Hell Asylum (2002) (V)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Danny Draven

Writer:

Trent Haaga (writer)

Release Date:

2 March 2004 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

We Dare You to Make it to the Bloody Finale of this Motion Picture!

Plot Keywords:

Spectre | Ghoul | Supernatural Power | Haunted Mansion | Death

Cast

Debra Mayer	...	Paige
Tanya Dempsey	...	Amber
Sunny Lombardo	...	Rainbow
Stacey Scowley	...	Stacey
Olimpia Fernandez	...	Marti
Timothy Muskatell	...	Max (as Tim Muskatell)
Joe Estevez	...	Stan The Investor
Brinke Stevens	...	Head Spectre
Paul Darrigo	...	Elevator Guy
Devin Hamilton	...	Elevator Guy
Julian Ott	...	Cameraman
Austin Priester	...	Spud (as Charles Austin)
Matt Moffett	...	Ted
Aaron Brown	...	Spectre
Wayland Geremy Boyd	...	Spectre (as Waylan Boyd)
Trent Haaga	...	Spectre / Electrician
Josephine Soegijanty	...	Board Member (as Josephine Soegijanti)
Jeff Cooper	...	Board Member
Jason Paul Collum	...	Board Member / Spectre
Tammi Sutton	...	Board Member

Directed by
Danny Draven

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Trent Haaga		writer

Produced by
Charles Band	....	executive producer
J.R. Bookwalter	....	executive producer
Trent Haaga	....	line producer
Tammi Sutton	....	producer

Original Music by
Josephine Soegijanty

Cinematography by
Danny Draven

Film Editing by
Danny Draven

Casting by
J.R. Bookwalter		(as Lance Randas)
Carmilla Karnstein

Production Design by
Tammi Sutton

Art Direction by
Thomas W. Dorst Jr.		(as Thomas Dorst Jr.)

Costume Design by
Lynn Haaga

Makeup Department
Mark Bautista	....	hair stylist
Mark Bautista	....	key makeup artist
Mark Bautista	....	special makeup effects artist
Cleve Gunderman	....	makeup assistant
Josephine Wong	....	makeup assistant

Production Management
Danny Draven	....	post-production supervisor (as Daniel J. Hageman)
Mickey Kaiserman	....	executive in charge of production
Carmilla Karnstein	....	unit production manager
Vanessa Gill	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dennis Smith	....	first assistant director (as Dennis 'Smutty' Smith)

Art Department
Joe Hand	....	property master
Steve Norton	....	set dresser
Steve Norton	....	swing

Sound Department
Maui Holcomb	....	sound designer
Maui Holcomb	....	sound re-recording mixer: 5.1
Maui Holcomb	....	sound recordist
Maui Holcomb	....	supervising sound editor
Miles Reeder	....	production sound mixer
Lewis Vendredi	....	foley artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Aaron Brown	....	camera operator: "b" and "c" camera
Danny Draven	....	camera operator
Trent Haaga	....	camera operator: "b" and "c" camera
Julian Ott	....	camera operator: "b" and "c" camera
Miles Reeder	....	key grip
Jeffrey W. Scaduto	....	camera operator: "b" and "c" camera (as Jeffrey W. 'Spud' Scaduto)
Jeffrey W. Scaduto	....	gaffer (as Jeffrey W. 'Spud' Scaduto)
Dennis Smith	....	camera operator: "b" and "c" camera (as Dennis 'Smutty' Smith)
Kelley Sweet	....	still photographer
Todd Wade	....	grip equipment: Bundle-Up Rentals
Brad Wallace	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lynn Haaga	....	wardrobe (as Lynh Haaga)

Editorial Department
J.R. Bookwalter	....	on-line editor (as Lance Randas)
J.R. Bookwalter	....	post-production coordinator (as Lance Randas)
Danny Draven	....	on-line editor (as Daniel J. Hageman)
Eva 'Schizo' Scaduto	....	assistant editor
Vivian Soegijanty	....	post-production coordinator
Lloyd 'Gambo' Taylor	....	assistant editor (as Lloyd 'Gumbo' Taylor)

