I was hoping, when I received the DVD of Horror Hospital I would be seeing a nearly lost camp classic from the early 1970s (1973 to be exact). The film has a reputation as being a wild over the top film that was edited for television and never properly released on video. Anchor Bay delivered an 85 minute VHS of the film a few years ago and then Elite released a 91 minute version of HORROR HOSPITAL on DVD.

Horror Hospital is an over the top horror satire and gore film which features one of the most enjoyable bad guys in film history- Michael Gough as Dr. Storm. Gough's performances in a half dozen films can be as much fun as . . . well a good Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Michael Ironside, or Todd Slaughter, performance. Gough's best bad guy work can be seen in 1959's Horrors in the Black Museum, 1961's Konga (one of the best bad giant monkey movies you'll ever see!) and 1970's Crucible of Horror AKA The Corpse in which Gough's performance holds the entire film up--he's a manic obsessive who washes his hands a lot and…). Gough has certainly given some other memorable performances in Sleepy Hollow and as loveable Alfred in the new Batman movies --but the Michael Gough we really know and love is the seemingly satanic guy from movies like this.

The bad news is, Michael Gough isn't in Horror Hospital nearly enough and when he does appear the script doesn't give him enough juicy lines to have fun with.

Horror Hospital does have a great opening--one of the best of any film from this period. A young couple with bloody bandages around their heads are racing through woods, scared out of their minds. Michael Gough as Dr. Storm and his dwarf assistant (Skip Martin of 1972's Vampire Circus) are in a chauffeur driven limousine chasing after the fleeing couple. A lever is pulled, a sharp blade extends out from the car and voila… it's decapitation time in merry old England. The heads are neatly caught in a handy canvas bag making this a very efficient, very British, gory murder. The kind where we have lots of overly bright red blood.

Before you can say what the . . . .

The opening credits.

I wish I could tell you something in the film matches this fabulous opening, but that would be stretching the truth worse than a politician denying his connection to Enron. There are still some fun moments in the film however. Michael Gough does have a couple of good moments worth seeing. The film does feature s an extremely sexy young woman (Vanessa Shaw) who eventually takes a shower like all sexy young women in b horror films from the 1970's are supposed to do. The film also delivers enough blood, and slime to keep you from getting too bored.

The tone of the film is never very serious and the actors and direction are the type that is constantly winking at us and poking us in the ribs. In fact in the middle of a chase scene one of the characters pauses to eat some food because he's 'dying of hunger'. It's a very funny bit and arrives at a point in the film when things are getting rather repetitious. Oh and there is also a Dennis Price appearance that's enjoyably daft as most Dennis Price appearances in films usually are.


Robin Askwith started his acting career pretty impressively by playing Keating in the classic IF . . . . . (reprising it in 1982's Brittania Hospital) but in Horror Hospital and in other films, his acting reminded me of the type of performance an over-eager former child star might deliver. If you over-act by munching on the scenery in the style of a Vincent Price or a Michael Gough that's good. If you over-act by being too loud, making your facial expressions too animated or blink your eyes too much (Hugh Grant take note) you get annoying real fast. Robin Askwith is like a puppy who insists you throw the stick and won't leave you alone till you do and then of course gets the stick and brings it back to you and won't leave you alone until…….Oh sorry…. Well the guy bugs me. (He's still working too and was in the recent U-571 in 2000).

Following Horror Hospital, Robin starred in a small series of popular British sexploitation pictures (as opposed to a long running series like Carry On) playing Timothy Lea. The first and most popular of the films was 1974's Confessions of a Window Cleaner. It was followed by several more including: Confessions of a Pop Star. Confessions of a Driving Instructor, and Confessions from Holiday Camp (in 1977). Basically women throw themselves at him and bedroom farce type complications ensue. It's an excuse for audiences to see lots of exposed breasts (and damn it there is nothing wrong with that).

In fact in Horror Hospital you get a very sexy young actress named Vanessa Shaw who reminded me of a young Susan George (with better teeth). She parades around in mini-skirts, strips down to a bra and finally
has a shower scene which is the right thing to do in a movie like this--linger over the naked body of your
leading lady,,. especially if she's taking a shower and….

Sorry I got off track again.

Shaw by the way made a brief appearance in a 1972 film but doesn't have any feature film credits after Horror Hospital.

