The Blackburn Asylum

In the competition of unambitious, silly hixploitation killer fests that go straight to DVD or TV, Blackburn is one of the most tolerable entries. It’s watchable, gets to the point pretty quickly, the abandoned mines are atmospheric, the villains look OK, there’s always something going on; its idiocy didn’t manage to piss me off. (11.09.2016)

The Canadian film The Blackburn Asylum isn't trying to be something it’s not, it's simply a hixploitation, i.e., a couple of rednecks trying to stick it to the townsfolk who are too macho. A boring depiction of horror stereotypes, spiced up by the fact that at least the killing here is pretty painful, it's believable, and once the freaks show up, it's worth it. They are not downright degenerate people, as we are sometimes used to with hixploitation. But they're not normal either. (13.06.2019)