''Exeter'' (titled ''The Asylum'' in the UK) is a 2015 American
supernatural horror film
Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common theme ...
directed by
Marcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel is a German film director and producer, Fulbright Scholar, best known for several high-profile American remakes such as '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'', as well as an extensive career in television commercials and music videos. ...
. The screenplay by Kirsten McCallion is from a story by Nispel. It stars
Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for roles in films including '' Manhunter'' (1986), '' Gettysburg'', '' Tombstone'' (both 1993), '' Gods and Generals'' (2003), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''Conan the Barbaria ...
,
Kelly Blatz
Kelly Steven Blatz (born June 16, 1987) is an American actor, director, writer, producer, editor and musician. He is best known for playing the lead role in ''Aaron Stone''.
Career
Blatz made his acting debut in ''Simon Says'' (2006), then app ...
,
Brittany Curran
Brittany Elizabeth Curran (born June 2, 1990) is an American film and television actress. Beginning as a child actress, she is known for her roles on the television series ''Men of a Certain Age'' and '' The Magicians'', and for the film ''Dear W ...
,
Brett Dier
Brett Jordan Dier (; born February 14, 1990) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Michael Cordero Jr. on ''Jane the Virgin''. He is also known for his recurring roles on the Canadian TV shows ''Bomb Girls'' and '' The L.A. Complex ...
and
Gage Golightly
Gage Golightly (born September 5, 1993) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Hayley Steele in the Nickelodeon series ''The Troop'', Erica Reyes in the MTV series ''Teen Wolf (2011 TV series), Teen Wolf'', and Karen in the Am ...
.
Jason Blum
Jason Ferus Blum "Jason Ferus Blum was born in LA in 1969 to Shirley Neilsen, an art professor, and Irving Blum, an art dealer" (; born 1969) is an American film and television producer. He is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, whic ...
serves as an executive producer through his
Blumhouse Productions
Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum.
It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as '' Paranormal Activity'', '' Insid ...
banner. The film premiered at the Glasgow Horror Film Festival on February 27, 2015. The film was released on July 2, 2015 on
DirecTV Cinema
DirecTV Cinema (previously known as Direct Ticket, Blockbuster Ticket, Blockbuster Pay-Per-View Movies, and DirecTV Pay-Per-View) is DirecTV's video on demand and pay-per-view platform for film content. Films are released as is done on other pay- ...
.
Plot
After shooting up
heroin, a woman commits suicide. Clips show the history of the Exeter School of the Feeble Minded. These document its abuses toward its patients, demise, and eventual abandonment. Years later, Patrick volunteers to help Father Conway renovate the site. Conway, who is disappointed that Patrick has not applied for college, believes that God has a special plan for him. After talking to local junk man Greer, Conway and Patrick leave for the weekend.
When Patrick's friends discover the site will be unsupervised for the weekend, they organize a huge party there over Patrick's objections. As the party winds down, seven people remain: Patrick, his younger brother Rory, Brian, Brad, Amber, Drew, and Reign, a girl that Patrick has met at the party. After they discuss the site's troubled history and its potential for supernatural phenomena, Amber convinces the others to attempt to levitate Rory. Amber says it worked, but the others dismiss it as a prank by Rory, who they say is attention-starved. Embarrassed that he peed his pants, Rory runs off.
When Patrick and Reign encounter Rory later, they become convinced that he is
possessed
Possessed may refer to:
Possession
* Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else
** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body
*** ...
, as he is speaking in tongues and viciously attacking anyone who approaches him. After restraining him, Reign convinces Patrick to call Father Conway for help. The others react angrily, as they have been ingesting a variety of
illegal drugs
The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances.
While some drugs are illegal to possess, many governments regulate the ...
. As they argue, Greer returns and threatens to call the cops unless Amber has sex with him. Greer hears a sound from upstairs and investigates, only to be killed by Rory. Brian and Amber panic, and as they flee Exeter, they accidentally strike Father Conway with their car, apparently killing him. The car does not make it off the grounds.
As the teens debate what to do next, Exeter's security system locks them in. Having two dead bodies and a pile of drugs, the teens agree to resolve the situation themselves. Using their cell phones, they find a
do-it-yourself exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
guide and perform it on Rory. Although it initially seems to have succeeded, Rory reverts to his possessed self. Looking for clues to help them, Reign and Patrick discover video tapes of a troubled teen at Exeter, Devon, who is apparently Conway's child. A message written in blood on one of the ceilings demands that the teens speak to the entity, so they carve out a
Ouija board
The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...
