Color, 1972, 99m. / Directed by Peter Newbrook / Starring Robert Stephens, Robert Powell / AllDay (US R1 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1)
A real curio, the film boasts first-rate performances from all involved and is truly amazing to look at, with some gorgeously ornate set design and silky photography which admirably captures the misty feeling of an era gone by. The reason for the film's lack of recognition probably lies in the fact that it can't really be classified. Though it contains elements of horror, fantasy, and period drama, The Asphyx exists in a sort of hazy netherworld between the three. The potentially campy subject matter receives a deadpan and brooding treatment which causes more impatient viewers to dismiss it as talky or boring. Imagine an Amicus horror film crossed with a very cerebral Dr. Who episode, and you'll get the idea. Past video editions have been a pretty sorry bunch, usually from public domain video labels with scratchy, miserable pan and scan editions that destroy any sense of visual style. Fortunately, this edition perfectly letterboxes the scope image and reveals of number of imaginative camera setups and lighting schemes impossible to appreciate on past editions. For example, a full five years before Suspiria, note the way Stephens and Powell are often placed within the same frame but lit with completely different colours, bright red and blue respectively. In fact, the obsessive use of the colour blue adds to the chilly, uneasy atmosphere the film creates and has never been presented so strongly as it is here. The only drawback is the soundtrack, which sounds fine on a TV monitor but reveals some unfortunate deterioration and scratchiness when listened to carefully. Also includes the original US pressbook and a scene selection feature.
The Asphyx, also known as Spirit of the Dead, hinges on a concept straight out of The Twilight Zone or, more likely, Night Gallery. In turn of the century England, an up and coming scientist (Robert Stephens) discovers through a series of photographs and films the existence of an "asphyx" - an amorphous spirit hovering over people at the moment of death or in situations of mortal peril. With the assistance of Robert Powell (a fine, very intense actor best known as Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth and for his appearances in Ken Russell's Mahler and Tommy), Stephens manages to capture the asphyx of a guinea pig, thus rendering the animal unable to die. Giddy with the thought of immortality, the two men arrange to capture Stephens' asphyx as well. Naturally, the subsequent events do not go as planned, and several tragic twists ensue.
