From The Asylum Library: H. G. Wells

I'm officially starting the rumor Wells was a vampire. Dig those eyes.

Every 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. Today, we look at the man responsible for two Asylum films to date (the second one less-so, but I'll explain...), as well as the man who is often credited, alongside Jules Verne (the O.G.), as the creator of science-fiction, Mr. Herbert George Wells, known to history as simply, H.G.


H.G. was born in Kent, England in September 1866 to a gardener and his wife. Times were lean in the Well's household, but young H.G. was an aggressive reader, and through books acquired the knowledge and skills that would elevate him out of his humble beginnings and into the eternal literary canon.

Though he also wrote in the areas of history (including the three-volume magnum opus The Outline of History), politics, social commentary and mainstream fiction, it's H.G.'s science fiction he is most remembered for. His early novels read like a roster in the sci-fi hall of fame: The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau, When the Sleeper Wakes, The War of the Worlds and The First Men in The Moon. A political socialist, Wells also wrote a number of what he deemed "Utopia novels," in which he applied his political views to a reorganization of society, leading to a (often deceptively) more perfect future; notables in this category include A Modern Utopia and The Shape of Things to Come.

To date, the works of H.G. Wells have been adapted into more than 80 films and television series and episodes over the last 110 years, by everyone from Georges Melies to Alexander Korda to George Pal to Bert I. Gordon to Steven Spielberg to David Michael Latt, who directed War of the Worlds for The Asylum in 2005, the same year Spielberg's adaptation came out (and largely credited for launching the "mockbuster" phenomenon). The other Asylum film based on the works of Wells, and this is the one I referred to as "less-so," is War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave, naturally, and while not based on any actual Wells' text - his story has no sequel - it's based on characters inspired by a situation in Wells' novel, and that's close enough for me.


So there you have it, a cursory and haphazardly-researched look into the life and writing of on H.G. Wells, godfather of sci-fi and inspiration for two Asylum films to date. As for the future, who knows? I for one would loooooove to see an Asylum Island of Doctor Moreau, or a loose adaptation of First Men on the Moon, substituting perhaps the Red Planet, Mars. Until then, enjoy yourself a healthy heaping of Wells, Asylum-style, with the best double feature in the studio's catalogue (in the sci-fi genre, at least).

Asylum Should-Stars #5

Here at Committed, I'm always looking for ways to prolong my love affair with Asylum blogging. I've done inmate profiles - spotlights on Asylum personnel - and I've done pitches - shameless attempts to get hired in marketing/development - but now, I'm melding the best of these features into one, amalgamated column: the awkwardly-named Asylum Should-Stars, in which I present actors/actresses/other cultural figures I think would make lovely additions to the Asylum's stable of performers. More mindless fun to wile away your workday! Let's dive right in, shall we?

Name: Willa Ford


Best Known For: "Dancing With The Stars," Friday the 13th (remake), various issues of Maxim

Plays: really bad, kinda trashy, tough, irresponsible, and all-around evil, fun girls, and sultry, manipulative vixens (re: Impulse)


Could Be Cast As: a gun-toting stripper in an apocalypse film, a femme fatale in an action flick, a hard-as-nails space marine in a sci-fi epic, or a titillating scream queen in a horror movie.

Name: Play (from Kid N Play)


Best Known For: a successful rap career, an awesome dance, and the House Party franchise.

Plays: himself, mostly - a jovial, fun-loving ladies man with a penchant for flat-tops and smooth raps.


Could Be Cast As: anyone, really. War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave featured Play's former partner Christopher "Kid" Reid, so anything he'd be suited for, I'd imagine Play would be as well. Not that they're interchangeable, but their skill levels seem to be comparable, is all I'm saying. Throw him in a sci-fi flick as a flustered local, or as a business tycoon in an action flick, or even a meaty cameo in a comedy. In that instance, just make sure he does the dance.

