Hospital Massacre (1982)

User Rating:

4.0/10   

Director:

Boaz Davidson

Writers:

Marc Behm (screenplay)
Boaz Davidson (story)

Release Date:

April 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror

Plot:

A young nurse is stalked by a maniac out to avenge a long-ago Valentine's Day humiliation.

Plot Keywords:

Maniac | Valentine's Day | Doctor | Nurse | Hospital

Cast

Barbi Benton	...	Susan Jeremy
Charles Lucia	...	Harry / Harold (as Chip Lucia)
Jon Van Ness	...	Jack
John Warner Williams	...	Dr. Saxon
Den Suries	...	Dr. Beam
Gloria Jean Morrison	...	Dora (as Gloria Morrison)
Karen Smith	...	Kitty
Michael Frost	...	Ned
Lanny Duncan	...	Hal
Marian Beeler	...	Mrs. Elelman (as Miriam Beeler)
Elly Wold	...	Mrs. Fedrow
Johnathan Moore	...	Mrs Parry
Gay Austin	...	Dr. Jacobs
Bill Errigo	...	The Janitor
Beverly Hart	...	Suzy

Also Known As:

Be My Valentine, or Else...
Ward 13
X-Ray

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | West Germany:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Golan-Globus Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees (2002) (V)

My Bloody Valentine at the E.R.

"Hospital Massacre" has a derivative plot outline, a familiar setting, clichéd situations and largely uninspired murder sequences … and yet still it's an above average and engaging little 80's slasher film that even is – do I daresay it – a little bit underrated! Back in the early eighties, hospitals were quite the popular setting for horror movies ("Visiting Hours", "Halloween II") and they incidentally also loved holiday-themed slashers ("Happy Birthday To Me", "Silent Night Deadly Night"). "Hospital Massacre" cleverly takes the best of both worlds, as the massacre takes place in a hospital on Valentine's Day! The prototypic pre-credits opening sequence is golden slasher stuff. The lovely 12-year-old Susan Jeremy receives a Valentine's card at her house from an unpopular boy who peeps through her window to catch a glimpse of her reaction. Little Susan is not very impressed with the card and her bratty younger brother even mocks the author. When Susan returns from the kitchen, her little brother is hanging dead on a coat hanger… What a lovely little appetizer, ain't it? I have a weakness for slashers that begin with an exaggeratedly OTT and gruesome flashback to indicate where the horror in the rest of the film originates from. Anyway, cut to 19 years later, when cute little Susan grew up to become a stunningly gorgeous 30-something year old divorced MILF (played by Playboy starlet Barbi Benton). She checks in to the hospital on Valentine's Day to pick up some formality test results, but enters a genuine and life-altering nightmare. There's a vicious killer lose and he/she apparently set up a whole evil master plan to keep Susan hospitalized and drive her paranoid. He/she kills nurses and doctors to change Susan's X-ray test results – making it look like she's terminally ill – and sadistically sends her the decapitated head of her new boyfriend in a box of Valentine's Day pastry. Could it be her childhood admirer returned after nearly 20 years of unprocessed rage and frustration? "Hospital Massacre" is a fairly well-scripted and suspenseful 80's effort, benefiting from the skillful direction of Boaz Davidson and the agitating charisma of Barbi Benton. The hospital setting isn't worked out well enough – they could have done so much more with it – and the red herrings (Susan's vile ex-husband suddenly disappearing, the mysterious old drunk wandering around the hospital floors, etc…) stupidly miss their effect. On the plus side, the characters are well developed and the murder sequences are effectively morbid. Perhaps it's not the goriest of films, but several scenes are quite brutal and offensive, like the axe-in-the-head murder or the poor nurse who has a gigantic syringe shoved in her spine. The pace even speeds up near the climax and the final confrontation between Susan and her assailant is impressive. Surely recommended to all fans of 80's horror. And yes, Barbi does go topless.