| 1 | [[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asylum_9641.gif]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:330:Making ''Film/{{Sharknado}}'' movies since 2013!]] |
| 3 | -> ''"I think Mockbusters are like store brands. Say you've got a cold and you walk into your local Walgreens for some medicine (and a pap smear). You see the Sudafed, and right next to it, in a box that looks remarkably similar to the national brand, the store's own 'Nasal Decongestant.' I don't think most people buy the store brand because they think it's really Sudafed in a different box. I think they buy it because they think it will be similar to Sudafed, only cheaper.\ |
| 4 | Just like our Mockbusters. They're similar to big studio films, only cheaper.\ |
| 5 | And shittier.\ |
| 6 | If that's possible."'' |
| 7 | -->-- '''[[http://www.theasylum.cc/blog/2011/04/in-defense-of-mockbusters/ Paul Bales]]''', Partner/Administrator and Operations of The Asylum |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The Asylum is an American production company located in Burbank, California. They are best known for producing horror and science fiction [[TheMockbuster mockbuster]] films, disaster and monster movies and unofficial sequels, often with a lot more graphic violence and sex than their Hollywood competition in order to make up for their low production values. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The company can turn around a movie in four months. This makes it able to produce films on short notice in order to capitalize on the marketing and surging interests generated by blockbuster films. In order to do this, the movies use no-name actors (and/or has-beens) and cheap special effects. The company produces between ten and fifteen movies a year and has released over 300 films to date. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Founded in 1997 by former Creator/VillageRoadshow executives, The Asylum started out as a run-of-the-mill, low-budget indie studio, specializing in horror films. Their first largely successful film was 2005's ''Creator/HGWells' War of the Worlds'', which was produced to coincide with Steven Spielberg's ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds2005''. This film's success, largely due to movie rental chains buying it in bulk in order to cash in on the Spielberg version, led The Asylum to its current business model. The company achieved Internet notoriety in 2009 with ''Film/MegaSharkVsGiantOctopus'', whose trailer went viral on Website/YouTube. Then in 2013 they repeated this phenomenon, to an even greater degree, with ''Film/{{Sharknado}}''. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | In 2014 the studio made its first foray into TV production with the typically-shameless ZombieApocalypse [[Series/TheWalkingDead2010 bandwagon]]-[[FollowTheLeader jumper]] ''Series/ZNation'', which [[PlayingAgainstType against pretty much all expectations]] has proven to be... not as completely horrible as its movies. It followed this up with ''Series/BlackSummer'', which was streamed on Creator/{{Netflix}}, of all places. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | In 2016, the studio branched out into [=CGI=] movies with the release of ''Izzie's Way Home''. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | As the quote shows, they are also fully aware of their status, [[TheBarnum and cheerfully admit it.]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Their website can be found [[http://www.theasylum.cc here]]. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Not affiliated with Creator/AsylumVisualEffects. |
