Jason, a member of a 1960's pop group, decides he needs a break at a country retreat. On the train he meets Judy, niece of Aunt Harris who owns the place with her husband Dr Storm and who are using the guests for surgical mind-control experiments. So while Jason and Judy are pretty quickly making out, they are just as quickly working out how to get away. Written by

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Mike Hutchinson from United Kingdom
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This film is a wonder. If one was to happen across it one Sunday afternoon, sober and alone, one might struggle to immediately spot its worth.

However, do NOT pass this film by. Director Balch has here crafted a masterclass in horror/b-movie aesthetic and inconsistency. The gleeful abandon with which the film disposes of continuity and good sense is a constant joy - it impossible not to shout "REWIND" every 10mins.

Robin Askwith's frottage, Dennis Price's priceless mirror speech, the musical motorcycles, the guard Dalmatian, the zombie ticket-man, the slugman escape, the "sandwich incident", the hilarious incomprehensibility of Michael Gough's Doctor Storm's central plan, the delectable Judy Peter's, the greatest chat-up line in screen history (sadly unrepeatable here...) and one very fine facial performance after another from the diminutive Skip Martin.

Please, rent or buy this film, grab a your mates and a crate of cheap beer and keep the remote control nearby - this film, from the same year as The Wicker Man and Don't Look Now, defines the genre with its aggressive deconstruction of horror cliches and sizzling script.

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Graham Rix (gtrix@enterprise.net) from Leicester, England
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Horror Hospital is an excellent slice of vintage British horror, produced in the early 70's when films were getting gorier (notice the numerous decapitations). Michael Gough is on top nasty form as a doctor who performs brain experiments (sound familiar?) on his young victims, and Robin Askwith is the unsuspecting youth caught up in his evil schemes. Dennis Price has an amusing cameo, and there's even a 70's guy called Abraham with big hair. Lots of comedy action scenes too with motorbike-helmet wearing leather-suited baddies. This is a must see!

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- Chumpy from Queens, New York, USA
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This is another film I remember from childhood, from the days of regular TV (free, broadcast, and adjust the "rabbit ears" for reception), as a crappy but atmospheric British monster picture.

Now, not only on cable, but on a premium service, I came across it again - and in letterbox format no less. Well, the film is still basically very flawed, but it really shows how much better crafted films once were.

While it remains a simplistic lots of onscreen gore effort, this picture is so much more beautiful to look at than many produced today. The cinematography is consistently superior, and well supported by excellent lighting and generally well scored music. And even though the special effects don't match up to todays films they retain some value in that they have more visual "weight" than some of the CGI crap routinely inserted in modern movies.

Unfortunately the wacky plot and mediocre (well, sometimes bad) acting show through in the end. It may be that the director was trying for a lot of humor at points but it only worked for me towards the end of the film when one of those fleeing the burning building stops for a snack in the kitchen.

As for the beheading car mentioned in another review: that particular element is worthy of Austin Powers' "Dr. Evil." I can see the good doctor in this movie also calling out "All I'm asking for is for some frickin' sharks with lasers on their heads."

If you've seen this before on broadcast TV, it may be worth a second look on video or DVD for the cinematography and for the sexual elements which explain the plot a little more. In the TV version I saw as a kid, the sexual theme was not at all evident, and so, the plot seemed even more outlandish than it actually is.

Still, if you happen by this big-time cable it may catch your interest, but all the way along you'll wonder why any premium channel could have chosen this film from their catalog. There are quite simply so many more old British shockers which are better than Horror Hospital."

-SCG

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Paul Andrews (poolandrews@hotmail.com) from UK
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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...

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lost-in-limbo from the Mad Hatter's tea party.
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A worn out musician decides to take break and go a relaxing vacation. He chooses to stay at health farm located out in the country and on the way there, he meets a girl on the train going to the same place to see her aunty. The mysteriously mean, but crippled Dr. Storm, who's performing brain surgery on the holidaymakers and turning them into his obedient zombies, runs the resort. When the two teens find out about his insane experiments and learn that's their fate. They go out of their way to get away. But they not only have the doctor to face, but also his dwarf sidekick, an army of leather wearing zombies and that of a hideous monster.

