American Horror Story: Asylum

American Horror Story: Asylum (2012), includes several mental health stories that include: mental health diagnoses, 1964 era mental hospital issues, out of date mental health treatments like shock therapy and boiling baths. There is also continuous Nazis experimentation on the mentally ill, and a plot surrounding horror.The AHS is a long series of horror shows from 2011 to 2022. Each season changes the location setting of the story. This is a easy to binge watch type of horror show. If you are looking for a horror show about psycology, psychiatry, hospitals, paranormal activity, Aliens, Nazis, and Nuns, this season is for you.The plot has several 5 Star stories. The plot includes some of the Briarcliff Asylum's patient stories prior to their residency. Patients experiences include: alien abductions, Nazi experimentation, the criminally insane, investigative journalism, demonic possesion, exorcism, family massacres, WW2 Nazi concentration camps, fabrication of evidence, wrongful arrests, and more.The positive rating in this review does not mean this show's violent acts and torture, are a legal and medical way to treat a mental health condition and patient. This is a fictional movie only and violent acts should not be allowed in any clinc, Hospital, or Asylum. There is some compassion seen even with this show's fictional spolight on mental health abuse, fraud, and waste. These are all out of the horrors of history, and possibly some still go on in 2022.The 5 Stars rating is because of the acting of the cast. Several of the cast includes: Dylan McDermott, Zachary Quinto, Joseph Fiennes, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lile Rabe, Lizzie Brochere, James Cromwell, Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigney, Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan, Clea Duvall, Mark Consuelos, Brintne Oldford, Joe Egender, Mark Englehardt, Marc Aden Gray, Naomi Grossman, Glorio Laino, Henry G. Sanders, and Franka Potente. Each acting performance added to the telling of the story. Not every scene was horror nonstop requiring different types of performances. This was a horror show and some of the acting was very realistic and not fake exaggerating. There are more cast members. These performances were fictional. The positive rating was not for the glamourization of violence some viewers might tend to only see. There are many points of view in this horror show, and it does send more warning messages against these threats.The writing by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear, is also entertaining, making it a 5 Star show.There is also some trivia adding to the 5 Star rating for American Horror Story: Asylum (2012).Episode 1 Briarcliff AsylumThe song "Dominique" that plays constantly in the common room was not chosen at random. Jeanine Deckers - also known as Soeur Sourire or "The Singing Nun" had recorded the song to raise money for her convent's mission in Brussels. She eventually left the order to be with her lover, a novice nun eleven years younger than herself. When the two took their own lives together in 1985 she was deeply in debt for the taxes owed on the over $100,000 in royalties the iconic song earned. Money she never saw a cent of, as all profits continued to go to the Catholic church.The score for the movie Carrie (1976) can be heard when Lana (Sarah Paulson) first arrives at Briarcliff.The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.The old Orange County Courthouse (exterior shots of the front of "Briarcliff") was used in another movie starring Jessica Lange. The biopic, "Frances" (1982) , explores the (partially true) life story of Frances Farmer, a Seattle-born, groundbreaking actress of the 1930's & 1940's,who gained notoriety for her unconventional behavior, the sensationalized accounts of her life and, in particular, her multiple psychiatric hospital admissions. In "Frances", near the beginning of the movie, a newsreel is shown. Unfortunately, the only part of the building visible in the newsreel are the arches, however, they are extremely recognizable.Naomi Grossman has also played her role as Pepper in the American Horror Story season 4, 'Freak Show'.Episode 2 Tricks and TreatsTwo actors in this episode also have ties to another television series dealing with the paranormal. Fredric Lehne (Frank McCann) previously starred on the television series Supernatural (2005), as the Yellow Eyed Demon, Azazel. Clea DuVall (Wendy Peyser) previously starred in the movie Ten Inch Hero (2007) with Supernatural (2005) star Jensen Ackles.Episode 3 Nor'easterCoincidentally, the episode aired the same week Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the northeastern United States.This was the first episode of American Horror Story to air on Halloween night.The lyrics that Sister Jude recites after introducing the film ("Hold your head up high/And don't be afraid of the dark/At the end of the storm/There's a golden sky/And the sweet silver song of the lark/Walk on, through the wind/Walk on, through the rain/Though your dreams be tossed and blown/Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart/And you'll never walk alone") come from the 1946 musical Carousel. It was recorded many times, even by the point this season takes place.The newspaper that Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) receives