New Details on The Asylum's Theatrical Release

A few days ago, Dread Central broke the news that The Asylum has a picture in production that will enjoy a limited theatrical release before hitting DVD; at the time, that film was called You Didn't Hold Your Breath.

Well, now Dread Central is again reporting on the film, revealing a name change as well as a few other actors. What was You Didn't Hold Your Breath is now Hold Your Breath. Jared Cohn (Born Bad, Bikini Spring Break) is still directing from a script by Geoff Meed (I Am Omega, 6 Guns), and "30 Rock's" resident beauty Katrina Bowden is still set to grace the screen, but now we have word on a few of her co-stars.

Webb

Wayne

Hogan

Slaughter

Asylum staple Gerald Webb (A Haunting in Salem, 2 Headed Shark Attack, Battle of Los Angeles, 2012 Ice Age, Zombie Apocalypse, Air Collision and scores more) has secured a role, as has Asylum vet Erin Marie Hogan (6 Guns, Paranormal Entity). Then there are newcomers (to the studio, not the profession) Randy Wayne (Grizzly Park, Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, The Haunting of Molly Hartley, To Save a Life) and actor/model Brad Slaughter (1313: UFO Invasion).

Still no release date or detailed plot on this one as of yet, but rest assured as soon as it is known - or Dread Central reports it - I'll have info on it here.

 

2011 Loonies Winners!!!

The call went out to designate the favorite films and performances from last year's Asylum productions, and you, the die-hard fans, responded in record numbers. So, without further adieu, your 2011 Winners of Looney Awards for Excellence in Asylum Films:

BEST DIRECTOR: Jared Cohn, Born Bad

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Alex Yellen, 2012 Ice Age

BEST CREATURES: Zombies, Zombie Apocalypse

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Battle of Los Angeles

BEST SCORE: Chris Ridenhour, Zombie Apocalypse

BEST SCREENPLAY: Jared Cohn, Born Bad

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: AnnaMaria DeMara, 200MPH

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Gerald Webb, 2012 Ice Age

BEST ACTRESS: Bonnie Dennison, Born Bad

BEST ACTOR: Michael Welch, Born Bad

BEST PICTURE: Born Bad

So there you have it, your 2011 Looney Award Winners. Born Bad was this year's big winner, and the first Big 5 winner in Looney history - director, screenplay, actor, actress and picture. Congrats to Cohn and crew, as well as all the other Looney winners and nominees. 2011 was the best Asylum year yet, and 2012 is promising to be even better, so as I see it, we're all winners. Huzzah!

Before the Loonies are Announced, My Favorites of 2011

With the Loonies being announced tomorrow, I thought before we find out what your favorite Asylum movies and performances of 2011 were, I'd share my personal favorites. Some of these might not be too surprising (anything Salem related), and some might (anything not Salem related), but nevertheless, here we go:

Favorite Director: Jared Cohn

Born Bad was just a different kind of Asylum movie, a more realistic thriller with no skimping on the sex, violence or suspense. The brainchild of Cohn, he shoulders the credit for this taut thriller.

Favorite Cinematography: Alexander Yellen, Born Bad

This was maybe the closest category for me, as Dragon Crusaders was one of the more epically beautiful direct-to-DVD films I saw last year, but there's just something about the look to Born Bad that really made it stand out.

Favorite Creature: Witch Ghosts, A Haunting in Salem

  I don't need to explain my decision here, do I? I mean, I made these guys up. Witches who are ghosts, ghosts who are witches; can't go wrong. Just sayin'...

 Favorite VFX: 2012 Ice Age

This was the big category this year, in my opinion, as 2011 was a year in which we saw Asylum VFX really kick it up a notch. But when all is said and done, it was the ice-swept devastation of 2012 Ice Age that blew me away the most.

Favorite Score: Chris Ridenhour, A Haunting in Salem

Another on I probably don't have to explain, but this isn't pure favoritism. In every review I read of Salem, whether positive or negative, they all raved about Ridenhour's beautifully brutal score.

Favorite Script: Craig Engler & Zombie Apocalypse

I think zombie movies ar epretty hard to pull off at this point, as they've been done - pardon the pun - to death. But Zombie Apocalypse felt fresh yet faithful to the genre.

Favorite Supporting Actress: Jenna Stone, A Haunting in Salem

  Another no-brainer. Miss Stone sold this performance so well I hope I never meet her, because it will freak me out. Scariest performance of the year, certainly scarier than I wrote it. Awesomeness.

Favorite Supporting Actor: Gerald Webb, Battle of Los Angeles

2011 was Webb's year over at The Asylum, but of his various role, it was his work in Battle of Los Angeles that really stood out, mostly because that's the film in which we got to see the most of him.

Favorite Actress: Courtney Abbiati, A Haunting in Salem

Another no-brainer, but Ms. Abbiati's work here was out-of-the-park.

