Here They Are...Your 2012 Looney Award Winners!!!

2012 was an amazing year for Asylum movies, a year in which we saw more films than ever, and the level of quality rose to new peaks. As such, this year also saw a record number of Looney votes pour in from all over the world. So, without further adieu, here they are, your 2012 Looney Award Winners for Excellence in Asylum Films:

Best Actor

  Bill Oberst Jr., Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies

Best Actress

Heather Hemmens, Rise of the Zombies

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Karl Johnson, Nazis at the Center of the Earth

Best Supporting Actress

Monet Mazur, Adopting Terror

Best Performance by a Non-Human

The 2-Headed Shark, 2-Headed Shark Attack

Best Cinematography

Alexander Yellen, Grimm's Snow White

Best Score

Chris Ridenhour, Nazis at the Center of the Earth

Best Visual Effects

Nazis at the Center of the Earth

Best Screenplay

Karl T. Hirsch (story), J. Lauren Proctor (story), 

and Richard Schenkman (screenplay), Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies

Best Asylum Moment of the Year

Zombie Baby Stomp, Rise of the Zombies 

Best Director

Joseph J. Lawson, Nazis at the Center of the Earth

Best Picture

Nazis at the Center of the Earth 

That's a mighty fine crop of winners; interesting that the three films with multiple wins all feature zombies. 

Congratulations to all, thanks to the voters domestic and foreign for making this the biggest Loonies yet, and of course thanks to The Asylum for the fun flicks! Bring on 2013!

Nazis at the Center of the Earth on DVD TODAY!!!

In the coming century, B-film fans will increasingly look back to this date, April 24th, 2012, as the day their worlds were rocked forever. For today, The Asylum releases it's masterpiece to date, Nazis at the Center of the Earth.

Starring Jake Busey, Dominique Swain, Christopher Karl Johnson and a score of other talented actors and actresses, and directed by Joseph J. Lawson from a script by Paul Bales, NATCOTE is a can't-miss flick, a barn-burner of cinematic lunacy and wicked brilliance. I've already given my very vocal approval of the film, which can be read by simply scrolling down a few inches, but you shouldn't take my word for it, you shouldn't take anyone's, in fact, you should get your hands on a copy toot suite and judge for yourself.

By "toot suite" I mean now, go, go!!!!

observation notes: NAZIS AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

Every now and again, a movie comes along whose very concept generates hype the instant it is heard. So rarely do the films live up to that hype, so rarely do the filmmakers manage to not only fulfill but eclipse that promise, that when a film actually does manage these things, we call it nothing less than a classic. Ladies(?) and gentlemen, Nazis at the Center of the Earth is that film. For real.

Whatever you're expecting, throw it out the window. You're not predicting this one, and I'm not going to spoil a single damn second of it for you. I will say, however, that if you're expecting some sort of throwback camp-fest, you're watching the wrong movie: NATCOTE is a truly tense, gruesome, and disturbing thriller mixing history, perverted science, sci-fi, adventure and that good old Asylum sense of insanity all rolled up into perhaps the most mind-bending 90 minutes the studio has ever produced. And I know I'm biased, cuz I love these guys and everything, but for real, FOR REAL, you owe it to yourself to watch one of the most ingenious B-movies ever set to celluloid.

Again, in the interest of not spoiling a single thing, I won't go into great details about the individual characters, but our celebrity leads here, Dominique Swain (Lolita, New Best Friend) and Jake Busey (Starship Troopers, The Frighteners) bring the heat, Ms. Swain playing with emotional aplomb a hyper-intelligent yet vulnerable doctor, and Mr. Busey reeling in a pensive and conflicted performance. Other standouts include Christopher Karl Johnson as the reprehensibly vile Doctor Mengele, and Adam Burch, Marlene Okner and Lilan Bowden as other scientists.

The film, the first directorial effort from Asylum VFX Supervisor Joseph J. Lawson, does not skimp on the visuals and does not fail to deliver. My expectations in this specific arena were pretty high, especially as I really believe Asylum VFX have improved a hundred-fold in the last couple of years, but the things these guys pulled off in this one? Some of the most memorable visuals of the year. And you'd never know it was Lawson's first time at the helm; there's a very keen sense of control over the picture, for as crazy and labyrinthine a mystery as this film is, it moves at an expert pace, doling out the goods like breadcrumbs leading to a wholly satisfying and thoroughly unexpected climax.

The story comes courtesy of Paul Bales (Sherlock Holmes, 2010 Moby Dick) and is smart, steeped in scientific and historical details that only enrich the suspense and horror, and wickedly brutal. Seriously, I'm struggling to find the words to describe just how surreally awesome this film is, while at the same time being starkly scary, wildly inventive and all-too possible. The last 35 minutes of this film is a masterclass in WOW. Plus, I learned a lot of useful German.