| 24 | ---- |
| 25 | [[index]] |
| 26 | !!Films |
| 27 | * ''11/11/11'' (2011) |
| 28 | ** ''Film/TwelveTwelveTwelve'' (2012) |
| 29 | ** ''Film/ThirteenThirteenThirteen'' (2013) |
| 30 | * ''#1 Cheerleader Camp'' (2010) |
| 31 | * ''Film/OneHundredFeet'' (2008) |
| 32 | * ''100 Ghost Street: The Return of Richard Speck'' aka ''Paranormal Entity 4: The Awakening'' (2012) |
| 33 | * ''100 Million BC'' (2008) |
| 34 | * ''18 Year Old Virgin'' (2009) |
| 35 | * * ''Film/TwoHeadedSharkAttack'' (2012) |
| 36 | ** ''3-Headed Shark Attack'' (2015) |
| 37 | ** ''[[Film/FiveHeadedSharkAttack 5-Headed Shark Attack]]'' (2017) |
| 38 | ** ''6-Headed Shark Attack'' (2018) |
| 39 | * ''200 MPH'' (2011) |
| 40 | * ''2012: Doomsday'' (2008) |
| 41 | ** ''2012: Supernova'' (2009) |
| 42 | ** ''2012: Ice Age'' (2011) |
| 43 | * ''30,000 Leagues under the Sea'' (2007) |
| 44 | * ''40 Days and Nights'' (2012) |
| 45 | * ''Film/FourClosed'' (2013) |
| 46 | * ''6 Guns'' (2010) |
| 47 | * ''666: The Child'' (2006) |
| 48 | ** ''666: The Beast'' (2007) |
| 49 | * ''The 7 Adventures of Sinbad'' (2010) |
| 50 | * ''8213: Gacy House'' aka ''Paranormal Entity 2'' (2010) |
| 51 | * ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (2006) |
| 52 | * ''Film/AbrahamLincolnVsZombies'' (2012) |
| 53 | * ''Film/AdoptingTerror'' (2012) |
| 54 | * ''Adventures of Aladdin'' (2019) |
| 55 | * ''Film/AgeOfDinosaurs'' (2013) |
| 56 | * ''Airline Disaster'' (2010) |
| 57 | * ''Alien Abduction'' (2005) |
| 58 | * ''Alien Predator'' (2018) |
| 59 | * ''Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls'' (2008) |
| 60 | * ''Film/AlmightyThor'' (2011) |
| 61 | * ''Alone for Christmas'' (2013) |
| 62 | * ''Film/AmericanWarships'' (2012; [[ScrewedByTheLawyers formerly]] ''American Battleship'') |
| 63 | * ''Film/AndroidCop'' (2014) |
| 64 | * ''Anneliese: the Exorcist Tapes'' aka ''Paranormal Entity 3: The Exorcist Tapes'' (2011) |
| 65 | * ''Ape Vs. Monster'' (2021) |
| 66 | * ''The Apocalypse'' (2007) |
| 67 | * ''Film/AsianSchoolGirls'' (2014) |
| 68 | * ''Film/AtlanticRim'' (2013) - followed by a sequel, ''Atlantic Rim: Resurrection'' (2018) |
| 69 | * ''Film/AvengersGrimm'' (2015) |
| 70 | * ''[[Film/AVHAlienVsHunter AVH: Alien vs. Hunter]]'' (2007) |
| 71 | * ''Ballistica'' (2009) |
| 72 | * ''Barely Legal'' (2011) |
| 73 | * ''Battle of Los Angeles'' (2011) |
| 74 | * ''Film/TheBellWitchHaunting'' (2013) |
| 75 | * ''Bikini Spring Break'' (2012) |
| 76 | * ''Film/BloodLakeAttackOfTheKillerLampreys'' (2014; for Creator/AnimalPlanet!) |
| 77 | * ''Born Bad'' (2011) |
| 78 | * ''Film/{{Bound|2015}}'' (2015) |
| 79 | * ''Bram Stoker's Dracula's Curse'' (2006) |
| 80 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{CarGo}}'' (2017) |
| 81 | * ''Celebrity Sex Tape'' (2013) |
| 82 | * ''Countdown: Jerusalem'' (2009) |
| 83 | * ''The Da Vinci Treasure'' (2006) |
| 84 | * ''The Day the Earth Stopped'' (2008) |
| 85 | * ''Film/Dead7'' (2016) |
| 86 | * ''Dead Line'' (2006) |
| 87 | * ''Film/DeathRacers'' (2008) |
| 88 | * ''Death Valley: The Revenge of Bloody Bill'' (2004) |
| 89 | * ''Doctor Death'' (2019; it has been aired on Creator/{{Lifetime}} under the title ''The Doctor Will Kill You Now'') |
| 90 | * ''Dragon'' (2006) |
| 91 | * ''Dragon Crusaders'' (2011)[[/index]] |
| 92 | * ''Dragonquest'' (2009; no relation to the [[VideoGame/DragonQuest video game]])[[index]] |
