Shock Asylum

Shock Asylum is a black-comic tale of a routine psychological evaluation gone horribly awry. Shot on 16mm film, this dark, narrative comedy was co-directed by Dan Dinello and his nephew Paul Dinello. The script was written by Dan, Paul, and Stephen Colbert, based on a NewCity cover story (10/26/95) that Dan wrote called “Committed,” which is about a naïve young man involuntarily committed to Northwestern University’s mental health hospital. Made for $6,000 with a cast and crew drawn from Columbia College and local improv theaters, the film was shot at West Side V.A. Hospital (820 S Damen), LaBagh Woods, and in Oak Park's Rehm Park.; "[...] a hyperbolic, paranoid look at psychological evaluations in black and white that periodically calls to mind the frenetic early efforts of the Kuchar brothers." — Jonathan Rosenbaum, 1998.; "[...] plays like a dramatization of The Bell Jar starring the Three Stooges." — J.R. Jones for Chicago Reader, 1998.; Shock Asylum screened at many film festivals in the United States, including the 1997 Sundance Festival, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Arizona International Film and Video Festival, and the Boston Underground Film Festival; it also screened at several festivals in Europe and Canada, including the Berlin Underground Festival: Circles of Confusion where it premiered, the 3rd Manchester International Short Film and Video Festival and the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival, Toronto. The movie was also screened on Bravo and IFC cable network.; Awards:; Best Short Film – New York Underground Film Festival, 1997; Best of the Fest – Atlanta Film and Video Festival, 1997; Partial funding for the film derived from a Columbia College Faculty Development Award.