What is the Asylum?

*Originally published on 4/12/12



Some time last year, I discovered a film production company called "The Asylum". They aren't particularly mainstream, but they have garnered a cult following over the years and they are popular with people who like to riff on bad movies.

They are most well known for making "mockbusters". The movies aren't parodies, as the name might imply, but low budget knock-offs. The studio especially likes to take some upcoming major release and release an obvious imitation. For example, when the first Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey Jr. came out, they released their own Sherlock Holmes movie with a different cast and story. When Marvel Studios released Thor, they released their own film called The Almighty Thor, again with a story completely independent of Marvel's release but tying into the hype surrounding said film.

While a majority of their film library does fall into this obvious cash in category, they have also developed a niche for making over the top movies where giant creatures battle each other.

In fact, one of their most well known movies is a little title called Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. The title alone should be a pretty good indicator of what you're in for when you sit down to watch these movies.

When that proved popular, they released other similar films like Mega Piranha (which also doubles as a cash in on Piranha 3-D), Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, and Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, which was an official sequel to Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus.

The movies themselves usually have a budget of a million dollars, and even that is probably on the high end. Even so, the movies do manage to make enough to sustain the company, allowing them to make more movies.

This has been beneficial for the SyFy channel, as they have become an unofficial sponsor of the studio. A lot of the movies now open by saying that they were produced for that channel specifically.

The movies themselves are generally panned (not surprising as from a technical standpoint, they are quite terrible), but you get the feeling that the studio is very much in on the joke. As such, the movies become rather satisfying entertainment. Granted, they're not for everyone, but if you're in the right mindset, these movies can be quite a bit of fun.