| 93 | * ''Empire of the Sharks'' (2017) |
| 94 | * ''Evil'' |
| 95 | * ''Evil Eyes'' (2004) |
| 96 | * ''Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers'' (2006) |
| 97 | * ''Expired'' |
| 98 | * ''Flight 666'' (2018) |
| 99 | * ''Freakshow'' (2007) |
| 100 | * ''Geo-Disaster'' (2017) |
| 101 | * ''Film/GoldenWinter'' (2012) |
| 102 | * ''H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds'' (2005) |
| 103 | ** ''War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave'' (2008) |
| 104 | * ''Film/HalloweenNight'' (2006) |
| 105 | * ''[[Film/HanselAndGretel2013 Hansel & Gretel]]'' (2013) |
| 106 | * ''Film/HanselVsGretel'' (2015) |
| 107 | * ''Film/TheHauntingOfWhaleyHouse'' (2012) |
| 108 | * ''Haunting of Winchester House'' (2009) |
| 109 | * ''A Haunting in Salem'' (2011) |
| 110 | * ''Hillside Cannibals'' (2006) |
| 111 | * ''Film/HoldYourBreath'' (2012) |
| 112 | * ''Homeward'' (2020) |
| 113 | * ''Hornet'' (2018) |
| 114 | * ''I Am Omega'' (2007) |
| 115 | * ''Ice Sharks'' (2017) |
| 116 | * ''Intermedio'' (2005) |
| 117 | * ''Invasion of the Pod People'' (2007) |
| 118 | * ''Izzie's Way Home'' (2016) |
| 119 | * ''Jack the Giant Killer'' (2013) |
| 120 | * ''Film/{{Jailbait|2014}}'' (2014) |
| 121 | * ''Jane White is Sick and Twisted'' (2002) |
| 122 | * ''Film/JollyRogerMassacreAtCuttersCove'' (2005) |
| 123 | * ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (2008) |
| 124 | * ''Jungle Run'' (2021) |
| 125 | * ''Killers'' (1997) |
| 126 | ** ''Killers 2: The Beast'' (2002) |
| 127 | * ''King of the Ants'' (2003) |
| 128 | * ''Film/KingOfTheLostWorld'' (2005) |
| 129 | * ''The Land that Time Forgot'' (2009) |
| 130 | * ''The Legend of Bloody Jack'' (2007) |
| 131 | * ''Film/LegionOfTheDead'' (2005) |
| 132 | * ''Film/LittleDeadRottingHood'' (2016) |
| 133 | * ''Film/LoveAtTheChristmasTable'' (2012) |
| 134 | * ''Mega Piranha'' (2010) |
| 135 | * ''Mega Python vs. Gatoroid'' (2011) |
| 136 | * ''Megafault'' (2009) |
| 137 | * ''Film/MegaSharkVsGiantOctopus'' (2009) |
| 138 | ** ''Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus'' (2010) |
| 139 | ** ''Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark'' (2014) |
| 140 | ** ''Mega Shark Vs Kolossus'' (2015) |
| 141 | * ''Film/{{Mercenaries}}'' (2014) |
| 142 | * ''Merlin and the War of the Dragons'' (2008) |
| 143 | * ''Meteor Apocalypse'' (2010) |
| 144 | * ''MILF'' (2010) |
| 145 | * ''Moby Dick'' (2010) |
| 146 | * ''Monster'' (2008) |
| 147 | * ''Monster Hunters'' (2020) |
| 148 | * ''Film/{{Monster Island|2019}}'' (2019) |
| 149 | * ''Film/NaziOverlord'' (2018) |
| 150 | * ''Nazis at the Center of the Earth'' (2012) |
| 151 | * ''Film/NightOfTheWild'' (2015) |
| 152 | * ''Oceans Rising'' (2017) |
| 153 | * ''Paranormal Entity'' (2009) |
| 154 | * ''Pirates of Treasure Island'' (2006) |
| 155 | * ''Planet Dune'' (2021) |
| 156 | * ''Planet of the Sharks'' (2016) |
| 157 | * ''Princess and the Pony'' (2011) |
| 158 | * ''Film/PrincessOfMars'' (2009) |
| 159 | * ''Film/PsychoBFF'' (2019; for Creator/{{Lifetime}}) |
| 160 | * ''San Andreas Quake'' (2015) |
| 161 | ** ''San Andreas Mega Quake'' (2019) |
| 162 | * ''Film/{{Scarecrow|2002}}'' (2002) |
| 163 | ** ''Film/ScarecrowSlayer'' (2003) |
| 164 | * ''Sex Pot'' (2009) |
| 165 | * ''Film/{{Shapeshifter}}'' (2005) |
| 166 | * ''Film/{{Sharknado}}'' (2013) |
| 167 | ** ''Film/Sharknado2TheSecondOne'' (2014) |
| 168 | ** ''Film/Sharknado3OhHellNo'' (2015) |
