Welcome to one of the main features of 'Castle Dracula,' the movie reviews section.
The reviews placed here are from all around the world, from the USA to the UK Japan
and everything inbetween. The formats reviewed are video and DVD. I have included the
origin of the film reviewed so you can check your player for compatibility. You may
also notice that there are some DVD-R reviews. These are not 'bootlegs' or 'copies'
but official screeners that I have been sent containing an as yet unreleased film to
review. All the reviews here have been reviewed either by myself or my current movie
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link in the menu to the left for details of this and other vacancies.
New reviews are normally placed here once a week, check my front page for under 'Castle
Dracula Updates' to see what latest movie reviews have been placed.
- Asylum of Satan/Satan's Children Double Feature - US DVD -
Asylum of Satan (1972)
Tagline: "Love Slaves Of Satan Tortured To Blood-Dripping Death"
Synopsis: 'Lucina Martin' is admitted into an asylum, 'Pleasant Hill Hospital.'
Charles Kissinger, former host of 'Fright Night,' plays double duty as 'Dr. Jason
Specter' (runs the asylum) and his own cross-dressed head nurse, 'Martine Williams.'
Things get weird when 'Lucina' sees other patients dressed in white hooded robes
outside. Then she eats dinner with three unhooded people, surrounded by dozens of
hooded patients, and asks if they saw the hooded patients outside????
This is the tone of the whole movie, plot, and dialogue. She keeps thinking she's
hallucinating things so we don't know for sure what is real to her. She sees
satanic rites but is told it didn't happen. Her fiance isn't allowed to visit so
he goes to the police to report the strange asylum. When visiting for investigation,
the whole asylum looks closed for years. Upon more investigation, we find out '
Dr. Spector' should be in his 80s, not his 40s as he appears. The doctor, and head
of asylum, needs sacrifices to Satan so he can live on eternally.
Story/plot: The plot is very, very basic. It's basically three viewpoints; 'Lucina,'
in the asylum trying to discover the truth, 'Spector,' working with the patients,
Satan,' and 'Lucina's' fiance trying to get 'Lucina' out. The usual sacrifice for
reward story.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere is very cheesy and dull.
Cast/characters: The characters are very flat and linear; I didn't care about any
of them. Overall, Kissinger is the best actor and that isn't saying much.
Cinematography: Cinematography is amateurish and the lighting is bad at times with
too many shadows.
FX, sound, etc: The sfx are horrible, especially at the end. Satan looks like a man
with a dragon's mask on...wait it is!!
The audio is awful and not very clear. The music is 70's but often times detracts
from the story.
Final Thoughts: Overall, I give this one star out of five. Only watch if you want a
laugh at this 70's cheesy movie.
This was part of a Double Feature DVD, with 'Satan's Children' being the other feature.
There's a bunch of extras but not very good and some seem pointless. Commentary (on
'Asylum of Satan'), Ultra-Rare 'Asylum of Satan' Behind-the-scenes Footage (only from
one scene, music, no words), Devilish Short Subject 'Satan's Dance' (just a lady
dancing, half dressed like the devil, no idea why it's included), Featurette 'The Soul
Snatcher' (again no idea! it's about a 30 minute short about a girl, satan, and a
pair of shoes), Ghastly Gallery of Ghoulish Comic Cover Art with music by the Dead Elvi
(while the art was cool to see, it had nothing to do with the movies, AND yes, they
spelled it "Elvi"). Comic Cover Art includes 'Terror Tales, 'Witches' Tales, 'Tales
from the Tomb,' 'Weird Tales of Voodoo,' 'Horror tales,' 'Terror Tales,' 'Shock,'
'Stark Terror,' amongst others. It also has trailers for 'Horror High,' 'Dr. Tarr's
Torture Dungeon,' 'The House of Missing Girls,' 'Don't Look in the Basement,' 'The
House that Vanished,' 'The Murder Clinic,' 'Mansion of the Doomed,' 'House of the
Damned,' and 'Asylum of Satan.' Overall, it's an okay DVD but I wouldn't buy it.
While 'Satan's Children' is the secondary title, it's actually better than 'Asylum
of Satan.'
1/5
Satan's Children (1974)
Tagline: "Devil worshipping has changed them into ... Satan's Children"
Synopsis: Pure 70s satanic film. It's about this Cinderella-like story of a young
man, 'Bobby Douglas,' who's the stepson of a father who uses him to do chores. His
step sister taunts him too continuously, one time with her foot. After an argument,
'Bobby' runs out and strolls the city until he reaches a bar. A "nice" guy invites
him to his place but takes him to a party with guys who sodomize him. He's found
by a satanic cult camp. We learn two new facts about satan; homosexuality isn't
allowed and he only invites winners into his cult. Dissension exists amongst a few
members. 'Bobby' escapes and is tracked down into a swamp almost naked. He then
gets revenge on everyone who hurt him and stays with the cult in the end. There's
rape, sacrifice, blood, sex, electrocution, being eaten by ants, quicksand that
looks like paint, shot gun, but no nudity except for a few posteriors. Plenty of
70's music, bell bottoms.
Story/plot: The plot is basic. It's basically just 'Bobby's' viewpoint. We never
do find out what purpose the sacrifices serve. It covers some touchy subjects.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere is a little cheesy but not too bad.
Cast/characters: Most of the characters are very flat and linear but 'Bobby'
showed a little bit of personality towards the end.
Cinematography: Cinematography is okay and the lighting is pretty good for the
most part.
FX, sound, etc: There aren't many sfx besides the killings so nothing much to
see. The audio is good and clear. The music is 70's but not too bad.
Final Thoughts: Overall, I give this two stars out of five. If you like 70's
cheesy movies, Watch this.
2/5
Reviewed By Wolf By Night
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