I suppose you want to know what the plot of Horror Hospital is. Okay… Robin Askwith plays something like a manager of a rock and roll band. He's burned out dealing with the rock and rollers and decides it's time for a vacation. He visits a sleazy travel agent (Dennis Price of course) who sends him off to a Hippie style vacation retreat spa ( or so one might think) called Brittlehouse Manor. We realize that Mr. Price is up to no good however. On the way to the huge mansion in the middle of some English countryside, our hero meets up with a Judy (Vanessa Shaw) who is on her way to see her Aunt who works and lives with a famous doctor.

Yep, you got it… they are going to the same place. Eventually we see a couple of imposing motorcyclists
Who have uniforms with the word STORM on them. As in Dr. Storm-- as in Michael Gough --as in a mad scientist who is doing experimental brain surgery (very similar to lobotomies) to turn free lovin' type hippies into passive obedient zombies with pale complexions and ugly forehead scars. The doctor has a helpful dwarf assistant (Skip Martin) and as if you would not have guessed dear old Aunt Harris (the icy Ellen Pollack) is his loyal head nurse (so to speak). The idea is that Dr. Storm is curing young people of their bad habits. You know the ultimate Schick Stop Smoking, Drinking, Doing Drugs and Having Free Sex Center.

Dr. Storm cures folks of their bad non-conforming liberal habits by doing some brain surgery on them. He's been perfecting his technique for a while. However, maybe this time he's gone too far. You see the whole Hippie Holiday thing is a clever ruse to lure unsuspecting hippie scum to the doctor's lair so he can turn them into test subjects for his insane experiments. Well this time maybe he's gone too far. Maybe Aunt Harris doesn't want her niece Judy turned into a zombie. Maybe the boyfriend who had a fight with Judy, wants to apologize to her and tracks her down to the big mansion and maybe the dwarf assistant has had it up to here taking orders from Dr. Storm and……. . . . . well I can say no more. That's really quite enough of out of me.

Let's just say that there is also a strange "silly-putty" monster that pops up toward the end of the film to make things even more ridiculous. Nope, I'm not joking about this. Along the way we get to see the decapitating car in action again, we are treated to some gory operations, and lots of characters running around, spouting inane dialogue, taking showers, and…..

The picture may sound like it's a real camp-fest blast but unfortunately the pacing is very un-even and there are long sequences where nothing of any interest happens. There's also some moments in the film where some slightly restrained slapstick is employed--like when the dwarf can't reach the bolt on a cell door and so he rolls an unconscious body to the door to stand on so he can reach the bolt of the door but then can't open the door because the body is in the way and so he has to move the body with great difficulty away from the door. This type of sequence might have worked if the film were paced better---but they just don't work like they are supposed to. The jokes all feel drawn out. We also have very uneven direction (by Anthony Balch), a lazy script (by director Balch and Alan Watson), and (in case you forgot)Michael Gough is not given nearly enough to do.

However, if you haven't seen this one before and you are in the mood for a somewhat old-fashioned gory camp-fest, this will fit the bill nicely--just don't expect a camp classic.

Anthony Balch (who died in 1980) only directed two original feature length films himself (Secret of Sex in 1969 and Horror Hospital), but was a well-known British distributor/producer of art and exploitation films through the 60's and 70's. He would buy up, re-title and sometimes re-edit low budget films. The 6 foot 7 Balch also occasionally acted in movies. His most interesting contribution to the world of cinema however is when he took Benjamin Christensen's silent Witchcraft Through the Ages and replaced the silent titles with narration and commentary by his friend and Naked Lunch, Junkie author, William S. Burroughs. Now if you want to see a one of a kind unique film. . . .

Elite has delivered Horror Hospital as a bare bones DVD without any fun extras, but it does feature a pretty good transfer (some grain and visible edge enhancement not-with-standing) that preserves the special look of this film. Special look? The film was shot in 3 strip Eastman color (as quite a few British films from the period were) that makes some colors (particularly RED) positively radiate and glow .. That means the fake looking bright red blood that you used to see in films from this period is back in all its glory. That adds to the nostalgic appeal of the film to be sure. The sound is a standard mix but is free from distortion. The film looks and sounds good.

It might be worth a rental.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age