with the mail was dated June 28th, 1949. Jessica Lange's birth year is 1949.Sister Jude has a memory from her past when she was driving at night. She hit a pedestrian with her car that was walking in the middle of the road. It appears like she was distressed about the memory of this accident. She appears very contradictory as a Nun from the begining of the show so this is not a spoiler but another reason to watch. Throughout this season she adds to the Asylum's psychological drama, tension, and story. As much of a monster of perfection she appears to be, she also has several very ordinary human errors that seem deceptively humorous in a horror. She makes Nuns look powerful and her performance is a reason to watch this show.Episode 4 I Am Anne Frank: Part 1James Cromwell's real-life son, John Cromwell, plays the younger version of Arden in the black and white flashback scenes.Chloë Sevigny is credited as Special Guest Star.Joel McKinnon Miller also played a detective on the show Brooklyn Nine NineHans Grupers/Dr. Arden's, played by James Cromwell, interest in twins clearly mirrors Dr. Josef Mengeles experiments on twins during WW2 in Auschwitz.Episode 5 I Am Anne Frank: Part 2In season two (Asylum), the character of Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) carries a replica of the silver wolf's head cane carried by Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) in Dark Shadows (2012).Joseph Fiennes is credited but doesn't appear, and Chloë Sevigny is credited as Special Guest Star.Episode 6 The Origins of MonstrosityThe little girl seems to be based on Mary Bell, one of the youngest serial killers known to date (age 10).When Mary takes off her top to be naked at the pool party while standing on the diving board, and then jumping quickly into the water, is obviously a homage of Cybil Shepard's frontal nude scene in The Last Picture Show.Lizzie Brocheré is credited but doesn't appear. Chloë Sevigny is credited as Special Guest Star.Episode 7 Dark CousinNurse Fuller (Erin Allin O'Reilly: I went to see Lilies of the Field last night. Referencing the 1963 movie, Lilies of the Field (1963), starring Sidney Poitier as an unemployed construction worker who helps a group of nuns build a new church. Poitier won the Best Actor Oscar for his role.Frances Conroy (The Angel Of Death) and James Cromwell (Dr. Arthur Arden) co-starred together in Six Feet Under (2001) on HBO.Episode 8 Unholy NightThe creators of the show may have been heavily influenced by the cult horror classic Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) for this episode. The movie follows the story of a killer in a Santa suit set out for revenge against the head nun of an institution who abused him.Trivia connections were made between the (2022) Violent Night, with the previous (1984) Silent Night, Deadly Night mentioned above. Then a similiar reference back to the Santa in Asylum (2012). Note, there was a more historical background about Santa portrayed in Violent Night supporting the plot. Asylum was more of a horror Santa plot. Violent Night magic Santa and the horror show Asylum Santa are very different comparisons. The Amazon Prime summary of Violent Night (2022) includes: A Team of Mercenaries breaks into a mansion on Christmas Eve, but they are not ready for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour). The Violent Night Santa uses violence to save Christmas. That movie violence could be all considered self defense.The tender on the train is supposed to read "Lionel Lines." They covered the Lionel portion.Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe): Well, I say... "Bah humbug." Referencing the famous line of Scrooge in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, immortalized on stage and screen. It tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, who learns the true meaning of Christmas after being visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.Episode 9 The Coat HangerWhen Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) says "The bad news is, the rabbit died," she is referring to an early form of pregnancy test known as the rabbit test or the Aschheim-Zondek test. Developed in 1927, the test - originally performed on mice - involved injecting a woman's urine into a mouse or rabbit and later observing the changes in the animal's reproductive organs during its autopsy. While all animals involved in this testing would need to be killed in order for the examination to take place, the misconception that the animal would only die if injected with a pregnant woman's urine led to the usage of the phrase "the rabbit died" as a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test.The opening scene shows Dylan McDermott's character (Johnny Morgan), seeing a therapist for impulse control. In season 1 he played a psychiatrist himself.Frances Conroy (The Angel Of Death) and James Cromwell (Dr. Arthur Arden) co-starred together in Six Feet Under (2001) on HBO.Dr. Gardner (Brooke Smith) becomes a victim of a man who likes to skin women alive. Smith played a victim to a man who liked to skin women in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) (a film which is payed homage to throughout this season).Episode 10 The Name GameThis episode is the third highest rated by viewers of all the American Horror Story episodes to date.Prisoner G2573 has biblical references throughout. G 7th letter of the alphabet. 