETA.com. 2. Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere has a much more thorough explanation as to the missing train snakes. Thanks to both.
King of The Asylum Speaks Out! A Chat with Latt
Filed under: Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Interviews », Remakes and Sequels », Cinematical Indie »
Ask your average hardcore horror geek if they're familiar with "The Asylum," and watch a bemused grin crack across their melon. Production house, distributor and loony bin all wrapped into one (hence the name), The Asylum has recently grown into somewhat of a production-line outfit, which only serves to make the studio feel a whole lot like the big Hollywood boys. The Asylum inmates are simply a little more forthcoming with their schlock, and they wear their cinematic influences (not to mention affections) on their frequently gore-soaked sleeve.I had a chance to pick the brain of Mr. David Michael Latt, currently the head crazy over at The Asylum. As old buddies, we shot the breeze in laid-back and movie-geek style, focusing mainly on the indie studio's more recent crop of "blockbuster piggy-backs" -- some of which are actually more entertaining than their big-budget brethren. Some.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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