The Asphyx
by Peter Newbrook
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alex Scott, Jane Lapotaire, Ralph Arliss, Robert Powell, Robert StephensDirector: Peter Newbrook
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Letterboxed, NTSC
Picture Format: Letterbox, 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Ventura Marketing
Movie Reviews of The Asphyx
Movie Review: "Damned To Eternal Guilt, Damned To Eternal Remorse..."
Summary: 4 Stars
The only reason that I continue to wade through the dross that makes up the majority of cinema is in order to stumble across films like 'The Asphyx'. Back when BBC1 and ITV in the UK used to show late night movies, films of it's ilk would regularly turn up and be etched forever into impressionable young minds like mine. I remember first seeing it after my father taped it off of the now defunct 'Thames Television' station back in the early nineteen eighties. Images from it have stayed with me to this day and, reappraising it again, I was impressed by how well it has stood the test of time and how it treats its subject matter in the kind of adult and deftly subtle manner that you very rarely see in horror-film making these days. It's a thoroughly interesting horror film because there is not really an evil character in it - indeed, the character who would generally be tarred with the "evil" brush in a less subtle treatment is deeply humanitarian and only really motivated by a profound sense of loss and a fear of being left alone in the world. It's this fear and vulnerability that will eventually set in motion a chain of events that will have devastating consequences for all involved, but, as it is, the rendering of the character by the late, great Robert Stephens engenders only sympathy for his plight as that which he holds most dear is slowly and systematically stripped away. There is virtually no onscreen gore in this film and virtually no violence, but it's denouement is still one of the most haunting that I've ever seen and leads me to wonder whether a young Stephen King didn't borrow elements of it for 'The Green Mile'. In the hands of a director like Christopher Nolan, a remake of this film would be most welcome, if crafted with same care and attention lavished on the original. Try and get hold of the Umbrella Entertainment release of the DVD if you can, as it's not panned and scanned.
Summary of The Asphyx
When The Asphyx was released in 1973, The Exorcist was about to change the landscape of horror forever, moving the genre away from subtlety and into the realm of graphic effects and makeup. That's one of the reasons why The Asphyx was a box-office flop, fondly remembered by a select few who never forgot this quirky little "thinking man's horror film" (as Variety called it), in which a 19th-century British philanthropist and amateur psychic researcher embarks on a fateful quest for immortality. Sir Hugo Cunningham (nicely played by Robert Stephens) has a morbid hobby of taking photographs of dying people, and this leads to his discovery of a nebulous spirit of the dead--known in mythology as the Asphyx--that appears (only visible on photographic plates) at the moment of death. Sir Hugo becomes obsessed with capturing his own Asphyx and thus ensuring that he cannot die, but of course this is an ill-fated ambition that puts Sir Hugo on a ruinous path to destruction and death.With its talky, literate script, well-drawn characters, and fascinating themes, The Asphyx bears closer resemblance to the Hammer horror films that became pass? in the early and mid-1970s. The chills are subtle but effective under the direction of Peter Newbrook, and the widescreen cinematography by Freddie Young (whose credits include Lawrence of Arabia) adds polish and elegance to the proceedings. Filled with foreboding atmosphere, this is an intelligently conceived horror film that relies more on story than shocks, although the screeching Asphyx is eerily haunting. Kudos to Allday Entertainment for producing this DVD--The Asphyx has been rescued from obscurity, painstakingly remastered in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio for discerning connoisseurs of high-class horror. --Jeff Shannon
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