Name: The Iron Sheik


Best Known For: wrestling, and instilling in a generation of American men an undying hatred for Iran, and probably the Middle East in general.


Plays: a real asshole, for the most part, pompous and confident, boisterous and overdosing on braggadocio. 


Could Be Cast As: duh, a terrorist (also my Charlie Sheen impression), or, possibly, a serial killer, the rapey kind.

Asylum Lands Its Next SyFy Premiere! And Announces an AWESOME New Title!

With the premiere of Mega Python vs Gatoroid still more than 24 hours away, SyFy has announced the next slate of it's Saturday night original movies, and sure enough, there's an Asylum title in the mix.

Battle of Los Angeles, starring Kel Mitchell and Nia Peeples, is set to premiere on the network the night of March 12th, ten whole days before it appears on DVD and the same weekend Hollywood's competing project, Battle: Los Angeles, opens in theaters. Pretty smart move there, guys.


Also, in revisiting the film's home page on The Asylum's site, I noticed they had tweaked the poster a little bit since the last time I checked in. Notice how the chartreusian color scheme to the original poster (top) has been downshifted into cooler blues and the explosions have been raised to a higher level of intensity on the newer poster (bottom). It's a subtle shift, but I think it works, eliminates the Independence Day-feel of the first one (as much as that feel can be eliminated when dealing with a picture of a spacecraft over a building/skyline reducing said building/skyline to rubble with what I call a butt-laser, only shoots right below you.).

So mark your calendars now, March 12 is the day. Who knows, maybe SyFy will team this with a couple other Asylum flicks - like, say, War of the Worlds? War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave? Meteor Apocalypse? - and we'll have ourselves a bona fide Mega-Marathon Part Deus!



But in even more exciting news, there's been another project announced in the "Coming Soon" section of the Asylum's homepage, and this one has probably the greatest title ever in the history of titles:

2 Headed Shark Attack

No details yet as to what this one's about - as though you needed more than the title to conjure a rough idea - nor who the creative forces behind it will be, but thankfully it seems as though the ***SPOILER*** untimely demise of a certain other shark working for the Asylum won't be deterring the boys from upping the stakes once again. Two heads. Two heads. Oh, to get my hands on this one. No dates have been announced, nor any more info other than the name, but believe me when I tell you as soon as I know something, you will know something. Believe me.

observation notes: War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave

Daring to go where no other incarnation before it has dared gone - into sequel territory - War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave, once again stars C. Thomas Howell, who also directs this go-around, (script by Eric Forsberg and David Michael Latt, cinematography by Mark Atkins) as the astronomer who survived the original invasion a couple of years earlier and has now, along with the rest of society, started to regain some sense of normalcy. C. Tom has been reunited with his son (his wife has died between films) and together they've begun to settle into domestic hum-drum, post-apocalypse-style, eager to put the aliens behind them. That is, until the aliens return.

C. Tom gets hip to the impending re-invasion and takes this info to the culture's last scientists (Kim Little and magician Jonathan Levit), the three of whom together proceed to engage in a bunch of science-talk that's way over my Creative-Writing-MFA head; stuff about atmospheres and viruses and rates of speed, all spot-on, I'm sure, just beyond my intelligence level at the hour I popped this one in. Bottom line, if the aliens are indeed coming back, mankind is probably more prepared than we were the first time.

This theory is put to the test - with mixed results - when alien scouts land and begin to pave the way for invasion, killing every little pest that gets in their way, namely us. C. Tom finds himself again a cursed soul wandering the landscape alone until he is captured, along with others, by an alien paddy wagon where they are intended to be cocooned and drained to feed the invaders. Thus the shit hits the fan.

The story splits here between the scientists' battle on Earth, and the crew aboard Spaceship Suck trying to avoid drainage; both situations get worse before they get "better" - on Earth it gets all Independence Day-esque and in space it just gets gross. Long story short - C. Tom and crew return to Earth just as our defenses push the invasion into deep space, chasing after, and from here the path to resolution is paved in spoilers, so I'll step off.

