Hellborn (2003) Reviews

• It made me buy a book

  Dr. Gore2005-01-17

  *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* After watching "Asylum of the Damned", I got in my car and drove to the nearest bookstore. I came to the realization that there must be better ways to entertain myself than watching a braindead B-movie like this one. So I grabbed the latest Michael Crichton book, "State of Fear", with the hopes that my brain can be recharged and saved before it's too late. "Asylum of the Damned" is lame. Yes. That's exactly the word you will use after seeing it. Like, "Geez, that was lame." Lame. So very lame. OK, so some demon lives in the basement of an asylum. Now that I've told you that, you can fast forward through most of the movie. This is one of those movies where the monster is a mystery to the main character but is obvious to everyone else. The hospital staff, the inmates, the director, and the audience all know that there is a big snarling beast in the basement. So what is the point of dragging this movie on and on? Yeesh. By the time our hero figures out that there's a possibly interesting movie hiding in the basement, the audience is sound asleep. They roll the beast out once or twice but he doesn't do much. They probably disturbed his naptime. Avoid this Asylum. Read a book.

• Absolute Garbage

  elhombreplatano2005-05-20

  This is complete and absolute garbage, a fine example of what a BAD movie is like, this can't be appealing to anyone, not even b-movie fans. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT waste precious time of your life on this piece of trash. Bad acting, bad directing, horrible (but I mean really horrible) script, and complete lack of an idea as to what entertainment (of any form) is. I bought the DVD for 3 dollars, I swear I could almost pay someone to take it. Burning it would not be enough for what this movie did to me. I like b-movies, the killer toys, the weird lagoon monsters, but this is nowhere near. You know those movies that are so bad they are funny? Not even. Just plain old pathetic.

• Boring...

  jluis19842006-03-13

  In theory, films should be a form of entertainment. While this excludes documentaries and other experimental forms of film-making; most movies, specially genre films, must not only tell it's story or message, they must entertain their target audience in some way. All this just to say that in my opinion a bad movie is not a movie with low production values or low-budget, a bad movie is one that is boring. "Hellborn" or "Asylum of the Damned" as is known in the U.S., is a bad movie simply because it is just not involving, and irremediably boring and tiresome. While it has a very good premise, it is just poorly developed and the mediocre acting doesn't make things better. On another hands the film probably could had been a fine or even classic B-movie, but here it is just a bad attempt at film-making. Director Philip J. Jones tells the tale of James Bishop (Matt Stasi), a young psychiatry resident, who just got his dream job at St. Andrew Mental Hospital; but the old asylum seems to hide a secret. After the mysterious death of some patients and the constant rumors of satanic practices, James decides to find out what is going on; only to find the incredulity of his boss, Dr. McCort (Bruce Payne), who believes that Bishop is going as insane as his patients. While the premise is quite interesting, the execution of the film leaves a lot to be desired. In an attempt of making a supernatural psychological thriller, Jones goes for the easy way out and makes a movie filled with every cliché of the genre. Of course, there are lots of great movies that are also filled with clichés; but in "Hellborn" every single one is wasted and turned into a cheap jump scare to keep things moving, resulting in a boring and predictable storyline. The acting is quite mediocre for the most part, with one big exception: Bruce Payne gives a top-notch performance that makes the movie look unworthy of such good acting. Matt Stasi is very weak as the lead character and the rest of the cast make forgettable performances. Despite all this flaws, one thing has to be written about "Hellborn"; it has a visual look very good for the budget and very similar to modern day big-budget Hollywod "horror" productions. Also, the make-up and prosthetics are done very nicely and the designs for the main antagonist are quite good. Sadly, the rest of the Special Effects are awful and outdated, making a huge contrast with the make-up & prosthetics. "Hellborn" is a movie with a few good things outnumbered by its serious flaws with terrible results. Hardcore horror or b-movie fans may be interested by its premise but it is a boring and tiresome experience. 3/10

• "God doesn't come around here."

  Backlash0072004-10-03

  A young psychology intern is given his dream job when he is allowed to reside in a hospital for the criminally insane in Asylum of the Damned. Aside from a brilliant creature design (the Harvester) that they hardly even made use of and Bruce Payne at his villainous best, this movie is downright dull and offers nothing new or interesting. Also featured in the cast are Tracy Scoggins and Tiny Lister Jr. However, they aren't given much to do. The rest of the acting is very wooden and forced. Other problems include the script. No explanation of the creature is ever given nor do they explain Payne's motives. It's really sad they couldn't have found a better vehicle for the Harvester design. Don't bother with this one.

• Could've been worse

  tequila_mockingbird2004-10-04

  First of, I voted this one a 6. I feel like 6 is 60% or a D... maybe a D-. However, anything lower than that is too low, in my opinion. Anything higher just wouldn't happen. I thought a lot of the acting was either passable or poor. Tiny Lister made this movie, for me. He's great in as an asylum worker. Like in Don Juan Demarco, also. Also, Paynes did a great maniacal character. I thought the creature looked too hokey. The acting of some of the patients (and Payne and Lister) did much better than the lead role. The plot was somewhat unoriginal, and yet also very original at the same time. Still, I wouldn't flunk this one. I think a D- is sufficient. I'd watch it again, if it was on TV for free, but I wouldn't recommend it except as a last resort. Hey, that's not too bad, considering there's many movies I wouldn't even recommend for that.