2+5=7. 7. 3 is also considered a divine number due to the trinity. This leaves you with 777 3.Frances Conroy (The Angel Of Death) and James Cromwell (Dr. Arthur Arden) also co-starred together in Six Feet Under (2001) on HBO.Before the episode aired, Ryan Murphy announced that the episode would have a clue to the next season. The clue was revealed to be the song Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) played, named "I Put a Spell on You" (revealing the next season to be Coven).The gun Dr. Arden uses to kill the experiment subjects with is a Luger, heavily favored by the Nazi and the SS officers.Episode 11 Spilt MilkWhen Lana Winters is leaving Briarcliff the theme from Candyman by Philip Glass is the background music (Helen's Theme - Philip Glass (Candyman, 1992).Episode 12 ContinuumSister Jude (Jessica Lange) is watching The Flying Nun (1967), a late 60's comedy about a nun who can fly.Lana says to Kit "what do you think of Tuesday Weld as me." Tuesday Weld, an actress in the 60s, was best friends with Jessica Lange and actually dated Mikhail Baryshnikov after he and Lange broke up in 1982.Lily Rabe and James Cromwell are credited but don't appear.The first episode rated under eightFrances Conroy (The Angel Of Death) and James Cromwell (Dr. Arthur Arden) also co-starred together in Six Feet Under (2001) on HBO.Music: Eve of Destruction (Barry McGuire), All Along the Watchtower (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)Despite playing her son, Dylan McDermott was 53, while his mom, Sarah Paulson, was 39.Episode 13 Madness EndsIn her expose on Briarcliff Manor, Lana (Sarah Paulson) says almost the exact words as Geraldo Rivera did in his 1972 documentary on Willowbrook State School: "These images and sounds are far more powerful than any words that can be spoken. But how can I describe to you the way it smells? It reeks of filth, of disease. It smells of death." (Originally: "This is what is looked like, this is what it sounded like but how can I tell you about the way it smelled? It smelled of filth, it smelled of disease, and it smelled of death.")Sarah Paulson plays an elderly woman in this last episode, created with make up, and her son Johnny, played by Dylan McDermott, also appears in the episode. In real life, McDermott is 14 years older than Paulson.Sarah Paulson's reporter walk-through scene in Asylum was pulled directly from actual footage of Bill Baldini's exposé piece on Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, PA. Baldini's work led to the closure of Pennhurst and the release of all its patients. Pennhurst is now the location of a seasonal haunted house and has been featured on numerous shows, due to the reported extreme paranormal activity in Pennhurst's buildings.Music: I Feel the Earth Move (Carole King), Jump, Jive an' Wail (Louis Prima).Lily Rabe, Lizzie Brocheré, and James Cromwell are credited but don't appear.There is more American Horror Story: Asylum trivia on IMDB.This show is not recommended for people that do not want to watch a horror show. There are adult themes, violence, and sex. Do not watch this if you have post traumatic stress disorder from mental health Doctors and Hospitals.If you like AHS: Asylum (2012), all the other AHS seasons are available on Amazon Prime.

I can understand Falchuk and Murphy's desire to really "cut loose" in the second series of AHS. I can fully grasp their desire to experiment with a more graphic visual realization of creepy ideas and open more doors for the excellent cast to enter and display their scene-chewing chops, but gratuitousness, in and of itself, should never be mistaken for artfulness in a series format, and nothing can mask the abominable pacing, incoherent plotting, half-baked ideas and shoehorned "resolutions" they served-up in Season Two. The first season ("Murder House") series struck an almost perfect balance between shocking visual horrors and compelling psychological drama -- all driven by a strong, linear plot that delivered not only the right amount of chills but enough necessary "suspension of disbelief" to allow viewers ample space to really feel something for the characters.'Asylum' fails on all counts except for the remarkable acting, the fabulous cinematography and the outright inventiveness apparent in its creators' ambitions, at least initially. The biggest problem is that the creators simply (and quite clearly) lost control of their own inventiveness, and we have, basically, an overcooked and only occasionally frightening mess. Does AHS: Asylum have its stunning moments? You BET it does! But those moments, scattered here and there like unexpected jewels amid the poor plotting, instead of being the natural fruit of good plotting, do not make for a uniformly convincing effort, much less a classic. Please, guys. Not everyone on earth is a scatterbrained refugee of the dumbed-down Subculture of the Aimless, bizarrely "proud" of their self-diagnosed (or lazily diagnosed) ADHD. Do it the way it's always been done: Great Idea, Great Characters, Great Plot, Great Performances, Great Visuals, and Great Execution -- then make those aspects work harmoniously. You'll satisfy anyone with a functioning brain. Don't throw a hundred disconnected motifs at us in