Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Paul Bales / Avery Guerra
A lot has been written about The Asylum and their films that are 'inspired by' Hollywood block-busters. May of you may be aware of their upcoming release "Transmorphers: Fall of Man", which is obviously meant to ride the wave of publicity generated by this summers new "Transformers" film.
Although the plot for "Transmorphers" is very much different from that of "Transformers", the latest effects clip released from the studio is certain to make you think of a scene from the first "Transformers" movie. It may even make you cough and say under your breath, "rip-off". If you remember the Decepticon called "Frenzy" (who was supposed to be the original character, Soundwave) turned into a boom box and a cell phone. Well, here we have a clip of a mobile phone (looks like a Blackberry) turning into a spider-robot.
A cool effects shot I grant you, but obviously not very original.
Now, a lot of you know that I have defended The Asylum, and their films, many a time, but this time I really can't say much. The clip speaks for itself. If you weren't a fan of these films before, this will certainly give you more to complain about.
It should be noted that a lot of fans have wondered exactly how The Asylum has been able to stay out of legal trouble making copy-cat films. Well apparently they finally got dinged over their film "The Terminators." Check out this post from the Retromedia Message Boards:
"Interesting footnote: If you take a look at The Asylum’s website currently you won’t find a single mention of The Terminators on it. No artwork, no trailer, no listings, even the film’s web page has gone suspiciously missing. One of my Asylum insiders has told me that they did indeed get hit with a cease & desist, removed all info in relation to the film from their website to make it look like they were complying, and then went ahead releasing the film into the marketplace anyway. Never ever let it be said that The Asylum isn’t run by people with elephant-sized cajones."
Big balls, or not, sometimes when you play with fire, you get burned.
I can only hope that The Asylum continues to make more "original" films. In that area the studio has shown great promise as of late. Their remake of "The Land That Time Forgot" has also generated a great deal of interest. Is the studio at a turning point? Only time will tell.
See Also: An Early Effects Shot From Transmorphers The Fall Of Man / Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus: How Big Is Too Big? / Its An Aquatic Monster Free For All In Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus.....Oh And Debbie Gibson / DVD Art For The Land That Time Forgot / The Trailer For The Asylum's Terminators / The First Photos From The Land That Time Forgot / The Land That Time Forgot Remake Begins Filming / The Trailer For Asylum's Dragonquest / Exclusive Images From Asylum's The Terminators / The Top Ten Hottest Monsters Of 2008 / New Photos From Next Weeks Big Monster Movie Release / Monster (2008)
Hey Ken,
ReplyDeleteSince I first learned about The Asylum I've wondered myself exactly how they manage to avoid legal trouble with their "mockbusters" of major Hollywood films, since they clearly skirt the edge of infringement. I've also wondered why those running the company would even want to make a name for themselves that way.
But I have to admit that "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus" has piqued my curiosity. Who knows? Maybe if The Asylum would abandon churning out copy-cat films and began putting their efforts into making original giant monster movies they would turn out to be the next Toho.