 | |
List Price: $19.95 | | Label: Hen's Tooth Video
Salesrank: 18475
Released: October 27, 2009 |
| Our Price: $13.68 |
| Used Price: $12.97 |
|
MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Robert Stephens stars as Sir Hugo Cunningham, a 19th-century amateur scientist and dabbler in psychic phenomena. His experiments in the new art of photography lead him to discover the Asphyx: an apparition that appears suddenly in the moment before death. He postulates that if the Asphyx can be trapped it may render a creature immortal. He begins humbly, experimenting first with a guinea pig but soon progresses to members of his own family. THE ASPHYX is a cautionary tale of horror, exquisitely photographed by Freddie Young (David Lean's cinematographer) and directed in the Hammer tradition by Peter Newbrook. Color, 99 minutes, Rated PG, Widescreen Letterboxed Format (2.35:1)
Description 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 passé 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
The Asphyx Reviews:
Love the movie 
2009-09-23 - My husband has been wanting this movie for awhile, so I checked out amazon and there it was. Great movie at a great price I will continue purchasing from amazon.
"Damned To Eternal Guilt, Damned To Eternal Remorse..." 
2009-02-22 - 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.
Overlooked & Underhyped
2008-07-29 - "The Asphyx" is a 1973 British horror film directed by Peter Newbrook. It was also known as "Spirit of the Dead" and "The Horror of Death". It stars Robert Stephens and Robert Powell.
It tells the exploits of rich Scientist-Philanthropist Sir Hugo Cunningham, who discovers an unimaginable blur being recorded while he searches the negatives of dying men whom he had recorded. Later on, at a party, he is making a motion picture of his wife and son, who are playing in a pool and ends up filming their accidental deaths as well. At first, Cunningham doesn't realize that he's captured that same misshapen blur on the camera, but once he does, he comes to a conclusion: that the blur is a person's soul leaving the body. It isn't until he re-examines the pictures and film however, that he makes the startling discovery that the blur was not moving away from the bodies of those who were dying, it was moving TOWARDS them. After doing some research, the good Doctor finds that he has found a ticket to immortality through the blur, an ancient Greek spirit known as an "Asphyx". According to legends, the spirit will appear only at the moment of a person's death to take them away to the Underworld. Cunningham, in his brilliant madness soon deduces that if he can only stop this process from happening at all, it would make any person immortal and unable to die... unless their particular Asphyx is released.
The Doctor soon goes to his task and makes a deal with his adopted son for help in perfecting and utilizing the procedures, and, from there his laboratory becomes filled with torturous devices and instruments of death. He soon comes to understand however, that immortality comes at a high price, not easily fulfilled by mortal man.
Creepy, huh?
Thoughtful horror movie
2007-12-31 - The Asphyx is set apart from the usual run of horror movies by its intelligent and literate script and a more thoughtful tone than we usually get from the genre
The setting is London in the year 1873 .The protagonist is a distinguished amateur scientist and beloved philantrophist ,Sir Hugo Cunningham (Robert Stephens)a man obsessed by research into psychic pheneomena ,a result of his son's accidental death some years previously.During his researches he makes a major discovery-when photographing people at the very point of death Sir Hugo finds that every single shot has a distinctive smudge on it .They depict a strange,blurry shape .It is not due to a defect in the photographic process ;the chemicals used in the process have resulted in his being able to photograph and immobilise The Asphyx ,the spirit of Death which according to ancient Greek mythology comes for every living soul at the hour of their departure.Aided by his foster son Giles (Robert Powell ) he traps the Asphyx of a guines pig thus rendering the creature immortal .He traps his own Asphyx and endeavours to do the same for Giles and his natural daughter Christie (Jane Lapotaire).Things go badly awry ,the results being tragic and truly horrible especially for Sir Hugo
The movie is not without some problems of logic -why for example did Hugo change the method of inducing death given that the original method employed worked in his own case ?Also The actual Asphyx is pretty unconvincing -it is clearly a puppet.
However what you do get is a cerebral Gothic movie with elements of horror and the supernatural .Its conclusion -some 100 years into the future- is genuinely disturbing -and the movie while morbid and a genuine oddity is also thoughtful ,well made and acted with conviction by a talented cast .It is a movie where -unusually for the genre -the scientist is a genuinely nice guy ,motivated by a desire to do good .
I urge those wanting a variation from the genre norm to give this movie a try
Intelligent Science Fiction Horror Film
2006-09-16 - Here's a film whose focus preoccupies us all at points in our lives. Science Fiction, though regarded often as adventure or travel to exotic planets, concerns itself often with spirituality, about the very fundamentals of life and death.
Take the races of Star Trek whose spirituality is essential to them such as Bajorans or the Vulcans. Indeed, for Vulcans, the "katra" or "soul" can be preserved or even transferred from person to person as we see in "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock". While in the Star Wars universe, there's the "force" an energy manifestation which manipulates objects, causes damage or can be used for healing.
This 1973 British film has the atmospheric feel of a Hammer Horror film. Most of the characters in "The Asphyx" are obsessed with death, as it's all around them. Dying and its aftermath are deftly explored through photography and an invention a scientist has perfected. Before long, he's playing with powerful forces beyond his control and everyone he tries to help and each plan attempted simply goes awry. A more recent film, with a similar vibe is "Flatliners" - starring Julia Roberts.
So if you enjoy more serious or spiritual aspects of Science Fiction, give "The Asphyx" a try. It's definitely not a joyful thrill ride, but the questions it explores are those which we've all thought about. More darkly thrilling and at times even horrific than just a purely intellectual exercise, "The Asphyx" will definitely stay in your memory far after the credits roll.
