The Asylum on SyFy December/January

With the shortage of video stores in our country at present, locating older Asylum titles on DVD without buying them can be kinda tricky. Fortunately for us, we have the SyFy network, which is constantly scheduling one Asylum flick or another, including many of the studio's staples, those older films that helped pave the way for the triumphant productions they're unleashing these days. Below, please find a schedule of Asylum movies on SyFy for the rest of this month, and next month, including an all-Asylum afternoon triple feature on January 22nd, a Sunday. This isn't a post I make often, and if ever you're curious as to what if any Asylum films will be gracing the small screen soon, jump over to The Asylum's website, where they always have a schedule up on the right side of their homepage. All times are Eastern Standard. Happy viewing!

Titanic II   Thurs, 12/15, 3am

100 Feet   Thurs./Fri. 12/29&30 5pm/3am


2012: Supernova   Sat., 1/14, 9am

100 Feet   Tues., 1.17, 11am

Journey to the Center of the Earth   Sun., 1/22, 1pm


100 Million BC   Sun., 1/22, 3pm


The Land That Time Forgot   Sun., 1/22, 5pm


100 Million BC   Mon., 1/23, 12am


Princess of Mars   Thurs., 1/26, 3am


Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus   Fri./Sat., 1/27&28, 2pm/3am


MegaFault   Sat., 1/28, 1pm

New Asylum Title Announced (Kinda)

So, in this post over on The Asylum site, producer/writer Paul Bales gives us a look at Asylum coverage from around the world, including this list of the so-called "Worst of Cannes" - the "worst" projects offered at the prestigious festival - on which a project they "haven't even made" made an appearance. And the title of that project? Brace yourself:

NAZIS AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

Holy fucking shit, right?! If that's not the greatest title/premise for a movie, I don't know what is.

Furthermore, when I expressed my unbridled elation for such a project on The Asylum's comments board, Paul Bales himself replied to my reply saying not only is the project legit, but it springs from his very pen, the same pen that wrought Legion of the Dead, 2010 Moby Dick, Sherlock Holmes, MegaFault and 100 Million BC, among others.

No word what the plot may be, other than a brief mention of "mutant zombie Nazis threaten[ing] to overrun the world from their secret underground cavern," which could only be a reporter's speculation, but honestly, with a title as informative as that, as long as all the major elements are in play - Nazis, a secret world within the world, some kind of drill-car - this film will be one of the greatest things B-cinema ever conjured. Nazis. At the center of the Earth. C'mon, people, get excited!

From the Asylum Library: Jules Verne

NEW COLUMN ALERT! Now and again, as is true of most motion picture studios, The Asylum will look toward the world of letters for inspiration. The public domain offers an array of spectacular, action-packed, thrilling, and - most importantly - free works ripe for the updating. In this occasional column, I'll take a look at the literary giants from which The Asylum has borrowed. And whom better to start with than the man many consider to be the father of science-fiction: the inimitable Jules Verne.

Jules Verne was born in picturesque Brittany in the early part of the Nineteenth Century. As a young man, his love for travel and adventure beget an imagination that could transport him places life had yet to. This imagination would in time evolve into an innovative form of speculative fiction that became a telescope into our future. Submarines, hot air balloons, space travel and even the fax machine are among the mechanical realities that first saw description in the books of Jules Verne. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, Mysterious Island, Paris in the 20th Century, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days - it's titles like these and dozens more that have made Mr. Verne, nearly two hundred years after his birth, the third most translated author in the world and the source of more than 130 films, including some of the earliest work in special effects from cinematic magicians like Verne's fellow-Frenchman George Melies. 

Though that moniker I mentioned above - "the father of science fiction" - is often shared with his somewhat-contemporary H.G. Wells, it's worth remembering that Monsieur Verne's first notable novel, "Five Weeks in a Balloon," was published three years before Mr. Wells was even born.

As far as The Asylum is concerned, Mr. Verne and his fertile imagination have spawned only two films so far, Journey to the Center of the Earth with DeeDee Pfeiffer and Greg Evigan, and 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Lorenzo Lamas, but his influence can also be felt in films like 100 Million BC and The Terminators, if you'll stretch with me. 