Just wait a second, as I just pick up my jaw from the ground. Now, what was that all about!? "Horror Hospital" has got to be one of the most ridiculous and over-exaggerated horror films that I've ever came across, but you know what? I had a real ball with this blend of macabre and camp! That's high camp of a VERY demented type. The praise that I've given makes it sound great and I had a good old time with it. Although, don't be expecting anything particularly fresh and this deranged piece is one downright messy film that doesn't have any idea of the word coherence. So from that point it recycles the same old formula and leaves a lot of things up in the air. The cliches and predictability flows freely, without any sort of constraints. Also forget about logic in the script and story as that's thrown out of the window for absurd situations that don't make much sense. Actually the whole film doesn't make a whole a lot of sense, with the so many potholes and laziness. There's so much going on in the plot that there's such vagueness to everything and the problem is it tries to squeeze too much madness without explaining what happen before it and how it came to that situation. But all is forgiven because it's so abnormal and hugely enjoyable. So, just go with the flow because if you try to decipher what's going on, you'll receive a splitting headache for your troubles. The whole mysterious awe about what's going is just so hard to shake that I couldn't keep my eyes off it.

The actual story is no more then a melodrama disguised as a Gothic shocker, which spurts along some exploitation and black humour along the way. Actually, the whole thing turns into a black farce with everything being poked fun at and the blood splattering is pretty much in a comic book state. Because of that the violence isn't particularly gruesome and it doesn't make you squirm, but the gratuitous bloodletting and nudity does run freely. Damn those leather-clad zombies really do like to hand out a beating! The great thing about it is that everyone involved knows how stupid it really is and don't take the thing so seriously. The performances are plain awful and purely amateurish to say the least. But it's Michael Gough's hellishly campy performance that steals the lime light as the crazy Doctor and Skip Martin as Frederick the dwarf adds a cheeky vibe to the film. The dialogue joins it with its ineptness. But even though these things are terrible there's some energy amongst it and you can't go wrong with the tongue-in-cheek approach it takes. Another strong feature is that of the setting. The resort, which more looks like a castle on the inside, has an oppressive awe about it and the grand Gothic exterior makes it look larger and menacing than it really is. Being isolated in the countryside helps provide such a brood atmosphere too. Although, it's definitely hilariously bad, it still does have its eerie moments worked in. Also the robust score builds on the suspense and uneasiness greatly and the soundtrack is reasonably groovy. Well, what do expect from that era. Really, this is purely utter ham that breathes sadism and sleaze in a very cheap way.

No way can you call this a good film, because it's not. The aim of the flick is to entertain with it being heavily laced with bloody, sleazy and humorous context. Even if the production is pure rubbish, it does it effectively enough that I can see this becoming a guilty pleasure of mine. Only for people who really enjoy camp horror and if you do, you're in for one big treat.

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The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
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Horror Hospital is far too silly to be taken seriously, but that's what makes the film so good! The film throws in one illogical sequence after another, and if you tried to account for all the events in the movie and make sense of them; you'd be completely wasting your time. In fact, if you're watching this film you are, in fact, wasting your time, but the film makes up for this by being lots of fun and this ensures that it's always delightful. The film clearly knows that it's trash rather than a serious horror film, and this is shown throughout by the tongue-in-cheek mood that runs through it. The filmmakers clearly couldn't keep a straight face while making this film and that translates onto the screen. The ridiculous plot follows the insane Dr Storm and his "heath farm". After travelling there for a holiday and meeting a young lady on her way to see her aunt (who works at the "health farm"), a British man named Jason finds that his holiday might not be going as planned, and once he finds out that the not-so-good doctor is conducting experiments into making zombies; Jason, the girl and some other bloke that turns up must make a bid for freedom!

