Reviewed by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com
“Hospital Massacre” (1982)
Directed By: Boaz Davidson
Written By: Marc Behm & Boaz Davidson
Starring: Barbi Benton (Susan Jeremy), Charles Lucia (Harry), Jon Van Ness (Jack), John Warner Williams (Dr. Saxon), Den Surles (Dr. Beam), Gloria Jean Morrison (Nurse Dora), Karen Smith (Nurse Kitty), Michael Frost (Ned), Jimmy Stathis (Tom), Lanny Duncan (Hal), Marian Beeler (Mrs. Edelman), Elly Wolf (Mrs. Fedrow), Jonathon Moore (Mrs. Parry), Gay Austin (Dr. Jacobs)
In the early 1980s, slashers were coming and going as fast as they were made. When I saw this was going to be a slasher that is based in a hospital setting, my initial reaction was, “Is this going to be a rip off of Halloween II?” Thankfully this movie, despite some faults, was much better than I gave it credit for. Boaz Davison put together a fairly atmospheric hospital slasher that was fairly well paced. In some other countries the movie is known by its alternate title “X-Ray.”
The plot is about a woman who goes to a yearly check up in a hospital suddenly turns to a nightmare as a stalker from her past is there killing people one by one. The leading lady here is Susan (played by Barbi Benton) who does a decent job in this movie. Barbi Benton is mostly associated with Playboy Magazine so I was expecting worse but she does well with what she has to work with. I was more impressed by the stalker (played by Charles Lucia) who does a commendable job lurking through the hospital portraying a formidable and angry menace.
The best part of the movie for me is not so much the kills but the atmosphere. The atmosphere is brilliant in this movie. Who wouldn’t be automatically uneasy in a dim lit hospital full of rooms and people who are sick? One of the oddest scenes, that I strangely found affective, was where a Doctor was giving Susan a physical examination. This wasn’t a normal physical examination. It was done very slowly, in a dim light with the whole scene taking about ten minutes to do.
Due to the lower budget, the gore isn’t that extreme in “Hospital Massacre.” So this ‘massacre’ has a modest body count but the kills were fairly creative for the most part. My only true complaint about this movie is that the killer’s motive doesn’t make too much sense really. The opening first few minutes sort of give a motive but not really. It was as if that scene was spliced on at the beginning when the movie might have been better without it with an explanation given somehow within the movie.
While this movie may not appeal to some slasher enthusiasts due to the budget and mild gore, I thought it was well done. Slashers are one of my favorite comfort genres of horror so I tend to try to have sympathy for attempting to give a good movie. I only go after the movie if literally no effort at all was put in to making it. I give it 4 out of 5 stars for a commendable effort. It has a 4.8/10 on IMDB.