But oh the films they could make: as most of the bigger titles have been mined to death and are in fact just outdated - no matter how inventive you are, it's tough to update From the Earth to the Moon without replacing one or the other - the best place to mine I think would be the lesser-known fare like Journeys and Adventures of Captain Hatteras, In Search of the Castaways, Off On a Comet, Eight Hundred Leagues On the Amazon or dozens others. 

Verne's a proven money-maker, the original Philip K. Dick when it comes to sci-fi writers Hollywood loves to make and remake and remake again. But a run through his back catalog could do for The Asylum what Poe did for AIP. Or not. Either way, we'd get some rad movies out of it.


Something to think about.

inmate profle: Alex Yellen

 

As regular readers of Committed know, in the weeks leading up to the release of an Asylum film I like to throw out a few more inmate profiles than normal, spotlighting the creative talent behind the impending film. As 200mph opens on in only a few weeks, on April 26th, I thought we'd get started. First up: Asylum cinematographer extraordinaire Alex Yellen.

There isn't a lot of info on Mr. Yellen out there, so his work will have to speak for itself, which it more than does:

Yellin has served as cinematographer on fifteen Asylum films, including half of the studio's output last year and a good chunk of their work thus far this year. A sample of his work: 6 Guns, 2010 Moby Dick, Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus, Airline Disaster, I Am Omega and 100 Million B.C. What's more, Yellen has racing-cinema experience: he served as cinematographer on The Asylum's last speed thriller, Street Racer.

And as impossible as it may seem, Yellen has somehow found the time for work outside Asylum walls: on both the indie drama Quinceanera and the Leigh-Scott-written, Griff-Furst directed Wolvesbayne he served as the second unit's director of photography.

It's obvious The Asylum trusts this guy's eye quite a bit, and with good reason; for my money, 2010 Moby Dick and 100 Million B.C. are among the best-looking Asylum films. We'll get a nice good look at the work of Yellen not only this April 26th when 200mph is released, but also again next month with the release of Almighty Thor, again in June with the release of 2012 Ice Age and at least one more time this November with the release of Born Bad. And it's probably the safest bet out there that his name will pop up on at least another film or two later in the year.

Check out his website here.

Alex Yellen, consider yourself saluted.

outside the walls: Non-Asylum Inklings

I recognize that not all great films are made exclusively by The Asylum and that, in fact, there's a whole world of film outside these walls, some of which might actually interest Asylum fans, when they're not watching or re-watching Asylum films, of course. And, being as I'm only looking out for your viewing well-being, here's a peek at some other DVD releases this month which might satiate you between Asylum releases. But remember, as always. Sweet n' Low ain't sugar.

January 4

Demon Resurrection

The Last Exorcism

Machete

Wolvesbayne
directed by Griff Furst (I Am Omega, 100 Million B.C.)
written by Leigh Scott (Transmorphers, Beast of Bray Road)







January 11th 

 

Funny or Die Season 1

Legion: The Final Exorcism

Piranha (not 3D on DVD)

Psychosis

January 18th

Death Race 2

 

The Virginity Hit

January 25th

Final Spawn

starring Lance Henriksen

(Pirates of Treasure Island, The DaVinci Treasure)

 

House of Bones

written by Leigh Scott

Primal

Observation Notes Catch-Up: Sci-Fi

I know not all my readers have been with me from the beginning, and I also know given the amount of postings I've made in such a short span of time, things can get lost in the shuffle. I also know that I'm not the best at tagging uniformly, so there might be a few things, specifically Observation Notes, that go unread. As such, periodically I like to remind you - with links! - of the films I've reviewed, and I think a good way of grouping these is by genre. So here, for your catching-up or even revisiting pleasure, are the Sci-Fi films produced by The Asylum that I've reviewed thus far (please note "creature feature" is a separate designation from sci-fi, so that list will come later), along with links to the original posts. Enjoy!

