TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: American Horror Story: Asylum crosses boundaries to shock and scare with sexy subplots and some innovative takes on current social issues.
Episodes
American Horror Story: Asylum Photos
Tv Season Info
Cast
as Sister Jude, Sister Jude Martin
as Lana Winters
as Kit Walker
as Sister Mary Eunice, Sister Mary Eunice McKee
as Dr. Oliver Thredson
as Dr. Arthur Arden
as Monsignor Timothy Howard
as Wendy
as Shelley
as Leo
as Teresa
as Grace
as Frank McGuire
as Alma
as Sam Goodman
as Mother Superior Claudia
as Moira, Woman
as Spivey
as Leigh Emerson
as Detective Byers
as Detective Miller
as Kassie Morgan
as Nurse Blackwell
as Billy
as Mrs. Reynolds
as Jim Brown
as Jenny Reynolds
as Toby
as Administrator Kirkland
as Nurse Hicks
as Terry
as Martin Lancaster
as Nurse Braxton
as Miles
as Rhonda Lancaster
as Detective Perko
as Lorene
as Patricia Stone
as Detective Grayson
as Susie Lancaster
as Sister Felicity
as Magistrate
as Phil
as Father James
as Joe Engle
as Nurse Fuller
News & Interviews for American Horror Story: Asylum
Critic Reviews for American Horror Story: Asylum
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (10)
It's a solid setup. And given the writers were tasked with coming up with a completely new storyline for an established hit, the foundation seems well laid and primed with numerous avenues to explore.
Like a good scare? How about a bad scare? Or a thousand scares, good and bad and crazy? Season 2 of American Horror Story, subtitled Asylum, is for you.
Less scary than freaky, it's deliberately unhinged-light horror about low camp, a showcase for scenery chewing and giddy blasphemy, an exploitation chamber piece.
Camp, not horror, is the soul and motivating force of AHS, and if you don't delight in the fate that befalls Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine in the season premiere, you are not resonating at AHS's frequency.
The first AHS rose above some of its twisted storytelling. Asylum simply keeps sinking -- from one depth to another.
One final warning before you plunge in: AHS: Asylum crosses a line for television (which is getting harder and harder to do). It goes beyond dark all the way to clerical black, the scourge of all light.
Audience Reviews for American Horror Story: Asylum
Definitely the darkest and most political entry to the series, probably the scariest too, Asylum is extremely and obviously influenced by many horror films such as Carrie, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and the Exorcist, it borrows but never steals. Rightfully stylish and set-minded, it is probably the best entry of AHS. It gave Sarah Paulson the limelight of a main character that she deserves and continued to play to the strengths of Jessica Lange and Evan Peters. Wonderfully casted and consistent, Asylum sure is good.
Super Reviewer
Even better than the first season with strong acting, a compelling mystery plot, and plenty of suspenseful moments. The only thing that drags this down a little is the addition of the alien subplot, which they never explain. This is genuinely creepier than the first season and more traditional horror than the psychological thrills of the first season. It's a nice change of pace. This is one of my favorite current television shows.
Super Reviewer
Though the stories contained within the "Asylum" season may be the most fascinating, they do not work well to create a television program as a whole.
Super Reviewer
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