the hope we'll mistake the sensory overload for a satisfying story. Can't fool us all, you know.Let's look at what works wonderfully in Series Two: Jessica Lange's knockout performance as Sister Jude/Judy Martin/"Betty Drake" is pure gold, and the entire season is worth watching just for her simmering, subtle, scary, spectacularly nuanced portrayal alone. Sarah Paulson's work as Lana nearly rivals that of Lange's, but the overall plot development for Paulson's character was better than what was given to Lange, so I'm sure that helped. Lana/Paulson gets to show the viewer more of her varied, lively dimensions because those dimensions are written into the plot and she can act-up-a-storm with them. Sister Jude's story is more boxed-in and her layers are inferred, manifested more by implication (e.g. a few unconvincing flashback scenes) than by any really meaty development of her character in the storyline. The rest of the cast is also quite good. Evan Peters delivers another great reading, even though his character, here, is not written with as much flair and depth as the 'Tate' character in season one. Still, he gets the most out of it, just like Lange did with her curiously under-written role. James Cromwell has some good moments as Doctor Arden, though his plot line soon becomes the most woefully disoriented and adrift of all the major characters' stories. Lily Rabe is excellent as the dual-spirited Sister Mary Eunice; her restrained, focused work really gives you the creeps on a number of occasions. Zachary Quinto is just great in a kind of blatantly ripped-off Silence of the Lambs "Jame Gumm" role. Chloe Sevigny turns in a good performance as the nymphomaniac. Joseph Fiennes is the only acting disaster in this tale, in my opinion. Fiennes is woefully miscast as the ambitious Monsignor (who is obviously British and who baptizes serial killers by IMMERSION in a kiddie-pool in front of the chapel altar and who is suddenly fast-tracked straight to a Cardinal's chair, bypassing bishop, after running a madhouse for years? Really, fellas? Really? If you're going to bash the Catholic Church as an institution --and that's fine by me-- do some freakin' research about the basic manner in which it operates. LAZY = I get distracted from the already ham-handed story because some dumb plot development forces me to say: "Wait a sec ... that would never happen in a million years." ~Suspension of disbelief: that is just one example of glaring violation in Season Two~). Fiennes acting is Pinnochio-wooden, but the rest of the cast really shines, I must say. Even the pinhead, Pepper (Gosh -- worth buying to see that ugliness alone).The sets and costumes are also magnificent. Every one of them. The asylum common room may be a bit contrived and at times goofy in its melange of wandering, method-acting extras, but overall the atmosphere of claustrophobia and perversion and inescapable wickedness is on lavish display for audiences, particularly in the HD Blu-Ray formatting. Attention-to-detail and expert cuts and blocks and angles make this a complete thrill to behold. So many images and sequences are truly affecting: The Angel of Death, the Name Game interlude (SING IT, Jessica Lange!), the Possession scene, the grainy "investigative report" scenes filmed by Lana as she goes back to Briarcliff, etc.What fails: the story, many of the concepts, and the plot development. Big time. The basic setting of a mental institution run by a nun-with-a-past, a secret Nazi torturer, a nun possessed by a minion of Hell, a reporter with a scent for trouble, a psychiatrist with a terrifying secret, and an ambitious cleric -- all of whom are affected by the arrival of a particularly notorious serial killer ("Bloody Face") provided MORE than enough fertile ground for cohesive development of an addictive, compelling story featuring natural and supernatural scares. No inordinate additives needed. Instead, the tale is sabotaged from the outset by some godawful crap about alien abductions and probings and fixations and possible impregnations that goes ABSOLUTELY nowhere, is never remotely explained, contemplated, or resolved and seems attached to the main plot with Elmer's glue, like macaroni artwork to a kindergartner's post-nap time construction-paper project. Truly stupid. Dr. Arden was an ambitious character, but his experiments on the "woodland dwellers" made no sense whatsoever. We are encouraged to fear the beasts we cannot quite see outside the Asylum, but in the end we learn that they are ... pretty much POINTLESS and needed only to provide Mark Consuelos with a job? Luckily, they are disposed-of in the way that most awful, tangential plot devices are disposed-of by the clearly in-over-their-heads creators/writers. Wow, that was just ... ridiculous.This brings us to the gore itself: The gore was way overdone and quite often heaved at us at all the wrong times. Of course, gore is grand in a true horror tale, but let the "gory serve the story" ... and not the other way around. The misplaced, mistimed and misbegotten gore "shocks" distracted from this viewer's attempt to actually care about these characters. By the end, I didn't. For example, the immolation scene w/ Arden and Sister Mary Eunice was filmed as if viewers were expected to feel some wistful, poignant moment ... WHAH? The scene was actually, laugh-out-loud