Asylum Found-Footage Checklist

In honor of Alien Origin, a found-footage film that marks The Asylum's next release - this Tuesday, June 12th - I thought to put together a list of Asylum found-footage films to date, just to make sure you've seen them all. Enjoy.

Monster

2008

"After a massive earthquake in Tokyo, two American filmmakers document the true cause of the destruction."

Paranormal Entity

2009

"Actual footage of the events leading to the 2008 "murder" of Samantha Finley. This DVD, released against the wishes of the authorities, proves that nothing human caused Samantha's death."  

8213: Gacy House

2010

"John Wayne Gacy murdered 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978 in suburban Chicago. 26 bodies were found in a crawl space beneath his house and 3 others were buried in the backyard. Although the house was completely demolished during the exhumation of the bodies, on May 15, 2004 a group of paranormal investigators wired the home that was built in its place with paranormal detection and surveillance equipment. The outcome of the investigation was grisly, terrifying and disturbing. "

Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes

2011

"The shocking account of history's most infamous case of demonic possession, compiled from the actual videotape and film recordings from over 76 exorcisms. "

The Amityville Haunting

2011

"Actual found footage that documents the horrifying experience of a family that moved into the infamous haunted house."         

New Asylum Tidbits

Couple new things coming out of The Asylum camp today, including the poster for Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies and the title and description of a new found-footage film.

Let's start with the poster:

That there folks is a pretty fine poster. Bill Oberst Jr. (A Haunting in Salem, Princess and the Pony, Born Bad) plays the President in question. The film is out May 29th.

Then, continuing their string of found-footage hits - The Amityville Haunting, Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes, 8213 Gacy House, Paranormal Entity - The Asylum brings us Alien Origin this summer. These are the only details provided: "Recently discovered footage from a lost military expedition exposes a horrifying truth about the genesis of life on earth. "

The film is set to street on June 12, and should be at least a thousand times better than the second X-Files movie...

A Truly Worth Cause...Help An Inmate

It isn't often I use this blog to ask for something, but that's how I'm using now, and for a very, very worthy cause.

Actor Jon Kondelik, who recently appeared in The Amityville Haunting, had a horrific FX-related accident in December that left him missing three full fingers and half the index finger on his left hand. Jon - whose brother James is also an Inmate, editor of 200MPH, Zombie Apocalypse and A Haunting in Salem - is now recovering, but is in need of new fingers, and so has set-up this Facebook page to elicit donations for the costly prosthetics.

I've been following this saga on Facebook since it happened, and I can honestly tell you the resiliency and positivity I've seen coming from Jon and James, not to mention the outpouring of support from others, has been nothing less than inspiring. And so I am humbly asking all my readers to spread the word throughout their social networks - link to this blogpost, share his Facebook page on yours, Google+ it, pass out fliers, text everyone you know - so that we can help raise the money Jon needs. Donations can be made here, and anything you can give I'm certain is greatly appreciated. 

Being a fan is about showing your support, so let's get at it, my fellow faithfully-committed, spread the word wide and far...

The Asylum 2011: Ridiculously Popular

The greatest website in the world, IMDB of course, published this morning its list of the 3, 759 Most Popular Video Titles of 2011, and man, is The Asylum all over it; let's put it like this - if The Asylum's 2011 filmography was a high school student, they'd be a handsome, intelligent quarterback. Twelve titles - that's not a typo, twelve - in the top 100 are Asylum titles, 4 in the top 10. Check it out:

#2 - The Amityville Haunting

#5 - A Haunting in Salem (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

#6 - Dragon Crusaders

#10 - 2012 Ice Age

#19 - 200MPH

#21 - Barely Legal

#23 - 11/11/11

#24 - 3 Musketeers

#32 - Battle of Los Angeles

#36 - Born Bad

#48 - Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes

#80 - The Princess and the Pony

Congrats to all the fine folks at The Asylum for the much-deserved recognition. And man, if 2011 was this good, I for one can't wait to see how 2012 plays out... 

TWO New Asylum Flicks on DVD TODAY!!!