When it comes to bad movie-making, this film has it all; a terrible script, duff cinematography, useless actors delivering stupid performances, daft music, a cliched, rip-off ridden and implausible plot and the list goes on.... yet, somehow, it all moulds together into something very watchable. I think another reviewer summed it up best when he talked about the hilarious sequence that sees the utterly superfluous character, Abraham, introduced into the film. I actually had to rewind that part of the film about five times just to fully take in how amazingly stupid it is. The film is full of moments like that, and that's why this piece of trash appeals much more than the standard trash that was produced en mass in the seventies. Michael Gough helps to make this film a winner with his delightfully over the top camp performance as the 'evil' Dr Storm. You can always count on Gough to overact and make himself look silly, and that's exactly what he does here. On the whole, if you like your movies to be serious; you wont get an ounce of enjoyment out of Horror Hospital. But if you like them to be stupid and camp - prepare for a truly GREAT ride!

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Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
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Elderly horror films starring Michael Gough as a dangerously insane butcher are always great fun, since the gore is so over-the-top and the story lines are so hilariously inept. Just look at "Horrors of the Black Museum" or "Satan's Slave", for example! It simply seems that casting Michael Gough inevitably results in a horror film that can't possibly be taken serious. "Horror Hospital" lifts up this theory to an even higher level of grotesquerie, as the plot is indescribably absurd, Gough's character is more demented than ever and the script is just filled with goofs, stupidities and illogicalness! Michael Gough is Doctor Christian Storm, supposedly a brilliant disciple of Pavlov once, but now a crippled lunatic who enjoys swooping off people's heads with his Rolls Royce (now there's one killing method you have to see in order to believe!). Although he's not very good at it, Storm attempts to control and master human feelings of sexuality so he performs brain-operations on youngsters and keeps their zombified leftovers locked away in his rural castle. You can't really be too harsh on this film, since writer/directed Antony Balch clearly opted for a light-headed and comical tone. Cliche after cliche is unscrupulously presented while the violence (although plenty of it) is never shocking or disturbing. Not once during the whole film I really understood what exactly Storm is trying to achieve with his operations (my best guess is that he wants to copulate with the female patients after disfiguring their brains), but I gladly witnessed how he cut open their heads and served the brains on a plate for them to see! The castle (referred to in the movie as a "health-farm") is a great horror setting and there are a couple of very ingenious gimmicks. The most fun definitely is to track down all the things in "Horror Hospital" that don't make the slightest bit of sense: the machete attached to the car can't possibly reach someone's head (unless they were all midgets like Skip Martin) and Storm's biker-henchmen just seem to keep on coming, like they're appearing out of nowhere. This movie is one of those exquisite British horror oddities released during the early 70's; too silly to be produced by Hammer but way too much fun to forget about them entirely. Watch it when you can!

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hnybny from MA, USA
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If Richard O'Brien, writer of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show", wasn't inspired to write his movie after seeing "Horror Hospital" I'd be very surprised. So many similar subjects: sexually active couple in old castle/mansion, leather clad bikers, gore, evil doctor, brain manipulated minions. Even the couple's arrival is almost a carbon copy of Brad and Janet's greeting by Riff Raff who is in this case a freaky dwarf (pc - little person). This movie was released in 73' which would have been just a year before he began the songs for his soon to be musical "Rock(y) Horror Show." This is a must see for any RHPS fans.

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dbdumonteil
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Another story of mad scientist who uses rock musicians as guinea pigs for his experiments?If we look below the surface of the trite screenplay we could see the revenge of the establishment against those hairy young men and the horrible sounds they make ,their silly ideas of peace and love ....