 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea 
 starring Lorenzo Lamas
 based on a novel by Jules Verne
 screenplay by Eric Forsberg
 directed by Gabriel Bologna

100 Million B.C.
starring Michael Gross, Christopher Atkins & Greg Evigan
screenplay by Paul Bales
directed by Louis Myman

 

2012: Doomsday
screenplay by Nick Everhart
directed by Nick Everhart

I Am Omega
based on a story by Richard Matheson
screenplay by Geoff Meed
directed by Griff Furst



 

Invasion of the Pod People
screenplay by Leigh Scott
directed by Justin Jones

Alien vs. Hunter
screenplay by David Michael Latt
directed by Scott Harper

Journey to the Center of the Earth
based on the novel by Jules Verne
screenplay by Steve Bevilacqua and Scott Wheeler
directed by Scott Wheeler and Davey Jones




 

The Land That Time Forgot
based on the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs
written by Darren Dalton
directed by C. Thomas Howell

War of the Worlds 
based on the novel by H.G. Wells
screenplay by David Michael Latt & Carlos De Los Rios
directed by David Michael Latt

War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave
suggested by a novel by H.G. Wells
story by Steve Bevilacqua
screenplay by Karen Forsberg
directed by C. Thomas Howell

observation notes: 100 Million B.C.

Another stand alone sci-fi epic from The Asylum, with slight ties to Godzilla, the Matthew Broderick version, and Cloverfield, though the latter film was still a year away, and would be later mockbusted by Monster. So then this one's neither here nor there, merely a time-traveling action flick with ties to the Philadelphia Experiment - electromagnetic tinkering undertaken by US scientists during WWII in which a wormhole through time was ripped open. 

The film opens with a Navy Search and Rescue team being briefed by a theoretical physicist (Michael Gross) and a Naval superior (Greg Evigan) on a quite unusual mission: rescue a team sent back in time in 1949 - a team that includes the physicist's brother (Christopher Atkins) - to the Cretaceous Period some 70 million years in the past. (that's the number they reference several times. i guess the title's just rounding up.) The obvious response from the (present) team is, well, if they were sent 70 million years back into the past 70 years ago, how they fuck are we even sure they're still alive? Cave paintings, that's how, recently discovered by amateur spelunkers that irrefutably come from a Twentieth Century hand, though carbon-dating says otherwise. How irrefutably? "Rita Hayworth as Gilda," and "Frank It Wasn't Your Fault." In English. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty irrefutable.

To attempt this rescue, of course, the present team will have to undertake the same risk as the past team by traveling through the wormhole. They won't be alone however, as the physicist, racked with seventy years worth of guilt, refuses to let them go alone and insists on joining them. So back in time they go, via a stargate - not a stargate-looking thing, this is just a stargate, unapologetically - and arrive where, rather, when they wanted, smack dab in the middle of the Cretaceous Period, where they immediately begin their search for the past team.

It isn't long before acid-spooging plants, looming brontosauruses and carnivorous marine life make their going a little tougher. They get some help, improbably, when 70 fucking million years in the past, a past where none of the geography resembles that of our era, somehow the present team stumbles upon the physicist's brother and his past team within an hour or two of arriving, and just in the nick of time to get their asses saved from raptors. I studied abroad one summer in England, and over the course of the 4th of July weekend I took an impromptu trip to Amsterdam with a friend. I wasn't twenty feet outside the train station when I bumped into a girl I dated in high school. That's coincidence. When I was 16, on a cross country road trip, I walked into a mall in Salt Lake City and bumped into the man who baptized me, sitting outside the food court McDonald's. That's coincidence. Bumping into your brother who you haven't seen in 70 years because you sent him 70 million back in the past? That's fucking providence, or incredibly accurate mathematics, at least. I digress.

