The Asphyx (1972)

The Asphyx (PG) - Review

"Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected"

In Victorian England, Sir Hugo is a prominent member of a Parapsychology club.  Their latest study purports to show evidence of the soul, as photographic evidence of dying men seem to have visual smudges around their person.  Hugo is skeptical of this explanation, and the subsequent accidental death of his own son leads to dire experimentations that lead to the downfall of his lordship and the rest of his family.

The Asphyx (the Greek name for a kind of mythological grim reaper), sets you up for an almost stereotypically classical English film, the environs of Pride and Prejudice would not be far removed from these stately estates.  However, as the movie progresses and the stakes keep getting higher, the warm cheery atmosphere belies the ugly creepiness that settles into the film.  Hugo's obsessive zeal for his findings, the ramping up of experiments, the rather grim outlook on life and death, all of it builds into a classy yet spooky ghost tale that (unlike all those dreadful Hammer films) retains the Gothic scares and yet is refreshingly modern.  The visual effects may be hokily old fashioned, but they work to convey the horror of the unknown and the unknowable, while the cinematography and acting are both top notch.  The Asphyx film manages to slowly strangle with cold unseen fingers of science, for it's the realistically manic intelligence of these characters as they manipulate the forces of nature and mortality that is the scariest monster here.

7 Deaths by Guinea Pigs out of 10 (GOOD)