I had been skipping over The Asphyx for some time, mainly because of its PG rating. I certainly dig the British horror movies of the era, but I figured that the PG would equal "kind of slow, without a lot of blood and nudity to keep you alert late at night." And it turns out that assumption is correct. But today wound up being a morning movie, so I ended up enjoying The Asphyx over a hot cup of coffee on a relaxing weekend morning. And to that end, it worked perfectly. It will never be considered a juggernaut of action and thrills, but it's a perfectly acceptable flick with just enough eerieness and atmosphere to keep things moving at a good pace.
It's the early 1900's (I think) and wealthy Englishman (think Downtown Abbey-lite) named Hugo Cunningham (Robert Stephens) is headed back to his estate after a trip abroad. He's getting ready to introduce his children to his new fiancee - his first wife died some time ago. This group - Cunningham, his fiancee, and 3 children/significant others, gives us a reasonably-sized group of people to eventually be put into peril. He is is a man of many hobbies - since he comes from money and doesn't seem to have a job, what else should he do? He's an avid photographer, and this being the early 1900s, the equipment is very expensive and unwieldy, but really cool looking. Cunningham is also involved in a paranormal research group (I think it's called "parapsychology" here). Their most recent experiments involve taking pictures of people at the moment of their death. When the pictures are developed, they find a mysterious black smudge lingering around the subject. Cunningham believes that this is the person's asphyx - some sort of paranormal entity that goes after a person at the moment of death and helps their soul move on to the next world. He hypothesizes what could happen if one could manage to capture an asphyx... could the subject no longer die? Using his photographic technology (namely his ray-gun looking phosphorescent lighting apparatus), he attempts to do just that, and ends up playing God in the process. That always works out well.
The Asphyx is a pretty low-key but effective horror film, and the setting really influences the overall vibe. I'm not entirely certain exactly when it is supposed to take place, but several things add up to a create an intriguing environment:
(1) The old castle - it's a little too drab to feel totally gothic it the traditional sense, but it's still pretty cool. It's a nice set design with lots of turn of the century furniture/linens/etc., and clearly the Cunningham family has plenty of money. The film actually plays around a bit with the concept of the arrogance of the wealthy - Cunningham feels like he's entitled to play God, because he knows what's best for his fortune, and consequently the poor people of the surrounding town. Trickle down economics and all.
(2) The period appropriate attire. I'm still smitten enough with old British horror movies to get into the costumes, the hairstyles, and the accents - and they are all fun in The Asphyx. Calling it "Hammer-esque" would be a bit much, but there is definitely an influence here.
(3) The old tymey camera equipment. This is (oddly) what I enjoyed the most. Cunningham's hobby of photography (both still and motion picture) is a driving force in the film. I can't imagine it's historically accurate - one device looks more like a Sci-Fi raygun from the 50s rather than an antiquated lighting machine - but it looks cool. And sometimes that's enough.
As far as the horror goes, The Asphyx manages to be pretty creepy, but stays soundly within its PG rating. The visuals of the titular asphyx are pretty eerie but not overly so - I kept thinking back to the library ghost in Ghostbusters. It seems to be some sort of projected puppet thing that is lo-fi enough that it stays relatively obscured/out of focus. Enough so that you kind of use your imagination to make it scarier. But what really sells it is the way it sounds. It's got multiple vocal tracks of screaming/moaning and so forth. My dog did *not* like it. Otherwise, there isn't any gore or anything too troubling. There are a couple of semi-disturbing execution scenes, but they are pretty bloodless. It's the type of film that is more disturbing conceptually, rather than anything you actually see.
There isn't much to outwardly dislike about the film. Sure, it's maybe a little too straight-laced for it's own good, but it's pretty well paced and engaging. It's a little dry, but never boring, if that makes sense. I guess my biggest complaint would be the "science" involved. Cunningham figures out the science behind the asphyx, tests it once on the a guinea pig (that my dog *really* didn't like) and then decides it's cool to try out on humans. Not the most scientifically responsible thing to do, but whatever.
Overall, The Asphyx is an enjoyable watch. It's a firmly PG-movie - not that there's anything wrong with that - bit it delivers enough moodiness and has a good enough story that it's worth a watch. It's the kind of horror movie that I think you could watch with just about anyone - they might get a little bored, but there's nothing too offensive about it.
I would recommend this film.
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