So reunited and somewhat safe, the mission now becomes to get everybody back to the wormhole so they can return to the present (the present team's present, but the past team's future.) It's a short trip, relatively easy but for, you know, the dinosaurs, but just when you think getting everybody home is the solution, it turns out to be...you guessed it...an even bigger problem. Problem 1: someone has to stay behind in the past to close the wormhole, otherwise anything could just come trouncing through, and they don't want that. Problem 2: it has to be the physicist as he's the only one who knows how, and, racked with guilt even now, he's willing to sacrifice himself to get the past team home. Problem 3: he totally fucks it up, and not only bites it (the present version of himself, that is) but allows a quite large, already-pissed and now really-discombobulated dinosaur to enter the 21st Century. And we are surprisingly unprepared for it. 


"The threat is biological in nature, it is bipedal, and it is carnivorous...I repeat, it is bipedal and carnivorous...it's a dinosaur...I shit you not."

The above pretty much sums up the human response: humorously disbelieving, overwhelmed and clueless.The rest is spoilers but to say the third act is entirely metropolitan, and the ending is a mindbender, in terms of who's where, temporally.

100 Million B.C.was written by Asylum producer Paul Bales, who also wrote a score of other Asylum flicks including 2010 Moby Dick, Sherlock Holmes, Megafault and Killers 2, and directed by Louie Myman, which is really just a pseudonym for Griff Furst, the actor/director who's been mentioned here a few times for his work behind the camera on Lake Placid 3 and the upcoming Swamp Shark (as well as Asylum films I Am Omega and Universal Soldiers) and in front of it also in The Dunwich Horror (as well as Transmorphers and The Hitchhiker). Asylum regulars Mark Atkins and Nick Everhart edited the film, alongside David Michael Latt. Together, these men managed to craft an enjoyable, engaging sci-fi film, that if reminiscent of other films, intentionally or not, stands on it's own thanks to a spry script and strong performances.

Michael Gross ("Family Ties," the Tremors franchise) balances his performance with shades of brilliance, concern and guilt, though he's not at all believable as the age he's supposed to be (that's a compliment). It is his convictions and inner-turmoil that form the emotional center of the film and make him the most empathetic of our characters. Greg Evigan (6 Guns, Journey to the Center of the Earth) is largely contained to good-natured imperatives and salutes for the first 2/3rds of the film - though authoritatively charming as always - but in the third act his role really widens and he takes control with the ease of a seasoned wingman. But my favorite was Christopher Atkins (The Blue Lagoon, Shakma), who's essentially a younger, more awesome John Schneider (sorry, John) and here fills each scene with a  larger-than-life spirit; he plays the role as a pure adventurer - he could be a time-traveler or an astronaut, a pirate or explorer; his restrained zeal, his tempered (by peril) passion for the moment, is nothing less than infectious.

Other cast standouts include Geoff Meed as present team chief, Marie Westbrook as one of the female soldiers of the past, and Dean Kreyling as the chief of team past.

The FX are okay so long as they're not onscreen with actual people, in which case they look totally fake (a few shots are used a few times, pretty obviously). The main dino looks like some sort of zombie dino: it's hide is red with refined musculature as though it's been skinned. Gross (And not Michael). Even the Mega Shark moment - you'll know it when you kinda see it - relies more on your imagination than any actual FX. The city scenes are okay, though too deserted; as long as your CGI-ing the shit out of things, toss in some dying crowds.

Overall, it's a neat adventure story, although a little too reminiscent - for me - of Journey to the Center of the Earth but with less hot chicks (not less-hot, the women here are comparably hot, there are just fewer of them, I mean) and The Land That Time Forgot, but maybe that's a compliment, because if it had popped up that this story was based on another by the likes of Jules Verne or H.R. Haggard, I would have totally bought it. So definitely worth a watch if you enjoy films of that ilk.


One thing got me, however: where, in the Cretaceous Period, did 1940's female soldiers find form-fitting halter-tops? Another mystery for the ages, I suppose

Birthday Wishes!!

...are extended to day to Greg Evigan - star of Asylum features Journey to the Center of the Earth, 100 Million B.C. and 6 Guns - who turns a cruel 57 years old today (Cruel because at 57 he looks better than most of us did at 27. You attractive bastard, Evigan.) There's nothing at present in Evigan's filmography linking him to The Asylum, but talent like this won't lay dormant for long. Many happy returns of the day, Greg!