For the first time maybe ever, today marks the release of not one, but TWO new Asylum movies on DVD: Zombie Apocalypse and The Amityville Haunting.

Zombie Apocalypse - written by Craig Engler and Brooks Peck and directed by Nick Lyon - is about pretty much what the title would lead you to expect: a group of survivors in a zombie wasteland try and fight their way to salvation. The film stars Ving Rhames, Taryn Manning, Gerald Webb, Lesley Ann-Brandt and scores more, and did right well in its World Premiere on SyFy back in October.


And then there's The Amityville Haunting, the latest found-footage project from the studio, this time concerning an ill-fated family that chose the wrooooong house to move into.


Both of these films are definitely worth a watch - Zombie Apocalypse boasts some of the best effects, writing and acting the studio's ever put out there, and Amityville Haunting will scare the living crap out of you, believe me. Jump to the links above for more info, including production stills and trailers, then go wherever you go to procure DVDs these days and get your hands on this fun and frightening double feature.
  

observation notes: The Amityville Haunting

There's nothing like a good scare for Christmas, I always say, and this year The Asylum has given us just that with The Amityville Haunting, on DVD this coming Tuesday, the 27th.

The studio's fifth found-footage film (behind Monster, Paranormal Entity, 8213 Gacy House and Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes), this one is a collection of home movies from and featuring the Benson family, who early last year moved into a house where 20 years earlier, a man named Robert Defeo Jr. murdered his whole family by shooting them each in the head. You'd think your Realtor would be required to tell you stuff like that. Nope, not if it happened more than three years ago. This is why they make ghost detection apps for iPhone and Android; just sayin' people, you gotta learn to take some spectral responsibility...

Anywho, as I don't like to give away any spoilers in my notes, and as found-footage films are pretty much twist after twist after twist, anything specific you say is giving away something, so I will comment only generally. Think of the film like Anneliese meets Paranormal Entity, a family in conflict with a deeper, darker power than they could have conceived of. The footage is raw, gruesome in spots, and guaranteed to make you jump. Things move very quickly here - only a month after moving in was the Benson Footage discovered - and get real weird real fast; there's a lot of supernatural activity going on in this house - I'd tell you not to blink or you'll miss some of the subtler notes, but I don't think you'll be blinking much. My only advice is to remember to breathe, otherwise, you're gonna pass out like seven minutes in.

If I'm honest, found-footage films aren't necessarily my cup of tea, not because I think they're overdone or anything like that, I just like a little more story than most of them provide. But The Amityville Haunting has a tangible and engaging narrative running through it; the film does not feel like a patchwork of random yet similar events, but rather a skillfully sewn together storyline that mounts in intensity from the first frame to a gut-wrenching crescendo 90 minutes later. Whoever The Asylum got to arrange this one did a bang-up job.

So bottom line, if you enjoy found-footage films, or just horror in general, guaranteed The Amityville Haunting has something that will make you scream. It's a fast-paced, fright-filled story sure to generate some uncomfortable empathy with the afflicted Benson family. It will also teach you to bone up on the history of buildings you consider buying to store your family in, and to maybe not move to notoriously haunted towns. Again, just sayin'...

outside the walls: December DVD Releases

So I'll admit it, there are films not produced by The Asylum. There always have been, always will be. These glasses I wear are not rose-colored. They are clear, and occasionally smudged with fingerprints. A sampling of non-Asylum films due soon and news that might spark the interest of Asylum fans. Just remember, Sweet 'n Low ain't Sugar.

December 6

Alien Armageddon

The Bait

Point Blank

Psychic Experiment

December 13

Kill Katie Malone

Little Deaths

The Undying

December 20

Burke & Hare

Saint Nick

December 27

Zombie Apocalypse

written by Craig Engler & Brooks Peck

directed by Nick Lyon

starring Ving Rhames, Taryn Manning, Lesley-Ann Brandt & Gerald Webb

The Amityville Haunting

found-footage film

Apollo 18

Armed & Deadly

Chop

Final Destination 5

The Hunters

Hostel Part 3

In the Name of the King 2

The Tunnel

The 2011 Loonies...Coming SOON!!!

