Horror Hospital starts with a black Rolls Royce parked in some woods somewhere in England. Dr. Storm (Micheal Gough) cracks his knuckles as he waits in the back with his assistant, a dwarf named Frederick (Skip Martin). A teenage couple are seen running through the woods covered in bloodied bandages, the Roller pulls up behind the escaping duo & a couple of sharp blades shoot out of the side of the car & as it catches the fleeing patients up & drives past the blades decapitate them both & their heads are caught in sacks also attached to the side of the Roller, this is a fantastic sequence by the way! Jason Jones (Robin Askwith) decides to leave the 'Mystic' rock group after they stole one of his songs & a fight broke out. Jason notices an advert for 'Hairy Holidays' & feels the time is right for a break so he wanders down an alleyway in London (NOT a good thing to do...) where the Hairy Holidays office's are located & meets Mr. Pollack (Dennis Price) the gay owner. After a brief sales pitch Jason decides to go to Brittlehurst Manor, a relaxing health resort. On the train Jason meets Judy Peters (Venessa Shaw) who is also on her way to Brittlehurst Manor to meet her Aunt Harris (Ellen Pollack) for the first time. But once there what they find is beyond their wildest (drug induced) dreams! The insane wheelchair bound Dr. Storm & his wife Aunt Harris, zombified teenagers, murder, a strange abused dwarf servant, biker helmet wearing guards, blood stained sheets that look as if someone has been slaughtering cattle on them, axe's hanging on the walls, water that runs red with blood & only one available room which they have to share. It soon becomes clear to both Jason & Judy that Dr. Storm has some unusual methods of treatment...
This English exploitation/horror film was co-written & directed by Antony Blach who also has an uncredited cameo in the film as a bearded man in the club, I thought Horror Hospital was a bizarre film that feels like it has everything but the kitchen sink, they don't, won't or can't make 'em like this any more! The script by Blach & Alan Watson is a real mess, there's guards dressed as bikers for some reason, a Rolls Royce which decapitates people, zombified back flipping teenagers, dwarfs, a deadly bog in the middle of an English wood, a deformed monster who likes to whip naked girls, brain operations, flashbacks, gay holiday salesmen, a rock group with a thieving transvestite lead singer, a weird train station attendant, severed heads in a water tank, a shower scene involving someone wearing a Knight's steel helmet & a real overriding sense of bizarreness throughout. In fact sometimes it feels like too much is happening, Dr. Storm's motives are never made clear & as a whole Horror Hospital is all over the place even though it has some great ideas it doesn't quite know what to do with them as it tries to stuff as much into it's 88 minutes as possible. This, as it happens, is a good thing though as it moves along like a rocket, is never dull or boring & is just so entertaining to watch if you take it in the right way. Horror Hospital is not set in any sort of Hospital I recognise, it was obviously shot in a stately house somewhere that has a basement lab for Dr. Storm next to the basement gym. After a fantastic opening sequence Horror Hospital loses it's way more & more as it progresses, it becomes more confused & feels more padded as it reaches it's predictably bizarre ending. At least Blach & his crew tried to make something a bit different & they certainly succeeded. Horror Hospital is one of those unique films I could probably talk about all day analysing it & pointing to various scenes that stay in the memory. A lot of Horror Hospital is very tongue-in-cheek & for the most part it thankfully doesn't seem to take itself too seriously. It's also very camp & garish, it's a real product of the early 70's, just check out Askwith's hairdo & clothes! Horror Hospital contains little in the way of blood or gore, the brain operation is off screen for the most part but that wonderful decapitating Roller provides some severed heads & gore when it pops up. Gough is good as the mad scientist but everyone else is rather undistinguished in their roles. Technically Horror Hospital is basic & a bit crude at times but more than acceptable & it gives the film yet another bizarre extra dimension. Overall I had tremendous fun with Horror Hospital but if your looking for a serious scary horror film then forget it, watch a Hammer Dracula or Frankenstein if you want serious British horror. Still with me? In that case make sure you check this out if just for laughs only of which there are many, definitely a unique viewing experience & a film everyone should see at least once...
This English exploitation/horror film was co-written & directed by Antony Blach who also has an uncredited cameo in the film as a bearded man in the club, I thought Horror Hospital was a bizarre film that feels like it has everything but the kitchen sink, they don't, won't or can't make 'em like this any more! The script by Blach & Alan Watson is a real mess, there's guards dressed as bikers for some reason, a Rolls Royce which decapitates people, zombified back flipping teenagers, dwarfs, a deadly bog in the middle of an English wood, a deformed monster who likes to whip naked girls, brain operations, flashbacks, gay holiday salesmen, a rock group with a thieving transvestite lead singer, a weird train station attendant, severed heads in a water tank, a shower scene involving someone wearing a Knight's steel helmet & a real overriding sense of bizarreness throughout. In fact sometimes it feels like too much is happening, Dr. Storm's motives are never made clear & as a whole Horror Hospital is all over the place even though it has some great ideas it doesn't quite know what to do with them as it tries to stuff as much into it's 88 minutes as possible. This, as it happens, is a good thing though as it moves along like a rocket, is never dull or boring & is just so entertaining to watch if you take it in the right way. Horror Hospital is not set in any sort of Hospital I recognise, it was obviously shot in a stately house somewhere that has a basement lab for Dr. Storm next to the basement gym. After a fantastic opening sequence Horror Hospital loses it's way more & more as it progresses, it becomes more confused & feels more padded as it reaches it's predictably bizarre ending. At least Blach & his crew tried to make something a bit different & they certainly succeeded. Horror Hospital is one of those unique films I could probably talk about all day analysing it & pointing to various scenes that stay in the memory. A lot of Horror Hospital is very tongue-in-cheek & for the most part it thankfully doesn't seem to take itself too seriously. It's also very camp & garish, it's a real product of the early 70's, just check out Askwith's hairdo & clothes! Horror Hospital contains little in the way of blood or gore, the brain operation is off screen for the most part but that wonderful decapitating Roller provides some severed heads & gore when it pops up. Gough is good as the mad scientist but everyone else is rather undistinguished in their roles. Technically Horror Hospital is basic & a bit crude at times but more than acceptable & it gives the film yet another bizarre extra dimension. Overall I had tremendous fun with Horror Hospital but if your looking for a serious scary horror film then forget it, watch a Hammer Dracula or Frankenstein if you want serious British horror. Still with me? In that case make sure you check this out if just for laughs only of which there are many, definitely a unique viewing experience & a film everyone should see at least once...