So have I beamed enough? Have I spit enough hyperbole to convince you that Nazis at the Center of the Earth is a tent-pole Asylum project, certain to be one of the first three anyone mentions 100 years from now? This one's a game-changer, folks; the bar has been raised. This isn't what you were hoping for, this isn't what you were expecting: it's sooooo much better. Out Tuesday on DVD, Blu-Ray, and VOD. Whatever else you thought you were doing, scrap it. Trust me.

Behold the Teaser Trailer for NAZIS AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

With only six weeks or so until the release of The Asylum's next impeding classic - and candidate for best title ever - Nazis at the Center of the Earth, the film's teaser trailer has at last hit You Tube this week, for all the world to relish:

Dominique Swain, Josh Allen, Christopher Karl Johnson, and Jake Busey star for first-time director (and long-time Asylum VFX maestro) Joseph J. Lawson, from a script by writer and producer Paul Bales.


April 24th is when it all goes down, so enjoy the trailer then spread the word; this one has the wings to become the biggest Asylum hit yet!

Holy Crap! First Stills From Nazis at the Center of the Earth!!!

Oh happy, happy Friday! Seems everyone's favorite independent studio just wrapped production this week on what is sure to be one of 2012's most hotly-anticipated films, and a contender for best film title ever, Nazis at the Center of the Earth. Well, now we get a look at the first round of stills from the set, and man oh man oh man does this one look every bit as awesome as its promise.

The film stars Dominique Swain, Christopher Carl Johnson, Lilian Bowden, Josh Allen and the always wonderful Jake Busey, and is directed by first-time helmer and The Asylum's in-house VFX supervisor Joseph Lawson, from a script by Asylum producer Paul Bales, who also wrote Sherlock Holmes and 2010: Moby Dick.

So go, now, and dig on these excellent stills, then try not to pass out holding your breath for the film's release, April 24th, 2012.

At Last!!!...First Details for Nazis at the Center of the Earth!!!

I am a sucker for titles, always have been. I've bought books, movies and albums based on the title more so than any other determining factor, and that includes quality. I love words, and, to paraphrase Johnathan Swift, when the right words are in the right places, it's magic.

So then it should come as no surprise whatsoever that my second-most anticipated film of 2012* would be the awesomely-titled Nazis at the Center of the Earth, a film The Asylum announced they were making a few months ago. And now, after all our patient waiting, we at last have cast, crew and plot details, and boy-ar-dee are they delicious.

First let's take a look at the plot: "Researchers in Antarctica are abducted by a team of masked storm troopers. They are dragged deep underground to a hidden continent in the center of the earth. Here Nazi survivors, their bodies a horrifying patchwork of decaying and regenerated flesh, are planning for the revival of the Third Reich."

Oh my god. So, not only is it a modern-day Nazi flick, and a Vernesian-secret-continent flick, but it's also a zombie flick? Dear lord this is gonna be even better than we thought. And just who are the creative powerhouses set to pull off this masterpiece? That's where shit gets even better... 

At the helm of the flick is Joseph Lawson, best known to Asylum fanatics as the company's visual effects supervisor, a position he's held over for 18 films and counting. This guy was in charge of making Moby Dick breach his hump like a snowhill, the guy who made those python mega and those gators oided, among many, many other fine feats. N.A.T.C.O.T.E.  will mark Mr. Lawson's first time directing, but come on, let's be serious: the guy is responsible for heading up the best FX the studio's ever had; is there any doubt he's going to knock this one out of the park? Not from where I'm sitting...

...especially when you consider whose script he's working off of: none other than Paul Bales, Asylum partner and the pen behind two of my favorite Asylum films (all ass-kissing aside), and certainly two of the smartest (see my last parentheses): Sherlock Holmes and 2010 Moby Dick. You put these two guys together, and what we now have is an Asylum Prestige picture...and that's not even taking into account the cast...

First up - and there are no hints as yet as to who or what these folks will be playing - is the lovely and talented Dominique Swain (Lolita, Face/Off, New Best Friend with Born Bad's Meredith Monroe). You gotta love how no matter the situation, The Asylum finds away to work in a foxy lady. God bless those guys.

As if you needed further enticing, the film is also set to star Christopher Karl Johnson of Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes and the one, the only...Jake Freakin' Busey.

Jake is best known for memorable turns in films like Starship Troopers, The Frighteners, The Hitcher 2 and Roadhouse 2, but around here, he's most-remembered for his earlier appearance in an Asylum film, in the very film, in fact, that launched the Mockbuster craze: War of the Worlds. Nice to see him back in the stable.

Josh Allan is also slated to star, but there are a handful of Josh Allan's on IMDB, so I wasn't sure which Josh was Josh. Alex Yellen is shooting the film, his 18th turn as cinematographer for the studio.

Nazis At The Center of the Earth has a tentative release date of April 24th, 2012. I've already marked it in my phone calendar.

*c'mon, you know what my #1 is