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| Images courtesy of Kino Lorber |
Producer and cinematographer Peter Newbrook worked as a
cinematographer on a number of smaller projects while most notably serving as a
second unit camera operator to such legendary David Lean fare as The Bridge
on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia before embarking on his one
and done directorial effort: the Victorian era set science-fiction horror flick
The Asphyx.
Also titled Spirit
of the Dead and The Horror of Death depending on the territory, this
cult favorite of directors Edgar Wright and Martin Scorsese despite numerous home
video releases in recent years including a newly restored Kino Lorber blu-ray
still seems to fly beneath the radars of many an obscure horror aficionados. While not necessarily in the same league as a
Hammer horror film with some dated if not campy visual effects sequences that
render the picture a product of its day, this dialogue heavy, cerebral slow
burn does pose some curious notions on the mythos of Frankenstein or Faust
involving the pitfalls of man playing God.
Bookended by a modern-day coda, the film flashes back to
Victorian England where parapsychologist Sir Hugo Cunningham (Robert Stephens) in
a group social study begins photographing people at the moment of death,
capturing on nearly every picture a black smudge believed to be the person’s
soul leaving the body. Cunningham is
unconvinced, but after inadvertently photographing a tragic boating accident
claiming the lives of his son and fiancée, the doctor’s skepticism is thwarted
by the appearance not only of the same dark smudge but that in motion it
appears to be moving towards them instead of away.
Believing it to be The Asphyx, a kind of Greek
mythological Grim Reaper which appears to eat the soul of the departed dead, a
now grief stricken and slightly mad Cunningham draws his adopted son Giles
(Robert Powell) into his stormy occult sphere involving a number of experiments
on guinea pigs with the end goal of somehow trapping and locking away an asphyx
and thus achieving immortality. Trouble
is it comes with a heavy cost with the lives of Giles and now his stepsister
fiancée Christina (Jane Lapotaire) now in grave danger.
Based on an original story by Christina and Lawrence Beers
with additional rewrites by Brian Comport, this costumed period detailed riff
on Frankenstein and the destructive consequences of playing with fire
man was not meant to ignite while being somewhat hokey in parts and not
particularly frightening does present some curious ruminations on the afterlife
and what transpires at the moment of death.
The actual asphyx itself, seen as a ghostly white apparition which is
only visible when a phosphorous spotlight using a drip irrigation valve, looks like
its being dangled and shaken by monofilament wires though its perpetual
screaming sounds will raise a few hairs in some viewers.
Mostly though this period sci-fi/horror outing which feels
somewhere between Hammer horror and Ghostbusters is stunningly lit and
photographed by Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago cinematographer
Freddie Young which easily cements this as one of the best-looking British
horror films of the 1970s. Though the
soundtrack by Bill McGuffie is a bit overwrought generical orchestral fare, the
visuals are so good we don’t mind the musical component not working as
well. Giving a particular class and
panache to the film, compounded with strong performances from the three leads
Robert Stephens and Robert Powell who go back and forth in and out of their own
shares of madness and God complexes, The Asphyx while a bit talky and
even long winded at times takes the concept seriously with committed players
onscreen.
Shot in Todd-AO 35 in 2.35:1 widescreen, the film has seen a
checkered home video release over the years with either truncated prints
circulating or cropped pan-and-scan versions that offset the film’s editing
rhythms and timing. Also missing for years
was the film’s unique color timing which gets increasingly pronounced in
artificiality as the film’s themes of madness and flirtations with death
accelerate.
That is until recently when
the good folks at Kino Lorber did a new scan of both the original UK theatrical
cut and the slightly extended US version which shifts in image quality with the
additional footage, finally presented in the proper panoramic aspect
ratio. Admittedly the titular Asphyx itself
is a lot more frightening as a still photo than in motion, but the rich
Victorian atmosphere, fine performances and lush cinematography still make this
one of the most interesting British gothic horror oddities of the early
1970s.
--Andrew Kotwicki
