X-Ray (1981)

While receiving a routine check-up, a beautiful woman is stalked by a maniac out to avenge a childhood Valentine's Day humiliation.

Director:

Boaz Davidson

Writers:

Marc Behm (screenplay), Boaz Davidson (story)

Stars:

Barbi Benton, Charles Lucia, Jon Van Ness

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbi Benton	...	Susan Jeremy
Charles Lucia	...	Harry (as Chip Lucia)
Jon Van Ness	...	Jack
John Warner Williams	...	Dr. Saxon
Den Surles	...	Dr. Beam
Gloria Jean Morrison	...	Nurse Dora (as Gloria Morrison)
Karen Smith	...	Nurse Kitty (as Karyn Smith)
Michael Frost	...	Ned
Jimmy Stathis	...	Tom
Lanny Duncan	...	Hal
Marian Beeler	...	Mrs. Edelman (as Miriam Beeler)
Elly Wold	...	Mrs. Fedrow (as Ely Wold)
Jonathon Moore	...	Mrs. Parry
Gay Austin	...	Dr. Jacobs
Bill Errigo	...	The Janitor

Storyline

Divorcee Susan Jeremy goes to a local Los Angeles county hospital for a routine exam and finds herself stranded there while a maniac, dressed in a doctor's surgical mask and clothing, goes around killing all the staff are associated with her. Could it possibly be the psycho Harold, who killed a friend of Susan's on Valentine's Day 19 years earlier?

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Plot Keywords:

maniac | valentine's day | hospital | doctor | stabbing | 

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Taglines:

There's no recovery at ... Hospital Massacre

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Be My Valentine, or Else...

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Group, The, Golan-Globus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer/Director Boaz Davidson makes a cameo as the suspicious doctor waiting to use the phone behind Barbi Benton.

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Connections

Referenced in The Big Box: A Christmas Story (2010)

User Reviews

Kafkaesque grindhouse absurdity

Forgive the pretentious summary, but i thought this film was effective precisely for all the elements other reviewers seemed to criticise. It IS fairly well shot (the dark bits are hard work) and the editing's sharp. With a big bombastic orchestral score and lots of OTT moments, this is a cheesy film with plenty of daft false scares and the like, but it's quite nightmarish too. The clichéd parts are tensely handled. Maybe I'm desensitized to bad cinema at the moment, having consumed plenty of terrible 80s slashers recently, but I thought this was pretty good. Little touches like the horrible old women sharing Barbi Benton's hospital ward, cackling like the witches from Macbeth, added to the absurd bad-dream quality. The murder scenes are well handled, violent and rough but not that splattery.

This film has a similar feel to something like 'Don't Answer The Phone!' or 'The Centerfold Girls', serious in intent and not really 'camp' in any way. It's obviously 'bad cinema', but artfully done.