About:
THE ASYLUM HOUSE German Park. Walking through the Asylum House it's hard to believe that its most impressive monsters are hand-made. Even harder to comprehend is that such a twisted little funhouse was built to raise money for two Southside charities. While this year's theme, "Fear and Fetish in the Dark."falls a bit flat, what it lacks in kinky thrills is made up for in classic screams. The over 5,000-square-foot maze of well-staged frightening scenes and foreboding passages was as frightening as promised, but it was really the superb acting by some of the participants and the hand-crafted monsters by Asylum House creator Patrick Greathouse that made the Asylum House stand out. The very professional and well-costumed actors drove and directed us through the house's seemingly endless twists and turns without leaving character. The threat of a dominatrix younger than most of the visitors elicited little fear, but although it lacked thrills, the overall look of the room and the concept behind it was as well-executed as the rest of the house. The end is a partially chaperoned trip to Camp Crystal Lake, home to psycotic murder Jason. While this last outdoor segment comes like a suprise bonus after a very complete indoor section, the pacing of the trip through the wood seemed to quick to build suspense and the acting by our counselor" seemed forced - more comic than scary. Untill the chainsaws began, of course. For those looking for a realistic movie monster experience it doesn't get more realistic than that. The entire experience was worth the $12 admission price, if only to see some of the most impressive hand-sculpted monsters this side of Hollywood. For the last weekend of the month, admission will also include a performance by local Halloween hardcore band Per vertebrae. Though Oct. 31; www.theasylumhouse.com, -Anna McCleary