Overall, I found this to be a strong, sharp film, helmed expertly by CTH the director(Da Vinci Treasure, The Day The Earth Stopped), who managed a satisfying balance between sci-fi-action and character-driven chaos. As an actor, C. looked better here than he did in the original, the grizzle is working for him now, not against. He's a little more empowered, crafting a progression in character from the last film and its unseen aftermath that finds him harder now, more capable, more adept, more adaptive, not because he wants to be, but because he has been forced to be. In this world, scientist also means warrior, and C. Tom comes ready to scrap. As good as he was in part one, he's twice as good in part two. Quite frankly, any part Kevin Bacon's up for, CTH should at least be getting a callback.

Kim Little (Supercroc, 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea) as a scientist of some sort affects her best Southern accent - Savannahan, I believe - and turns in a very austere, even-tempered and thus controlled performance, even in the face of crisis. (it should be noted that Ms. Little is not reprising her role from the first film)

And finally there was Christopher Reid. I read the name on the box*. I knew I knew it. I saw it in the credits. I knew I knew it. But in my head, the people this name conjured weren't this person. I thought it would be Christopher Atkins (100 Million BC) for a while, but he never showed up. Then I though it was Jonathan Levit, but it wasn't him either. Then a man came onscreen, and I knew I'd known that name. Christopher Reid is fucking Kid, as in Kid 'n Play, one-half of the dopest duos in the history of hip-hop, and one-half of the star power behind the ridiculously successful House Party film franchise. The massive flat top is gone, so it took me a minute to place him. Fucking Kid. He's awesome.

The FX for this film were taken over by Tiny Juggernaut, and the difference is astounding (noting that I liked the FX in the first film): the alien craft look far more formidable than they did, the blast-scenes were fast and furious, the mass destruction tangible and the dogfights between jet and spacecraft were exquisite, all totaling up to the finest work I've seen from TJ in an Asylum film.

It's a daring risk The Asylum took here, treading on holy ground and staking an acreage of their own. Ultimately, though, it seems to pay off: what you get is a film that retains the paranoia of the original while extrapolating believably into a world where the nightmare recurs. If you liked the first film, the second will more than suit your fancy.

I'd actually be up for a third.

* looking at the box again at the head of this post, I see it actually says CHRISTOPHER "KID" REID. so then, i'm just an idiot.

inmate profile: C. Thomas Howell

One of the most recognizable stars in The Asylum's galaxy is C. Thomas Howell, who rose to fame in the early 1980's thanks to pivotal roles in films such as The Outsiders, E.T. and Red Dawn. And who could possibly forget his star-making turn in the delightfully racist Soul Man? Truthfully, that's where the rise leveled off, but C. Thomas kept plowing ahead, putting close to 100 movies under his belt over the last two decades, all over the spectrum: big-budget Hollywood pics, TV movies, and direct-to-video horror, drama, action, sci-fi and adventure flicks.

Then he entered The Asylum.

In five years C. Thomas has made five films with The Asylum - War of the Worlds, The Da Vinci Treasure, War of the Worlds 2, The Day the Earth Stopped and The Land That Time Forgot - the last three of which he directed. That's right! C. Thomas is not only acting for The Asylum, he's directing! Very capably, I might add.

Though there's nothing lined up in the immediate future between C. Thomas and The Asylum, the big man's keeping himself plenty busy, as usual, with six films in various stages of production at the moment, the most interesting of which seems to be Camel Spiders, about these things.

One can only hope that if MGM ever gets their shit together or sold, the Red Dawn remake will be released and The Asylum can mockbust that (Crimson Dusk? Maroon Twilight? Fuchsia Noon?), with C. Thomas as the small-town sheriff who rallies his citizens to fight back against the invading North Koreans. Stranger things have happened. Like the aforementioned Soul Man.

C. Thomas Howell, consider yourself saluted.