Favorite Actor: Bill Oberst Jr., A Haunting in Salem

 Yet another, I know, but come on, you have to admit Bill got under your skin. Impassioned, creepy and capable of anything makes for an awesome anti-hero.

Favorite Documentary Feature: Anneliese the Exorcist Tapes

Devil-shit freaks me out. And this discovered-footage freak-fest was so intimidating to me I had to watch it in the afternoon, no joke. Frightening, frightening stuff.

Favorite Film: A Haunting in Salem

Duh. But really, how could any other film be my favorite. 3 Musketeers was a fun, hip action flick, Mega Python vs Gatoroid  was campy-creature brilliance, Dragon Crusaders gave me a new appreciation for fantasy and Born Bad nailed it, but for me, the screenwriter of said-haunted-house movie, it just had ot be my favorite. Forgive me.

And don't forget to come back tomorrow to see what you guys chose as the best Asylum films of 2011. 

Air Collision Final Poster and First Trailer!

Courtesy of the fine folks over at 28 Days Later Analysis, we have our first look at the final poster and initial trailer for The Asylum's next disaster flick, Air Collision. Owing credit where it's due, you should follow the link to see the trailer, but check out the poster below:

Air Collision - which stars Reginald VelJohnson, Jordan Ladd and Gerald Webb - is written and directed by Liz Adams, and streets March 27th, 2012

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

observation notes: 3 Musketeers

It isn't often we get a straight-up action film - no mutated creatures, no sci-fi elements, no natural or unnatural disasters, just a good, old-fashioned, explosive shoot-em-up - from The Asylum; Ballistica they only distributed, and other than that you got The 9/11 Commission Report, last year's Airline Disaster and this year's 200MPH. But that's exactly what you get with 3 Musketeers, the studio's modern adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' seminal adventure novel, written by Edward DeRuiter and directed by Cole S. McKay, the man responsible for 200MPH.

Released to coincide with the major-studio 3D revamp (which incidentally bombed), in The Asylum's version, Musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis are thrust into the modern era, portrayed as an elite squad of international spies. When they're framed for an atrocity they did not commit, it sets in motion a chain of events meant to conclude with the assassination of the President of the United States. It's up to Alexandra D'Artagnan, a junior NSA officer, to draw the Musketeers out of hiding and enlist their help in thwarting this dastardly plot. 

And what a plot it is. All in all, 3 Musketeers is a pretty rad political-action flick with wry comedic dashes, explosive, astounding VFX and suspense in spades. In addition to solid scripting and pulse-racing direction, it's the cast that really works to make this one a success.

Our heroes are comprised of actors Xin (Athos), Michele Boyd (Aramis) and Keith Allan (Porthos), while Heather Hemmens plays newbie agent D'Artagnan. Xin was picked for the part primarily, I would imagine, because of his status as one of the world's foremost urban ninjas; if I'm honest, I was expecting some spectacular martial arts and some less-than-spectacular acting from him, but, happily, I was wrong. Xin is certainly an adrenaline-rush just to watch, but he is also sly, stoic and commanding; guy brought his A-game, all-around. 

Michele Boyd's Aramis is vicious grace personified, sleek, sultry and lethal. As the squad's youngest member, she is also its most passionate, thus perhaps its most dangerous. Her beauty is a weapon she wields with a confidence and stern sincerity beyond her years. 

Actors Xin and Heather Hemmens

Heather Hemmens character has a uniqueness to it, as not only is she trying to thwart said dastardly plot, she's also trying to prove herself to the Musketeers. As such, Hemmens occupies the role as intelligently aggressive, respectfully ambitious, impulsive and pure of heart. She's also a certified grade-A badass, the very definition of a strong woman and acted with tangible aplomb. 

And Keith Allan turns in an energetic performance as the squad's resident tech-genius, a wise-cracking, snarky and delightfully sarcastic character, the strongest of the film. Allan provides tension, relatability and most important, levity.

The film also boasts outstanding supporting roles filled by the likes of Alan Rachins ("L.A. Law, Dharma & Greg") as The Cardinal, the cold, zealous, megalomaniacal mastermind behind it all, David Chokachi ("Baywatch," Born Bad) as a consummate soldier living under his own ideals of loyalty, Steven Williams ("21 Jump Street," "Supernatural") as the former agent who gets this conspiracy rolling, the ever-present Gerald Webb as a trusting NSA agent and even a cameo from horror-legend Kane Hodder - 3-time Jason Vorhees and hella prolific actor/stuntman - as the torture-dealing Dr. Kim.

The VFX are practically a character all their own, heightening the suspense and thrills at every opportunity. There are aerial sequences galore, and they're nail-bitingly phenomenal, as well as explosions all sizes, and not once did I lose myself in the CGI - everything was real and seamless and the augmentation to story it was meant to be. 

