Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Horror Hospital (1973) directed by Antony Balch



A not so good hippy songwriter decided to spend time at a health farm and meets a young girl on the train going to the same place and they become a couple, of course. The health farm is anything but and they discover mad doctor Michael Gough, who really is too good for this role, is turning hippies (mostly muscular young men  - the guy who is recruiting for the centre is portrayed as gay and preatory) in zombie save with a new lobotomy technique helped by the girl's aunt and what seems to be a legion of faceless helmet wearing motorcyclists and a fancy car with decapitation device and a handy head catching net attached for good measure. There is also a dwarf assistant. The actor playing him tried his best to be the break out star of the film and while he could be a worse actor he isn't given anything really work with to make his part even campy fun. 

This film meanders and makes little sense, the doctor was in a fire and is now bound to a wheelchair and Aunty the assistant seems to have no reason to be helping him at all except maybe she has a sadist side to her? Other characters come and get lobotomized and no one seems to care, not their friends, lovers family... the characters are less connected with the others characters then we are! 

Not much happens, the leads try to eascape several times and fail, almost get lobotomized and we discover the doctor is wearing a mask that hide his burnt face but there is no way on earth that would work or that mask would fit over the burnt face makeup which looks like the "pink slur" we often see as what chicken nuggets are made from. Also, he seems to have no trouble walking around nude when he is out of his disguise. 

All but 3 of the cast are dead by the end and they joyfully put on the doctor's face mask and have a laugh at the expense of their dead friends. Apparently there was a sequel but I am NOT  even looking for that! 

2 comments:

T' said...

Wow, you really have found some terrible films lately. Another one I'm sure to avoid. Thanks for watching it for me!

Behemoth media said...

I seem to "roug warrior 3" a lot if films for you! LOL