What saves this flick is its black humor:from the very first line about keeping the car clean to the girl's family 's racy past:Wasn't her auntie the owner of a brothel in Hamburg ?Wasn't her mom an unwed mother? and hadn't the aunt a lot of nerve to call her names? Michael Gough is the sinister-looking saw bone;the aforementioned aunt is his assistant (sounds like Franju's classic :"Les Yeux Sans Visages" aka "Eyes without a face" );and the rockers provide the raw material.It is not food for thought but it's rather entertaining if you do not demand too much.

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BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC
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Not only was Michael Gough in Sleepy Hollow, a film that boasted the tagline "Heads Will Roll," but Gough also stars in this early 70's horror film where decapitation is integral to the plot. So much for two heads are better than one. This film tells the story of some demented doctor that labotimizes young people so as to make them into his puppets. He is in a wheelchair, has a dwarf-servant, a car that has a blade pop out to slice heads off of people, a seemingly neverending supply of killers clad in biker outfits, and a penchant for cracking his metallic-sounding knuckles. Gough uses no restraint at all in his performance as the crazed physician. His rich aristocratic voice adds all the more to his crazed lack of restraint. Gough's performance is larger than life, not necessarily better. The rest of the cast is adequate. Dennis Price, not long before his death, gives a cameo as an effeminate travel agent. The setting in the film is truly nice, and the film has a good flow of action. Some lacking points are the huge holes in the script, the general editing done in the film, and some lacklustre performances in supporting roles. The film is bad, yet one of those bad ones that can be so enjoyable. Should be seen for Gough's over-the-top performance at the very least.

The films Italian title "Diario proibito di un collegio femminile" translates to "Forbidden diary of a girls' boarding school".
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The movie was written with Robin Askwith and Michael Gough specifically in mind for the leading roles.
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Producer Richard Gordon has said that this was the most fun he had making a movie.
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Director Antony Balch had never learned to drive a car, and used a motorcycle to get around. He was persuaded by producer Richard Gordon to be transported to and from the locations by means of limousine.
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The role of Abraham was first offered to Nicky Henson.
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Female lead Vanessa Shaw's real name was Phoebe Shaw. Producer Richard Gordon changed Shaw's first name from Phoebe to Vanessa because he thought Phoebe sounded too old-fashioned.
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The title and the theme were devised prior to the writing of the script.
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The principal shooting of this film was done in four weeks.
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Robin Askwith did all of his own stunts.
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Ellen Pollock wore exotic clothes to her audition that she subsequently wore in the movie as well.
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Robin Askwith improvised the moment when he stops to eat a piece of pie during the fiery climax of the picture.
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The band "Mystic", who appear near the beginning of the film, have been revealed to be the late '60s psychedelic group Tangerine Peel. However, the cross-dressing frontman is not a real member of the group. He is the film's co-writer Alan Watson.
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The movie was designed to be mostly shot on locations with a full week shooting schedule.
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The exterior of the clinic was shot at the home of Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, author of 'The Last Days of Pompeii'.
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mind control|bare breasts|breasts|topless female nudity|gore|zombie|female nudity|wheelchair|murder|male frontal nudity|female frontal nudity|blood|fire|midget|decapitation|mad doctor|independent film|

AKAs Titles:
(video title) - Doctor Bloodbath
Spain - Horror en el hospital
France (cable TV title) - Horror Hospital
France - La griffe de Frankenstein
Hungary - Horror kórház
Italy - Diario proibito di un collegio femminile
Sweden - Skräcksjukhuset
Turkey (Turkish title) - Insan kasabi
USA - Computer Killers
West Germany (trailer title) - Dr.Frankensteins Horrorklinik
West Germany - Frankensteins Horror-Klinik

Release Dates:


Certifications:
Australia:R / Germany:16 (re-rating) / Italy:VM18 / Italy:VM14 (DVD rating) / New Zealand:R16 / Norway:(Banned) (1974-2003) (cinema release) / UK:18 / UK:X (original rating) (cut) / UK:18 (video rating) / USA:R / West Germany:18 (SPIO: X)