The Asphyx

[davidb]

early seventies horror ,seemed like the dorian gray story , i only remember the very end where he's now in modern day times [ well the early 70s ] and he's about a 100 and odd years old and he's shuffling along a street [ the young "spell" might have been broken by now " ] he's maybe being taunted by some kids and he gets run over whilst crossing the road ?

any ideas ?

[wadsy]

Could it be the 1970 version of Dorian Gray with Helmut Berger?

[Euryale]

Sounds like the end of The Asphyx.



E.

[Euryale]

The whole film is up at Youtube and this is the final section:



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqSrqUkBN9E]YouTube - the asphyx 10/10[/ame]



E.

[jaycad]

'tarry dan tarry dan scary old spooky man'?

[davidb]

name='Euryale']The whole film is up at Youtube and this is the final section:



YouTube - the asphyx 10/10



E.

yes thats the one its only a film that ive ever caught the tail end of ,maybe it isnt like the story of dorian gray but its certainly a strange ending . are they faffing about inventing a time machine or something ?

[Euryale]

name='davidb']yes thats the one its only a film that ive ever caught the tail end of ,maybe it isnt like the story of dorian gray but its certainly a strange ending . are they faffing about inventing a time machine or something ?

From what I can remember, the Asphyx is an ancient spirit that collects your soul at the point of death. Robert Stephens thinks that if you can prevent it doing this, then you can become immortal. He starts conducting experiments which lead to disaster, and him getting hoisted by his own petard - wants to die after all, but can't! Never mess with Mother Nature always seems to be the moral of this type of film!



E.

[GRAEME]

I saw this recently for the first time. They are making a remake as we speak!!!

It is utterly potty. Most oddly there is a "hamster" or "rat" who become immortal along with Robert Stephens which is clearly played by a guinea pig!

The "science" is balmy; the executions contrived - electricution, gassing, guillotining for gawd's sake! The act is, to be kind, rather arch. Stephens always could be over-ripe, but he's completely off the leash here.

Robert Powell and Jane Lapotaire are at their prettiest - and I did find the hairs on the back of my neck prickling at the Asphyx itself... it is a creepy idea and all the over-egged sincerity of the cast and the fabulous decor, mad as it all is, really sold the fantasy as a kind of deranged dream.

I'd recommend it to lovers of camp and later British Horror flicks.

The real question is: why did I never see this before? Was it never on TV? I watched all those late night double bills of horror in the 70s, how did I miss this little gem?

[Gerald Lovell]

It has been shown on television quite a few times, Graeme, though I think not part of those double bills. I first saw it when it was shown on BBC1.

[smudge]

It's not until relatively recently that The Asphyx was repeated with any frequency. I remember watching it in the early days of secondary school then having to wait a positive age before it was repeated again - perhaps in my college years. It's one of those obscure little Brit horrors that I have always championed, principally for having such an unusual base premise and for the sumptuous Victorian era production design.

Robert Stephens wasn't the greatest horror/fantasy actor of all time and probably left a few holes around the set, but the film just about manages to overcome such relatively minor failings, I always felt.

Smudge

[m35541]

Potentially interesting but too long and lumbered with several technical howlers (the point at which Stephens' Victorian camera suddenly develops a zoom lens for example) and with some ludicrous points of plot detail including the ridiculously over-engineered deaths and a critical plot point hinging on the guinea pig/hamster chewing through a piece of string at the vital moment. The recent Odeon DVD is uncut (99m) and in the correct Scope ratio. Avoid the old Anchor Bay DVD which is cut (87m) and horribly pan and scanned.