That's right, as another year draws to a close, so is birthed the 2011 Looney Awards for Excellence in Asylum Films, a completely-unaffiliated, fan-voted and non-binding awards presentation I designed to spotlight the best of each year's Asylum crop. 

There are still two films left to be released in 2011 - Amityville Haunting and Zombie Apocalypse - so I don't have all of the nominees as of yet, but I have most of them lined up and ready to drop...which I will do Friday, December 30th, three days after both Amityville & Zombie are released on DVD.

Last year's big winner was Mega Piranha, taking 5 of 8 categories including Best Picture and Best Director for Eric Forsberg. Who's the frontrunner this year? Mega Python vs Gatoroid? Zombie Apocalypse? A Haunting in Salem? Only time and your votes will tell.

The 2011 Loonies boast more categories, more nominees, and more opportunities for B-movie-blog immortality. Don't just imagine the possibilities, stop by December 30th and live the dream...

The Amityville Haunting Trailer is Here!

The final Asylum film of 2011 - The Amityville Haunting, on DVD (note the new date) December 27th, 2011, the same day as Zombie Apocalypse - at long last has a trailer, and it's frightening as all get out:

This is a found-footage film centered around an American family - the Bensons - who had the misfortune of moving into a house that wasn't completely uninhabited, spiritually-speaking. From the trailer, this looks to be the scariest of the found-footage projects The Asylum has distributed (Paranormal Entity, Gacy House, Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes), and is laced from start to finish with pure, unadulterated terror.

Relive for yourself the horrible fate of the Benson family - as seen via their own videotapes - in the waning days of 2011 when The Amityville Haunting finally comes to light...

Born Bad on DVD Today!

Another Tuesday, another Asylum DVD release; fella could get used to this. This time around, it's Born Bad, a terrifying and scintillating thriller from writer director Jared Cohn and actors Michael Welch, Bonnie Dennison, Meredith Monroe, David Chokachi and more. Resplendent with action, intrigue, passion and horrors all-to-real, Born Bad is a perfect early winter film: creepy, suspenseful and chilling.

Besides being an intense and excellent flick, you're gonna want to cherish Born Bad for another reason: we have to wait a WHOLE MONTH for another Asylum release: found-footage frightener The Amityville Haunting comes out December 13th, and the DVD release of Zombie Apocalypse is a fortnight later on the 27th.  

Wanna rent Born Bad from Netflix? Go here.

11/11/11 on DVD Today!!!

Whew, seems like every time I turn around there's another Asylum movie out. It's still shy of a month since A Haunting in Salem was released on DVD, and since then we've seen the DVD release of 3 Musketeers and the TV premiere of Zombie Apocalypse. Plus, Born Bad hits DVD a week from today, and the mysterious found-footage film Amityville Haunting comes out in December. 

But all this is a side-note to what's happening today: the DVD release of apocalyptic thriller 11/11/11. 

I posted my thoughts on this one last Friday, and strongly encourage anyone who enjoys creepy kids, cultish behavior, twisted suburbia, decapitations or Satan to rush right out to wherever you procure movies these days and gets your hands on this fine film.

For fans of The Omen, The Exorcist, The Stepford Wives, Rosemary's Baby, The Seventh Sign or the "Twilight Zone" episode, "It's a Good Life."

First Details on CELEBRITY SEX TAPE!!!

It was recently announced in an interview with Asylum producer David Michael Latt that there was a new sex comedy in production from the studio, Celebrity Sex Tape. Well, in typical Asylum fashion, no sooner do we learn of it than the darn thing's near-done. And over at the Asylum site, they've put up the first details. Check out the plot:

"A group of college nerds become overnight sensations when they secretly record a washed up celebrity having sex and post the tape on the internet." 