Transportation Department
Jeffrey W. Scaduto	....	driver: Mr. Draven (as Jeffrey W. 'Spud' Scaduto)
Jeffrey W. Scaduto	....	vehicles (as Spud)

Other crew
Guy Benoit	....	intern
Aaron Brown	....	assistant to producers
Bennah Burton-Burtt	....	assistant: Charles Band
Eric Cartman	....	production accountant
Gilles Frenchy Gauthier	....	director of creative marketing (as Gilles Gauthier)
Vanessa Gill	....	production coordinator
Devin Hamilton	....	executive in charge of distribution
Jennifer Kessler	....	contracts administrator (as Jennifer 'Sissy' Kessler)
Bob Langer	....	director of merchandising
David Markosyan	....	communication services
Hope Payan	....	financial systems
Christopher Shaw	....	director of international sales
Ed Shields	....	vice president of international sales
Charles Spencer	....	financial systems
Yolanda Squatpump	....	script supervisor (as Yolonda Squatpump)
Neil Taylor	....	title sequence: Taylor Twin Pictures
Rob Taylor	....	title sequence: Taylor Twin Pictures
Gina Tucci	....	office manager

Thanks
J.R. Bookwalter	....	thanks
Debbie Rochon	....	thanks
Josephine Soegijanty	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Full Moon Pictures
• Tempe Entertainment

Distributors

• Flashback Home Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Full Moon Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Full Moon Universe
• Hollydan Works (2002) (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) (DVD)
• Shadow Entertainment
• Tempe Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Prison of the Dead 2 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Netherlands:16 | UK:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Full Moon Pictures

Trivia:

During the film, the character Rainbow is talking to another character, and she's utters the phrase "This is a prison of the dead, too." Prison of the Dead 2 was the name for this movie during production.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Something to Scream About (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Slam the Door

Bad production... enjoyable movie

Danny Draven is a young direction that even when he has made a career directing no-budget b-movies, he manages to make them at least entertaining. His career seems to be on the rise after "Deathbed", a good effort that was produced by Stuart Gordon himself.

In this earlier effort, Draven tells another ghost story starring "Deathbed" star Tanya Dempsey. Taking elements of "House on Haunted Hill" and modern reality shows, we have five beautiful girls who enter a show named "Chill Challenge", where the contestants must endure a night in a "haunted house" in order to win a large sum of money. What they don't know, is that the house is really haunted, and flesh-eating specters will make the challenge a bit more difficult.

Now, this is definitely not a good movie, it has a production that is bad even for low-budget standards. Draven's direction is still a work in progress and it is obvious that many things were learned while making this movie. However, one thing that is worth to mention, is the superb performance of lead star Tanya Dempsey. For a newcomer to the genre she has everything that is needed to become the new scream Queen of this age. Her performance is what really makes the movie works and it saves the final project from being a worthless piece of b-cinema.

The rest of the cast is not that bad. Stacey Scowley gives a great performance too and the rest of the girls are not only beautiful, but also very convincing in their roles. The male cast is really a downer, but the girls really make up for it. Legendary Brinke Stevens has a small role in a blink-and-miss scene. Lovers of nudity will be disappointed but we still have a nice view of Dempsey in underwear.

Sadly, the great acting is probably the only good this movie has to offer as the rest of the movie is filled with troubles such as bad lighting and terribly bad gore. Draven's use of digital camera makes the movie look even worse as it seems that he had not mastered its use yet. While most of the problems seem to be due to the low budget, a lot can be blamed to the lack of experience of the crew.

Nevertheless, as the movie goes on it seems as if they were learning in the process as the beginning looks terribly bad compared to the end. Another thing is that the movie never gets boring, the script goes straight to the action and it never drags. For a simple ghost story that is truly an achievement, too bad that the rest of the aspect of the movie weren't up to the task.

Danny Draven has a brilliant future in horror as he showed in his most recent work, but this movie has really very little to root for. It is worth a watch for aspirant filmmakers and fans of independent films. It is not really as bad as some big budget productions out there. For a better Draven/Dempsey collaboration check out "Deathbed" instead. 5/10. Great acting... bad movie