Seriously, this one never gives you a chance to catch your breath. The action starts  in the first minute and rarely lets up: there are air strikes, fire-fights, more hand-to-hand combat sequences than you can shake a stick at and stellar free-running martial-arts displays from one of the form's foremost practitioners. When the action does briefly recede, there's an intense and intelligent political thriller running underneath, a riveting rivulet of intrigue that keeps your heart excitedly palpitating between explosions. This is a credit to screenwriter Ed DeRuiter. This was DeRuiter's first script for the studio, but he also wrote the story for 2 Headed Shark Attack, which I wrote the script for, so I can tell you first-hand dude's the real deal. I'm not sure there's ever been an Asylum script quite so lively as 3 Musketeers.


Director McKay applies the same fast-paced, thrill-inducing storytelling skills he showed us in 200MPH, but on a much, much grander scale here. And what was rad with car chases is RAD with all the stuff going on here. His use of quick cuts, handheld cameras, shifting perspectives within scenes etc., really fuels the film's addictively frenetic atmosphere. And whoever was in charge of the fight choreography gets an especial tip of my hat: there were fists, guns, grenades, choppers, jets, missiles and - yes - even swords, and each conflict was more spectacular than the last.


All in all then, I say this is a fine effort from all involved, and one of the better - if not the best to date - straight-up action films The Asylum has delivered. It's got action, intrigue, suspense, PG-13 sexuality, quips, kills, guns, chase scenes, deceptions aplenty and frequent blossoms of fire; what more do you want?

RE-POST: observation notes: Born Bad

Though Born Bad made it's premiere back in March on the Lifetime Channel, it hasn't been available on DVD until this coming Tuesday, when a special UNCUT version of the film hits DVD. Until then, let's take another look at my original thoughts on the film, posted back in March.

Now, if you've read my notes before, you know I don't like to give away any spoilers; I'm not a journalist, I'm a fan, my point isn't to critique the film, it's to extol its virtues and make you want to see it even more than no doubt you already do. Therefore, I stay away from spoilers. This will be especially true in the case of Born Bad, as you're gonna have to wait a few months to get your hands on it. So the below impressions are general, and give nothing away whatsoever other than the basic plot. 

Let's get that plot out of the way: when a family moves to a new town, their sweet teenage daughter (Bonnie Dennison), falls for the WRONG guy (Twilight and All The Boys Love Mandy Lane''s Michael Welch), a psychopathic drifter with homicidal proclivities, resulting in a nightmare for her parents ("Baywatch"s David Chokachi and "Dawson's Creek"s Meredith Monroe). Ah, dating.

What we have here is a good, old-fashioned thriller - no monsters or creatures or anything paranormal at all, just a fascinating and frightening look at the depths of depravity to which can sink the most terrifying beast known to man: man. Jared Cohn's script paints a terrifying portrait of a family already at a crossroads in crisis. It's an all-too believable scenario which could conceivably befall any American family, allowing the horror it generates to resonate that much deeper.

But a script is only as good as the actors who bring it to life, so in this case, it's damn good. Michael Welch as "Denny" is fierce, and not in a co-opted Project Runway sense, but in the Webster's dictionary sense: "a) violently hostile or aggressive in temperament; b) given to fighting or killing." I mentioned in my profile of Mr. Welch that in the fine, fine film All The Boys Love Mandy Lane in which he played a similar type of character, that his brutally frightening potential hadn't yet been fully-tapped - it has been now. Welch electrifies every second he's on screen, deftly balancing the suave seductor and focused sociopath every good serial killer needs be. Dude rocked it, for real.

Bonnie Dennison ("Guiding Light") as doe-eyed daughter "Bonnie" manages a fine balancing act of her own, convincingly naive while never helpless. I'll admit to not being familiar with Ms. Dennison before this, but I thought she was right for the role of a good-girl just bad enough to get in major trouble; when her name turns up on DVD boxes in the future - as it's sure to do - I'll definitely check them out.

Meredith Monroe and David Chokachi as the parents at the center of this whirlwind also excelled, and in roles I for one wasn't used to seeing them play: Chokachi as the concerned parent almost helpless in the face of primal terror, and Monroe as an unsuspectingly powerful matriarch. So for me, at least, both really showed their range, and I liked what I saw. Aces.

Other cast standouts include Donnabella Mortel as "Dana," Gerald Webb (Battle of Los Angeles, 2012 Ice Age) as "Nate" and Bill Oberst Jr. (Princess and the Pony, upcoming A Haunting in Salem[!!!]) as "Gary." Sure, I could tell you more about the characters they play, but that might stray into the territory of spoilers. Or it might not. Either way, I'll say no more.

Overall, then, what you have here is a chilling psychological thriller that rings all too true and hits way too close to home, just as all great films of this sort should do. Cohn, who also directed, has crafted a film of frightening intimacy, one that draws you into both sides of this maniacal struggle and and squeezes your heart from the first frame to the last, thanks especially to the barrage of fine performances anchored by that of Michael Welch. He's up there with Mega Shark in my pantheon of greatest Asylum villains. 

Check it our for yourself this Tuesday when the UNCUT version of Born Bad erupts into being.