hilariously stupid and what viewer in their right mind would care about Arden to begin with? The writers tried, at various junctures, to give a glimpse of some redemptive humanity in Arden, but a disfiguring, sadistic,torturing Nazi lobotomist & Mad Scientist needed a LOT more "humanizing" if we were truly expected not to chuckle at his final scene. Again, this is one of many examples of the herky-jerky writing that neutralized any truly compelling quality in the overall story. Others abound. Alma appearing (with baby) in Kit's trashed house (What had she been doing for months? Not cleaning, that's for sure.). Dylan McDermott's little storyline was largely hokey and über-contrived (but kudos for the best stunt-casting EVER with the girl who played Katherine Martin in "Lambs" becoming the victim of ... a skin-flayer!) and the interlude with the breast-milk fetish was utterly (udderly?) brilliant with stupidity. What an unintentional howler! Basically, the sense that the creators and writers were caught in a riptide of convoluted plot-holes, dead-end detours, incoherent tangents and narrative doom was bracingly apparent midway through the season.I "get" that much of this season was intended to be an "homage" to the vast and complex magnificence of the horror-genre itself, but you make your "homages" appear as subtle little gifts throughout the story, boys & girls. You don't make them into the building-blocks and entire scaffolding of your overall project. That's a great recipe for losing your grip on a potentially spectacular tale. That's what happened here, with Season Two. Visually stunning and expertly acted and rife with many gripping, isolated moments -- AHS:Asylum is a gigantic, ambitious and expensively appointed story that, unfortunately, never manages to equal the sum of its many flailing parts -- the superb and the harebrained. I was dismayed by the lack of cleverness, because I bought the series without having seen any of the televised episodes, based upon my admiration for the excellent craftsmanship in series One.These things being noted: any true horror fan should add this to their collection. It is well worth owning as a landmark in horror films (and let's face it -- these have the cinematographic ambition of big-screen films, after all). The Blu-Ray edition is immaculate, with all the usual bells and whistles. Though I do believe the creators lost their way, mightily, with Asylum, it's still light years better than 99% of the crap you'll see elsewhere on TV and in theaters. I realize that isn't saying much, but it is meant as a compliment. Falchuk and Murphy have promised a return to a much more story-centered, calibrated exploration of supernatural/horror themes with series three (Coven) and I think they have all the talent to make something even better than Murder House. It won't take much to get better than this. I look forward to Series Three.

I was pleasantly surprised at the improvent. Much better than the first season and certainly good enough to make me see the others.Season two covers an eclectic mix of supernatural topics ranging from demonic posession to alien abduction. All set against a backdrop of human cruelty and depravity in a lunatic asylum with a serial killer mystery arc running through the whole thing.At first it seems far too crowded and broad in terms of story but I quickly got swept along with it and was hooked. The alien storyline was fascinating but annoyingly unresolved. It loses 1 star for not bothering to wrap up lose ends properly.Some characters you hate but grow to like, others you like but grow to hate. All go on journeys of some kind and this ultimately is what gripped me as a viewer.At times the episodes are a little brutal and torturous but there are also touches of great sensitivity and emotion especially toward the end.For me the finale disappointed but nonetheless I enjoyed the series thoroughly.

If somebody told me before I start to watch the show that the themes of it will be asylum,serial killer,God vs Devil,aliens,nazis and twisted experiments with mentally ill patients,I probably would've said "That sounds wack". But I actually watch the show and man...I was sooo so so wrong.Definately the best season of the show by far.Everyting was mixed so good and with cast like this one...the result is nothing but Great ! Especially the " Name Game" scene - one of the greatest things I saw on TV. A mandatory for every AHS fan!

FANTASTIC!!Found the first couple of episodes quite scary and I wasn't sure if I would be able to cope with watching this and then sleeping at night but once again the underlying story takes over and you invest in the characters and want to see what happens.Great performances from all the big names - Jessica Lange is fantastic as is Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe and Sarah Paulson.Quite dark in places - not for the faint hearted.We are now on to season 3 - love it.

Older teen thinks this is great. Not for me but if they're Happy I'm happy.

My husband and I love american horror story but have only recently picked it up.The creepiest were definitely asylum and hotel (no.5) 3 and 4 weren't particularly scary and I only found series 1 scary because I didn't know what to expect. I love the dark humour, I just wish the series were longer! 12/13 episodes is not enough to satisfy!