| 169 | ** ''Film/SharknadoThe4thAwakens'' (2016) |
| 170 | ** ''Film/Sharknado5GlobalSwarming'' (2017) |
| 171 | ** ''Film/TheLastSharknadoItsAboutTime'' (2018) |
| 172 | * ''Film/SharkWeek'' (2012) |
| 173 | * ''Film/SirArthurConanDoylesSherlockHolmes'' (2010) |
| 174 | * ''Snakes on a Train'' (2006) |
| 175 | * ''Film/SocialNightmare'' aka ''Mother'' (2013; for Creator/{{Lifetime}}) |
| 176 | * ''Sorority House Rules'' |
| 177 | * ''The Source''/''The Surge'' (2002) |
| 178 | * ''Street Racer'' (2008) |
| 179 | * ''Film/SundaySchoolMusical'' (2008) |
| 180 | * ''The Terminators'' (2009) |
| 181 | * ''Titanic II'' (2010) |
| 182 | ** ''Film/Titanic666'' (2022) |
| 183 | * ''Film/TopGunnerDangerZone'' (2022) |
| 184 | * ''Film/{{Transmorphers}}'' (2007) |
| 185 | ** ''Transmorphers: Fall of Man'' (2009) - A prequel to the above. |
| 186 | * ''Film/TriassicWorld'' (2018) |
| 187 | * ''Trolland'' (2016) |
| 188 | * ''Universal Soldiers'' (2007) |
| 189 | * ''Film/VampiresVsZombies'' (2004) |
| 190 | * ''Film/WhenAKillerCalls'' (2006) |
| 191 | * ''Film/ZombieApocalypse'' (2011) |
| 192 | * ''Film/{{Zoombies}}'' (2016) |
| 193 | |
| 194 | !!Series |
| 195 | * ''Series/BlackSummer'' (2019-present) |
| 196 | * ''Series/ZNation'' (2014-18) |
| 197 | [[/index]] |
| 198 | ---- |
| 199 | !!Commonly Associated Tropes |
| 200 | * ArtisticLicense: No need to get specific. We'd be here all day. |
| 201 | * AuthorAppeal: A number of their films involve [[ThreateningShark sharks]] for some reason. |
| 202 | * CardCarryingVillain: If they have any villain status, they certainly aren't shy about it. |
| 203 | ** InvincibleVillain: see NoSell. |
| 204 | * CoolBoat: A particular shot of a battleship appears in several different films. |
| 205 | * CopycatCover |
| 206 | * DownerEnding: Very common in early mockbusters. |
| 207 | * ExploitationFilm: Mockbusting aside, a lot of these films (''especially'' the horror rip-offs) are like modern day Grindhouse flicks. |
| 208 | * FreezeFrameIntroduction: They are using this tactic for a few movies of theirs, including ''Film/MegaSharkVsGiantOctopus'' and ''Mega Piranha'', where all the main characters are introduced with a still frame with their name and job description. |
| 209 | * JerkassHasAPoint: Apparently started producing mockbusters because "there's no market for originality", citing remakes and sequels in general - between constant profits and dismissal of several (but not all) lawsuits, they're not ''wrong''. |
| 210 | * LighterAndSofter: They have released way mir family-friendly film made by the company's standards. |
| 211 | ** The Christmas movies ''Golden Winter'' and ''Santa Claws'' from 2012 and 2014. |
| 212 | ** Most of their animated films. |
| 213 | ** Somewhere along the line they stopped killing off the protagonist at the end, possibly because anger at the popularity of derivative works was part of the motivation for their mockbusters. |
| 214 | * MarketBasedTitle: ''8213: Gacy House'' was renamed ''[[DolledUpInstallment Paranormal Entity 2]]'' in the UK, presumably because they feared British audiences wouldn't know who John Wayne Gacy was. Similarly, ''Anneliese: the Exorcist Tapes'' and ''100 Ghost Street: The Return of Richard Speck'' were retitled as ''Paranormal Entity 3'' and ''Paranormal Entity 4''. |
