American Horror Story: Asylum // Series Review

I meant to do this review ages ago as I completed this series within two weeks just before Christmas 2014, but I've just put off reviewing it for so long. Better late than never, here is my review for American Horror Story: Asylum...

The second series of American Horror Story is set at Briarcliff Mental Asylum during the 1960's. An influential era in the world of mental health as it was never quite understood, even being gay was seen as a sign of mental disorientation...
 The asylum is maintained by Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) and Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe), two devoted Christians who are responsible for taking care of the clinically and criminally insane patients.
Psychotic Dr. Thredson and demeaning Dr. Arden use controversial and disturbing treatment mechanisms for all patients at the asylum. As the series unfolds, we learn dark secrets about both professionals who are supposed to be trusted with the patients in their care. Dr Arden and Sister Mary Eunice plot demonic activities for the deceased patients at the manor, whilst Dr. Thredson has plans of his own when he tries to break out Lana, a journalist who was forced into the asylum for being gay, later in the series.
 Whilst in the asylum, feeling betrayed by her partner who was forced into turning her in by Sister Jude, Lana Winters tries to familiarize herself with the case of Kit Walker, a criminally insane patient who claims he was possessed and forced by supernatural spirits to murder his wife.
 Whilst trying to work out whether his wife actually died or is just missing, Kit begins to get involved with another criminally insane patient, Grace Bertrand. Grace is in denial that she murdered her family, but knows full well that she was sexually abused by her father which later (SPOILER) turns out to be the motive for the family massacre,
Sister Jude is no saint either, as guilt later overwhelms her from that night where she was drink driving. The night that drove her to conform to Christianity after a performing in a night club and being the perpetrator of a hit and run incident. All this guilt later gets the better of her, and her rival Sister, Mary Eunice, admits her to treatment in the asylum, taking over as manager. Jude slips into insanity and is looked after fellow patients, Kit and Pepper.
 Pepper is introduced to us at the very beginning of the series as a criminally insane patient, who comes across firstly as harmless and playful but it is then revealed she has been admitted to Briarcliff manor for drowning her sister's baby and cutting off it's ears.

Naomi Grosman transformed into her character, Pepper, with the help of special effects make up

So, a lively and somewhat disturbing away of characters. All of which can be easily misinterpreted by reading this review. But I can assure you, if you are to watch this series the evil mechanisms that the staff at Briarcliff manor devise for the treatment of these patients is less than kind. Far less. Throughout this series you begin to learn more and more about the story of each patient, which will make you begin to sympathize with their situations. My heart broke at what poor Lana went through as she was perfectly sane, just categorized as insane by society. Lana eventually became a torture soul after spending too much time in the asylum, undergoing horrific treatment methods and later being kidnapped and attacked by Dr Thredson. First seen as lovely and caring, through the series Thredson shows his true colors as a sadistic psychiatrist who lacked a mother figure in his life, leading him to turn Lana into his ideal mother and raping her in his own home for 'mothering intimacy'.

I really enjoyed this series. It was so much better than the first and each episode had it's own, gripping story. It was the true definition of horror and illustrated the attitudes towards mental health in the 60's perfectly.

Modern day mental health illnesses are illustrated in the series too which is great. In my review of the first series, Murder House, I mentioned how the frequent references and scenes of rape disturbed me. They disturbed me in this series too, but they show the affects it can have on an individual and how it can turn their lives upside down, turning them from sane to clinically insane because of the trauma. Interestingly enough, the perpetrators are people that should be trusted in the health care industry which shows just how evil the intentions and staff of this hospital are. I love how these illnesses, like PTSD are brought up and the stigma against these conditions is so strong in the series, not to induce a modern day stigma and promote hate to the clinically insane, but to show how understanding the human race is now becoming. It doesn't romanticise any conditions either, but shows the true horrors behind them which I hope puts people right before they start acting like schizophrenia and paranoia are cute. As American Horror Story: Asylum illustrates, it's down right horrifying.

Overall, this series really lived up to my expectations. I completed it over the space of two busy weeks which proves I enjoyed it as I'm terrible for sticking to any TV series. I'm so glad there was a gap in the market found for a horror series rather than a horror film. This series put the genre of 'horror' into perspective for me. Not just ghosts and ghouls, but a combination of torture, spirits and psychotic thriller.

My rating: ✮✮✮✮