Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

jellopuke How did anyone look at this script and think "sure, that's plausible!" ????? They keep trying to make you wonder who the killer could be by making EVERYONE in the hospital totally creepy and insane, but all that serves to do is make the entire plot unbelievable to the extreme. Sure there's gratuitous Barbi Benton nudity, but it's really creepy and the whole movie just drags because the director thinks that by doing something slow it builds suspense when it just makes you want to fast forward. Even for Canon films, this is bad.

Bloodwank I sometimes wonder why hospital horror isn't more of a booming sub-genre. Personally I can't think of a much more nightmare concept than a place of healing turned to harm, of those we entrust with our health turned against our better interests. Hospital Massacre doesn't take on the task in an especially advanced manner but it does manage to stand out a little from its obscure slasher contemporaries. Its success is rooted in a marriage of weirdness to smart pace, offbeat tone with enough excitement and strange sights to move remarkably smoothly. The film is focused on the unfortunate Susan, pursued by an amorous nut-case who has already maligned her in childhood and now takes the opportunity to turn a routine hospital visit into a frightening collision of Kafka and slasher cheese by way of a bit of result tampering. Yep, you read right, Kafka. The hospital and staff in this one are about the least welcoming, least friendly imaginable with our heroine treated in fashion uncannily similar to a prisoner in some arbitrary dictatorship, doctors and nurses like cold, faceless prison guards and an utter lack of comfort or information despite her supposedly perilous health. And it isn't just the staff that are off, there are strange patients too including mean old ladies and a wandering drunk. The general treatment of all of this is rather more melodramatic than chilling, but it stews rather nicely and is happily spiked with murders, oftimes nicely mean if never especially gory. Barbi Benton has an appealing presence as the bedevilled Susan, lovely looking lady and enthusiastic too, she doesn't act much above soap opera levels but carries the film amply, while Charles Lucia makes for an effectively barmy villain. Excess seems to be the key to the writing and direction, so murders are pushed into jabbering lunacy, moments of style or tension bust out at random and strangeness pulses thickly at all times. I do wish the film mustered more intensity earlier on though, it only really comes ablaze in the final twenty something minutes and it definitely could have done with more gore and death, though what's there is fun and often portrayed with flair somehow it comes off with little impact. There are also bits and bobs of silliness that go above and beyond the general tone of the film and I had a few minor gripes about things like the lack of hospital personnel, off performances from supporting characters and so on. Still, overall I was reasonably impressed by this one, surprisingly strange, occasionally inspired and never dull, better than average for a no count early 80's slasher, that's for darned sure. Definitely worth a watch if this sort of thing takes your fancy, though it won't convert anyone doesn't. Solid 7/10 from me then...

Dagon As we've explored various times now in this review series, Slasher films jump at the chance to rehash similar environments in the attempt of besting their predecessors – or just simply the first to be in line for such an idea (let's think back in the late 70's and early 80's when the idea was still relatively fresh). It's a promising attribute to learn of a title that doesn't revisit the same old campground/college campus during spring or fall break/some unknown high school with a cast of rejects that get on your last nerve. Hospital Massacre, directed by "one-entry-in-the-vault-of-horror" Boaz Davidson, displays to the audience a different environment to catch our attention. The conclusion is predictable from start to finish and the ending wouldn't even a surprise a grade-schooler but with the original working title of "Be My Valentine, or Else…" let's see what this 1982 entry has to offer.The story takes place in 1961 - young Susan and her brother are playing with a toy train set. A neighborhood boy by the name of Harold leaves a Valentine's Day card on the doorstep for Susan and scurries off into the bushes. Peering into the window, he notices Susan laughing mockingly at the card, tossing it to the floor. Volatile from rejection, Harold breaks into the home and murders Susan's brother while she remains occupied in the kitchen. Her discovery upon returning is a ghastly one – her sibling is strung up viciously by the jaw, impaled on a hat hanger. Flash forward 19 years - Susan, now a divorced parent, schedules a routine examination at a Los Angeles county hospital. Susan arrives at her appointment only to discover that Dr. Jacobs, her physician, isn't there. A certified M.D. is appointed to carry out the examination on Susan and finds discrepancies concerning her anatomy – but what are they? Meanwhile, in the bowels of the complex, a murderous fiend disposes of Dr. Jacob's body. Donning a surgical mask and wielding lethal operating room instruments, the mad man has a particular victim in his sights - Susan. Will she survive this dreadful nightmare?As my review header indicates, this is your typical "heartbreak leads to murder" recipe; a film of standard fare with a hint of mystery. Luckily Hospital Massacre rushes right into the thick of it, wasting absolutely no time on yawn-inducing sub-plots and After School Special dopiness. If the massacring of dim-witted college frat boys and their incessant buffoonery is what you're after, look elsewhere! The majority of the story takes place within the hospital but that's another matter altogether.Most of the staff working at the establishment are made to look sketchy; throwing several diversions into the mix for confusion's sake. This methodical system of side-tracking the audience is far too strained in this film because it's obvious who the culprit will be. The ending is spelled out right from the beginning…a minimal amount of intelligence is required in order to pick up on this. Viewers, and even myself, may be fooled into believing that there's more to the story than what's touted, relenting themselves to the red herrings in a desperate plea for a plot twist. There are no twists in Hospital Massacre. You may be left thinking, "Surely things can't play out this predictably." Oh, but they do.The actress who portrayed the female lead, Barbi Benton, had a widely publicized relationship with Hugh Hefner from 1969 to 1976. This would be, and still remains, her most prominent career move in terms of celebrity status. Benton never plateaued beyond occasional TV appearances and Hospital Massacre was one of the few movies that she starred in. Others may not care too much for Barbi as an actress; her filmography and current occupation (it was reported in 2002 that she's now an Interior Decorator) could easily support their claim. On the contrary, I found her acting ability well beyond average for the role given to her. Her delivery was believable in a Slasher film - what more could you ask for?Other titles exist in the Slasher vault's repertoire that utilize a hospital setting. Certainly Hospital Massacre is not the first to dive into this region. A smattering of gore and an overly enthusiastic soundtrack play well with the environment – but throwing red herrings for the sake of doing so is like gift wrapping an item for someone else and upon them opening it, reacting in awe and amazement when the prize is retrieved. Shall the audience ignore all of these devices and the silly contraptions therein? The point I was trying to make earlier suggests that we should, indeed, go along for the ride. Hospital Massacre is a well done Slasher movie but not a film worthy to exist among my collection. For a routine flick of this caliber I'd say it's worth a look due to how rare it is. I had the pleasure of watching a VHS transfer of the film; complete with bad tracking and all!

Aaron1375 This movie is nothing great or original as it has the same setting as the previous years horror film "Halloween II". Granted this one does not feature a super killer and has a bit more mystery to it than that movie, still it does seem to copy that movie especially considering how close they were as far as release dates and such. It is also far fetched when you find out the killer and the reason behind the massacre. Still, as far as slasher movies of the 80's this one is watchable if not good. It has been a long time since I last saw this one, but I remember there being a somewhat good amount of people killed in this one, but in the end none of the deaths must have been all that memorable as I can not recall a single one. The main thing I remember is the killer and why he killed and the cover of the video tape as it featured a person in a doctor outfit covered in blood and standing over a patient holding a knife. Probably a case where the cover was actually better than the movie as a whole. There were a lot worse movies though made during this time, this one is watchable, but also it is most certainly forgettable.