| 215 | * NetworkDecay: If you were to look at their output prior to 2005, you would be shocked to find some legitimate titles in their catalog, including stuff the company wouldn't release today. That's because The Asylum started out as a typical distributor/sales agent of independent films, with an emphasis on horror. Unfortunately, due to increasing competition from the likes of Creator/{{Lionsgate}}, they were left with bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. They decided to make their own original films, but what they were releasing was not popular in the DirectToVideo market and was of dubious quality. Then they made an adaptation of ''Franchise/WarOfTheWorlds'', around the same time the Creator/StevenSpielberg version was coming out. With the high number of orders coming from Blockbuster Video, The Asylum realized they could make profits releasing films that were derivative of the big studios' blockbusters. Thus, they became the Mockbuster company we all know and love today. |
| 216 | * NoBudget: Their films cost no more than a few million dollars to make. |
| 217 | * NonIndicativeName: ''Titanic II'' isn't actually a sequel to ''[[{{Film/Titanic1997}} Titanic]]''. It's about a modern Titanic replica that runs into iceberg trouble. |
| 218 | * NoSell: If they do the research in one area, it's the extent of making movies different enough to avoid lawsuits; subverted in that on rare occasions, lawsuits do have an effect. |
| 219 | * PublicDomainCharacter: [[Creator/HRiderHaggard Allan Quatermain]], Literature/SherlockHolmes, {{Dracula}}, multiple fairy tale characters. |
| 220 | * PublicDomainStories: ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'', ''Franchise/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', ''Literature/MobyDick'', ''Princess of Mars'', ''Land That Time Forgot'' |
| 221 | * RereleasedForFree: The Asylum has a channel on Creator/ViacomCBS' streaming service Creator/PlutoTV, showing its movies with the exception of ''Sharknado'' for free streaming, while [=YouTube=]'s Movie Central, Sci-Fi Central and Horror Central channels owned by Australia-based Valleyarm uploaded its movies for free streaming in 2020. |
| 222 | * SelfDeprecation: See the page quote. They have no problem about making fun of themselves. |
| 223 | * SeriesMascot: Sharks pop up a lot, don't they? |
| 224 | * StylisticSuck: Possibly. If nothing else, Scott Foy of Dread Central commented on how their early (then-current) mockbusters were a step down from their earlier films (which some horror sites were fairly impressed by), while the now-defunct [=SlasherPool=] noted ''Hillside Cannibals'' wasn't just worse than their earlier ''Detour'' but a lot worse; how much, if any, of this was intended as part of the middle finger at sequels and remakes is unclear. |
| 225 | * TitleByNumber: Look at all the examples of numeric and NumberOfObjectsTitle up there. Like other current B-movie makers, they've obviously picked up on how the alphabetic sorting on Creator/{{Netflix}} and other streamers puts numbered titles first, placing their efforts at the front of the queue of people searching for ''anything'' to watch. |
| 226 | * VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: A number of their horror stories are mockbusters of current movies, but loosely based off of actual people and locations, e.g. the last three ''Paranormal Entity'' films. |
| 227 | * WorkingTitle: Several mockbusters actually started off as non-mockbusters - ''Transmorphers'' was originally ''Robot Wars'', ''100,000 B.C.'' was originally ''Prehistoric'' and so on. |
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