I like that concept, smarter than your average "get-me-laid" sex comedy. It comes courtesy of a triad of writers, Jonny Haut, Pat Sheehan and Matt Short. There wasn't a Johnny Haut on IMDB, there were like, seven Pat Sheehan's, and I think Matt Short may be involved with Spike TV's "MANswers," but my awesome research skills aside, it's fair to assume this is a trio of newcomers, which means fresh jokes.

As far as the cast is concerned, it features the amiable Jack Cullison, star of last year's highly-enjoyable MILF, Emily Addison of copious shorts, Jonathan Brett of Stupid Teenagers Must Die, Colbert Alembert, Howard Cai, Andre Meadows and Julie Barzman.

Of particular interest is the film's director, Scott Wheeler; this will mark Wheeler's fourth time as a director - after Journey to the Center of the Earth, Transmorphers 2: Fall of Man, and MILF -  and he's also been behind the lens of a few other Asylum movies: he was a still photographer on Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls, camera operator on Sunday School Musical and Merlin and the War of Dragons, and most recently he served as the director of photography on the visually lush Sherlock Holmes. 

Celebrity Sex Tape is slated to drop - you guessed it - on Valentine's Day of next year.

In other news, the page for Amityville Haunting has also appeared over at the Asylum site. We already knew this was a "found-footage" film, so details are appropriately scarce. This is all we know about the plot: 

"Actual found footage that documents the horrifying experience of a family that moved into the infamous haunted house." 

Not a lot to go on, but scares and ghostly-goings-on seem guaranteed. Amityville Haunting comes to DVD and Blu-Ray on December 13th of this year. You've been warned. 

An Asylum Autumn

As Summer starts turning towards Fall, we find ourselves currently in a relative desert of Asylum releases - Barely Legal came out almost a month ago, and there's still a little more than a month before Dragon Crusaders drops on DVD. It's an admitted first-world concern, but when you're used to get a movie a month from your favorite studio, any longer variation leaves you fiending for a fix. Right? Please? 

Anywho, we're about to exit this desert for a vast oasis in which a flurry of Asylum films can be found. Behold, the rest of The Asylum's jam-packed 2011 schedule:

Dragon Crusaders

DVD September 27, 2011

written and directed by Mark Atkins

starring Dylan Jones, Cecily Fay, Simon Lloyd-Roberts, Karl Greenwood, Shinead Byrne and Tony Sams

A Haunting in Salem

DVD October 4, 2011

directed by Shane Van Dyke

written by H. Perry Horton (that's me)


starring Bill Oberst Jr, Courtney Abbiati, Nicholas Harsin, Jenna Stone, Carey Van Dyke, Gerald Webb

3 Musketeers

DVD October 27, 2011

directed by Cole McKay


written by Edward DeRuiter


starring Heather Hemmens, Xin, Alan Rachins, Keith Allan, Michelle Boyd, David Chokachi

11/11/11

DVD November 1, 2011

directed by Keith Allan


written by Kiff Scholl and Keith Allan


starring Jon Briddell, Hayden Byerly, Erin Coker

Born Bad

DVD November 8, 2011

written and directed by Jared Cohn


starring Michael Welch, Bonnie Dennison, Meredith Monroe, David Chokachi

Zombie Apocalypse

DVD December 27, 2011

directed by Nick Lyon

written by Craig Engler and Brooks Peck

starring Ving Rhames, Taryn Manning, Lesley Ann-Brandt,

Johnny Pacar, Eddie Steeples, Gary Weeks, Anya Monzikova,

Gerald Webb, Lilian Bowden, Robert Blanche

And as though all this wasn't enough, there's still the recently-revealed Amityville Haunting from director Geoff Meed in the works, possibly for a 2011 release but most likely 2012, and 2 Headed Shark Attack from director Christopher Douglas-Olen Ray, from a script by me, H. Perry Horton, from a story by Edward DeRuiter, which will be out on DVD January 17, 2012, starring Charlie O'Connell, Carmen Electra and Brooke Hogan.

So by my math, that's at least 6 Asylum films in the next four months, plus one ready to go when the new year rolls over. Get ready to be busy.