Doom Asylum is divisive as it's a late in the day 80's slasher with sardonic, post-punk pre-grunge 'edge', low-fi aesthetic and is presented in distracting aspect ratio(s). What a Doom Asylum defendant's biggest hurdle to jump is the film's attempts at 'comedy'. Troma is obviously an influence here and i can dig that, but it is inconsistent and the film feels as if it's trying to deny to the audience it's own self awareness. A similar discrepancy found in those obnoxious faux-grindhouse films of the late 2000's. This awkward smarter than thou attitude came to define the horror genre from Nightmare on Elm Street onward until Saw and it is one that keeps me steered well clear of 90's horror even to this day, with examples such as Hellgate (1990) being a supremely irritating piece of nonsense to sit through.
I don't know whether it's because of it's release in a much misunderstood time period for cinema, the late 80's, the fact that is was shot in an actual asylum that treated STD's or that enough tropes of the slasher film remain in tact, but Doom Asylum has 'it'. It remains authentic and sincere despite the comedy. In fact, due to the inept delivery, it has it due to the comedy. It's a weighty time capsule that tells you so much about the period it was made in, it feels at times like a stream of consciousness taken straight out of the head of a horror fan from the time. A Fangoria subscribed, bougie crass video store geek who thinks he should know better but doesn't, but he just doesn't know in the first place.
Now before i go on about how post-modernism will lead to a satanist overlord uprising, i'll conclude by saying Doom Asylum IS a wildly entertaining independent horror film from a time when the industry had more money and enthusiastic contributors than it does now. It's a manic depressive, head on car crash combination of knowing parody and cynical exploitation and if you like your horror Gothic, esoteric and opaque like i do, then look no further.