. The entity identifies itself as Devon and demands they save it from a box, where it is trapped.
Rory recovers from his possession and does not remember anything. At the same time, Amber shows signs of possession. She kills Drew before the others drive her off. Brad, frustrated by the attacks, arms himself with a pickax and looks for Amber. He is surprised when he sees Father Conway, trips, and accidentally impales himself. Reign and Patrick go after Amber while Rory and Brian guard the downstairs area. Rory leaves to urinate, and Amber attacks Brian. After killing Amber, Patrick and Reign find Rory, who says that Conway trapped him in a box for his own protection. The group encounter Brian, who is now possessed; Patrick kills Brian after he attacks them.
Reign insists that Conway is responsible for the events and says that he has invoked the evil spirits. Rory, too, is doubtful of Conway's motives. Patrick says that Conway would never hurt anyone. When they find the security system, they disable the lock down, and Patrick forces Rory to flee to safety. After seeing Conway kill Reign, Patrick angrily confronts him. When Conway denies having a son, Patrick sets him afire, killing him.
Reign suddenly rises and explains that she is Conway's daughter, Devon. Conway abandoned Devon and her mother, and after Devon's mother committed suicide, Conway hid Devon at Exeter. Feeling abandoned, Devon swore revenge on Conway and the people he cares about. She engineered the whole situation so that Patrick would kill Conway. After a fight, Patrick traps her in a box as Exeter burns. Later, two cops investigate the ruined site, only to find the box empty.
Cast
*
Kelly Blatz
Kelly Steven Blatz (born June 16, 1987) is an American actor, director, writer, producer, editor and musician. He is best known for playing the lead role in ''Aaron Stone''.
Career
Blatz made his acting debut in ''Simon Says'' (2006), then app ...
as Patrick
*
Brittany Curran
Brittany Elizabeth Curran (born June 2, 1990) is an American film and television actress. Beginning as a child actress, she is known for her roles on the television series ''Men of a Certain Age'' and '' The Magicians'', and for the film ''Dear W ...
as Reign/Devon
*
Brett Dier
Brett Jordan Dier (; born February 14, 1990) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Michael Cordero Jr. on ''Jane the Virgin''. He is also known for his recurring roles on the Canadian TV shows ''Bomb Girls'' and '' The L.A. Complex ...
as Brad
*
Gage Golightly
Gage Golightly (born September 5, 1993) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Hayley Steele in the Nickelodeon series ''The Troop'', Erica Reyes in the MTV series ''Teen Wolf (2011 TV series), Teen Wolf'', and Karen in the Am ...
as Amber
* Nick Nicotera as Brian Knowles
* Nick Nordella as Drew
* Michael Ormsby as Rory
*
Kevin Chapman
Kevin Chapman (born July 29, 1962) is an American actor known for playing an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother Terrence Garrity in FX's '' Rescue Me'' to street enforcer Val Savage in Clint Eastwood's ''Mystic River'' ...
as Greer
*
Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for roles in films including '' Manhunter'' (1986), '' Gettysburg'', '' Tombstone'' (both 1993), '' Gods and Generals'' (2003), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''Conan the Barbaria ...
as Father Conway
Development
The film was first announced as ''Backmask'' on May 9, 2011. The first images from the set were revealed on June 18, 2012.
The screenplay is written by Kirsten McCallion, and the make-up effects were carried out by
Shaun Smith.
Most of the main casting announcements were made on June 1, 2012. Shooting took place on location in Rhode Island. Nispel said that the location was photographed as they found it. Nispel said that he wanted to write the film as if the teens who watch horror films experienced one.
Release
On December 10, 2014,
Dread Central reported that the title had been changed from ''Backmask'' to ''Exeter''. It was released as ''The Asylum'' in the UK on May 4, 2015. DirecTV Cinema premiered it in the US on July 2, 2015.
Reception
Gareth Jones of
Dread Central rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "''The Asylum'' is a peculiar experience; a definite oddity that seems only ever a moment away from completely falling apart. But it isn't actually a bad one." Pat Torfe of
Bloody Disgusting rated it 3/5 stars and called it "one of those films where you turn your brain off and just let it play with a couple of friends and a case of beer".
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Marcus Nispel
2015 films
2015 horror films
American horror thriller films
American supernatural horror films
American teen horror films
Demons in film
Films about exorcism
Films directed by Marcus Nispel
Films set in Rhode Island
Films shot in Rhode Island
Blumhouse Productions films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films