Hell Asylum (2002)

You would think that one day I would learn, but NO. No, I will never learn. I will always try to retain a shred of optimism whenever I start to watch a Full Moon movie. And I had it when pressing play on Hell Asylum. It stayed there for a few minutes, and then it shrivelled up and started to die, only flickering again for a moment or two during the, thankfully, brief runtime of the film.

The film is all about a new reality TV show, "Chill Challenge". The point of the show is to put some attractive women in a scary location, have them individually face their greatest fears, and see if they want to stay for the duration, which earns them the prize money.

Directed by Danny Draven, Hell Asylum is your typical fast 'n' cheap production from Full Moon Pictures. Draven shows no urge to lift the drab material, relying on the fact that he has pretty women in the main roles, an idea with potential (wasted, of course), and a distinct lack of logic or plausibility getting in the way of things.

It would help if any of the cast members had a bit more personality shining through, but there's not a lot to differentiate between them, aside from the obvious traits that some are given to define their entire character. Debra Mayer, Tanya Dempsey, Sunny Lombardo, Stacey Scowley, and Olimpia Fernandez are, as expected, not exactly at the top of the acting game but it's unfair to judge them when working with such a weak script.

And that is perhaps the biggest disappointment here, especially when you consider that the script was written by Trent Haaga, who also pops up for a very brief cameo. Haaga has been paying his dues for many years, leading to some great projects in the last decade, but this is one of his first, and worst, scripts. It does what is needed, no more and no less, without including anything that would liven up the proceedings, like an excess of gore or some better dialogue between the characters. It has none of that, and doesn't even have an enjoyably demented motivation for the killer.

On the plus side, it's mercifully short (about 72 minutes, just under that runtime before the end credits roll), there are at least a couple of moments of decent(-ish) gore, and . . . well, I've sat through a lot worse.

3/10

Sadists can buy the movie here.
Americans can get this special edition here.