Product Details

• Actors: Robin Askwith, Kenneth Benda, James Boris IV, Kurt Christian, Michael Gough
• Format: Color, Letterboxed, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: February 13, 2001
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004Y6B9
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #438,001 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In swinging '70s London, Jason (Robin Askwith), a Brian Jones doppelgänger, grows weary of the rock scene and decides it's time for a vacation. He responds to a flyer for a "Hairy Holiday" and meets up with Judy (Vanessa Shaw) on the way, but they soon find that their resort is actually a Hippie-to-Zombie Conversion Center, complete with crazed researcher (Michael Gough), evil midget, and lobotomized longhairs. The doctor harvests human heads with a retractable blade attached to his limousine and runs his zombies via remote control. A monster who appears to be made of Silly Putty stalks the grounds and claims an unlucky victim or two, until the midget and heroes plan their escape from the goonatorium. Gough claims some great chewable dialogue (Peter Cushing must have been busy), the midget has a great pathos-laden death scene, and a toxic waste site is also crammed into the overstuffed plot. It's not quite funny enough to be a horror comedy, but there's enough gore to give it the feel of a later-era Hammer film. Horror Hospital breathes some new life into the mad-doctor-and-zombification-facility plot and moves fast enough to keep things interesting, at least. If you don't go into it expecting stupendous effects or deep narrative, it's a fun ride. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hippies, lobotomies, and a guy named Abraham, January 29, 2004

By 

Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Horror Hospital (DVD)

Take one part Woodstock, one part funky psychedelic music, two parts skintight jeans and "Right on, man," mix thoroughly, smother the whole thing in cheese, and you have the makings of the 1973 camp classic "Horror Hospital." Made by director Antony Balch on an obviously shoestring budget (and probably as an enormously sick joke), "Horror Hospital" ranks as one of the funniest films masquerading as a horror movie I have seen in some time. Personally, I suspect Balch and his compatriots actually got the idea for this quirky schlockfest when they attended Woodstock and accidentally ingested the brown blotter. For all I know, maybe a biker rapped Balch over the head with a blackjack at Altamont. Whatever the case, only a severe trauma to the cranium could instill such a warped idea as "Horror Hospital" in the human brain. It is a great shame more fans of the genre don't know about this movie. This film is great fun for those willing to put their mind on hold for a couple of hours.

What you have in "Horror Hospital" is some nut case, a Doctor Christian Storm (Michael Gough), running an asylum out in the sticks where he performs weird experiments on hippies. His latest would be victim, Jason Jones, heads to Storm's hospital under false pretenses. After suffering a beating from a rock band at a local club, Jones decides he needs a vacation from the rigors of urban hippie life. After a decidedly uncomfortable meeting with an effeminate travel agent, Jones heads off on holiday with bell-bottoms and unkempt hair firmly in place. Little does he know that this agent is in league with the nefarious Doc Storm and his evil minions. On the way to the madhouse, Jones meets up with a groovy little number on the train, a woman who is also heading to the hospital in order to pay a visit to her Aunt Harris. That dear old auntie is a raving loony in cahoots with Storm is not apparent at this time. Soon after arriving at the Storm's fortress of solitude, Jones and his chick discover weird goings on: a bed drenched in blood, shambling zombies all over the place, and a demented little man with a bad attitude. It isn't too long before Jones learns of the evil machinations of Storm and attempts to save his girl by breaking out of this miserable backwater.

Why is Storm such a malevolent figure? Well, he apparently worked as a psychologist of some note in his early days before a controversial research project caused him irreparable physical damage. Now confined to a wheelchair--from which he roars out orders and ultimatums in a hilariously histrionic performance--Doc Storm has restarted his grotesque experiments. Storm uses the idea of a bed and breakfast to lure in fresh young recruits for his special two for one deal: a lobotomy followed by an implant that allows the doctor to control the thought and actions of his patients. Anyone who tries to escape dies horribly when the doctor and his miniscule helper run the hapless dupe down in a limo outfitted with a retractable guillotine blade. Predictably, Jason Jones isn't about to stand for such nonsense from some old fogy conservative. With the help of the ultra laid back Abraham, an uber hippie who shows up on the scene looking for a missing girlfriend, Jones spreads peace, free love, and equality by destroying Storm's sick dreams once and for all. Well, that's the plan, anyway.

"Horror Hospital" is such an outrageous film, such a bad idea made worse by putting it on celluloid, that it is an absolute must see for fans of cheese cinema. The performances are, for the most part, atrocious. Michael Gough, an actor who has appeared in numerous films since this picture appeared in the early 1970s (notably as Alfred in the "Batman" film franchise), should have known better than to take this role on. As campy as his performance is here, without him the movie would have been forgettable. The actors who play Jones, his girlfriend, the evil Aunt Harris, Storm's dinky helper, and the boisterous Abraham all more or less tread water in their roles. Still, these characters are invaluable to the plot. The elfish cohort of Storm eventually sees the error of his ways and attempts to help our imperiled heroes. His death scene on the stairs transmits to the viewer a feeling of deep poignancy, an absolute sense of loss to the sum total of humanity. Yeah, right. If you believe that claptrap, I have a heck of a real estate deal in Florida to tell you about. "Horror Hospital" is a laughfest from beginning to end. The best guffaw in the film has to be the scene when Abraham cruises up to the castle gates. As he waltzes through the forest, a funky, happy psychedelic tune blares in the background, apparently as a signal that this guy is the height of hippiedom or some such nonsense. I don't know what it meant and you won't, either. It's so funny that it simply doesn't matter.

You can forget about any substantive extras on the DVD release, but you do get an amazing picture transfer. There are scenes in this movie that look so fresh and colorful as to defy description. The movie often looks as though Balch and his crew lensed the thing yesterday. I liked the movie on a purely camp level, but I also thought the picturesque scenery of the castle and the forest grounds around the place added a nice touch. I would definitely watch this clunker again if I had the chance.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheesy and campy-the way all "B" horror flicks should be!, May 13, 2000

By 

Jenna (Hillsboro, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horror Hospital (DVD)

I love "B" horror flicks. I must confess. And when I saw this, my thirst for the true art form of "B" movies was sated. It was wonderfully done, and the silly putty monster was the greatest part of it all. This movie has it all from midgets to an "evil genius" and a ketchuppy substance that almost resembles fake blood. The dialogue is a bit lacking, but that adds even more to the ambiance of the picture. A fun time, and great for those of you that love campy horror movies.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lame...very lame, August 5, 2011

By 

Rose Monica - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Horror Hospital (DVD)

After seeing Michael Gough's bizarre performances in such "classics" as "Konga" and "Horrors of the Black Museum", I was expecting to see something similar in this far less well known "Horror Hospital".

Sadly, that was NOT meant to be. The film is long and tedious with only occasional cheap special effects. Gough, a mad surgeon at a "rest" home, is restricted to a wheel chair and the action does not mainly revolve around him, but, rather, around some young people trying to escape his clutches. I found myself wondering when it would finally end after viewing about 30 minutes of it.

I know a really great B movie when I find myself wanting to view it several times in a row or coming back to review it every few months or so. I feel no such desire for this disappointing production.