"There's only one way to remove Byron's hallucinations."

Mortals, this week I am inspired by a renewed interest in mental health in America to tell you about a movie that takes place in a psychiatric hospital. 

This week's Thursday Thriller is Asylum.

This 1972 Amicus anthology was directed by Roy Ward Baker. It's about a young psychiatrist named Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) who arrives at the titular institution for about a job. Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee) informs him that the Dr. Starr he's come to talk to has himself gone bonkers and left Rutherford wheelchair bound. Starr has developed a new persona, but if Martin can go upstairs, talk to four patients, and figure out which one used to be Starr, Rutherford will give him the job. 

On his tour, Martin hears the stories of four patients: Bonnie (Barbara Parkins), who believes she was attacked by the dismembered corpse of her lover's wife; Bruno (Barry Morse), a tailor who says he made a magic suit for Peter Cushing so he could bring his son back to life; Barbara (Charlotte Rampling), a pill head who swears her imaginary friend Britt Ekland went on a murder spree and not her; and Byron (Herbert Lom), a former neurosurgeon who makes little robot dolls with lifelike human faces. 

The special effects may look a little silly today, but I think they just add to the film's charm.

Asylum comprises four quick stories you don't have to think too hard about to enjoy. It streams on Amazon Prime and YouTube.