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For all of the slick, well done, technical prowess shown in horror movies from recent years, one thing that they seem to have lost is the ability to be CREEPY, the tendency to make the viewer uncomfortable just by what theyâre watching even as it still delivers the horror movie goods, replaced instead by the joyous, communal sense of fun that many believe is what scary movies are about. But The Creep Factor is now almost a lost art in the genre, a style that was defined in the grindhouse cinemas and would leave the impression on viewers that it was filmed on a dank, dirty set with moldy food being used for catering. A great example of an imperfect horror movie that still succeeded in the discomfort department was this release from 1981 (and also known under the title of Hospital Massacre), a film that was rushed into production in order to capitialize on the so called slasher boom of the early 80s, a golden era for horror that was jump started by the successes of both John Carpenterâs Halloween and Sean Cunninghamâs Friday The 13th (and given even more fuel for the fire by the box office bonanza enjoyed by Halloween 2, long considered a classic in its own right which this movie clearly emulates). The slasher genre (formula) would either follow a character who was a known danger to society (i.e. mental hospital escapee) wreaking murderous havoc or else have its premise be a whodunit (as this film tries to be) which follows an anonymous killer not only committing savage murders but in the end turning out to be a seemingly regular person (with a motive) who is doing these horrendous killings (many times against innocent people who didnât deserve it) in order to carry out some kind of sick agenda even though when they are seen as âthemselvesâ, they appear to be perfectly normal and well adjusted types until the big reveal of what they really are towards the end. At its core, this film is a story of obsession, about a guy who has been dangerously infatuated with a girl since childhood and after having been rejected by her when just a boy has now grown up still obsessed with her since she too has grown up into being a gorgeous, voluptuous woman, finally getting her into a situation which he has long awaited in order to inflict his revenge / rape onto her that he has always dreamed of. To that end, the filmmakers would cast in the lead role one Barbi Benton, former girlfriend and TV sidekick of Hugh Hefner who nonetheless was never named Playmate Of The Month despite having access to Hefâs zipper, but she still made more than enough of a name for herself through several nude photo spreads and various novelty acting appearances including several guest shots on The Love Boat. Here she gets one major, showstopping nude scene (under the guise of being a doctorâs exam) which turns out to be the highlight of the whole movie watching her showing off her fit, hot body. The movie opens with Bentonâs character being shown as a child in flashback playing in the living room with her brother on Valentineâs Day. A knock on the door by a suspicious kid results in the little girl finding a Valentineâs card from âHaroldâ, which for whatever reason causes the two siblings to laugh and the brother crumples up the card and throws it in the trash. When the little girl leaves the room to get a piece of cake, she returns to find her brother (who is also a kid) brutally murdered and âHaroldâ looking in through the window and laughing. Flash forward 19 years and the little girl has grown up considerably into Susan Jeremy (Benton), a ravishing brunette with green eyes and an amazing pout that always seems to come to life whenever she doesnât immediately get her way. Sheâs also juggling a boyfriend, a daughter and an ex husband (who clearly doesnât like the boyfriend) but right now sheâs heading over to the hospital to receive the results of some routine medical tests (ostensibly before she starts a new job). Like Halloween 2 the same year, this is a horror film that makes the most out of its hospital setting (having been shot in a real one that was abandoned), but thereâs a lot more going on than just that: Barbi Benton (or rather her character) is somebody who certainly makes an impression with her feminine beauty as literally EVERY male character in the hospital (including the extras) are always being shown continuously staring at her almost compulsively even after she has walked away, so surely when the killer (wearing a surgical mask and scrubs to hide his identity) who is obviously the killer little boy grown to manhood (and using an alias and identity which gives him a reason to be at the hospital) starts making his presence felt, itâs almost impossible to figure out which male character it could be since it appears that ALL OF THEM have fallen rapturously in love with Benton since her arrival at the hospital to learn her test results. Turns out that her regular doctor that she sees is a woman (naturally) whom of course is the first victim murdered here, but the killer has an even more devious plan afoot, having switched Bentonâs medical tests with fake ones that more importantly, seem to indicate that she has an extremely severe illness and with the only female doctor on the premises now dead (and hidden away which makes everyone believe that she took off), it means that the pretty boy head doctor can now take the honors of examining her nude body (much to her discomfort) and then the race is on amongst the male staff to see who can impress / touch her the most. The dorky boyfriend (who has been outside in his car sleeping for half the movie all while waiting for her to come out) heads on into the hospital and meets an extra special death just for being her boyfriend (The Killer: âAre you the one who gets to touch her secret places?â) and in general Benton (now forced to be admitted as a patient for âfurther observationâ) now finds herself in a place that is not so much a hospital as it is a Kafkaesque prison where she is being held against her will not so much for her health but rather for her stunning looks and the desires of those who want to enjoy getting with her. So with the Benton character seemingly being threatened and desired on all sides by all of the male characters (except the ex husband who is watching their daughter and the boyfriend whose death scene is almost like a secret ceremony), keep in mind that one of them is STILL the actual killer (the little boy who killed her brother years ago) and besides falsifying her medical records in order for the other doctors to keep her there, his rampage sees him claiming as victims both female nurses AND various lecherous male characters (who of course are immediately crossed off as being suspects upon their demise) all while Benton wanders into nightmarish rooms where various emphysema victims are hooked up to breathing machines and at another point while screaming for help stumbles into a room full of helpless traction patients, not to mention the three nasty old ladies whom she is forced to share a room with and are quick to make several mean spirited comments much to Bentonâs chagrin, all while Benton herself can always be counted on to knock things over loudly while trying to hide from the killer. The film does achieve a surreal mojo that few horror movies can truthfully pull off (exploiting anyoneâs possible fear of hospitals in general along with the aforementioned womenâs fear of being stalked / raped / killed by an assailant whose identity is being kept from her). Granted, how the killer didnât find himself locked away as a boy in a mental institution for killing Bentonâs brother and is now himself working in a hospital carrying out a master plan of revenge is a bit much (surely Benton as a little girl would have identified her brotherâs killer to the authorities). Thereâs also the fact (something which many pointed out about Halloween 2) that the hospital here seems woefully understaffed, so much so that several patients are shown out wandering the halls in the dead of night and there is zero indication of there being any actual security on the premises (even Haddonfield Memorial at least had a hammerheaded security guy around). And some of the visible attitudes of several male characters (especially the pretty boy head doctor) make it appear that they were trying a little too hard to make them into suspicious red herrings. But much of the atmosphere, expansive gore and having a mystery killer in a surgical mask (something that could work today in a COVID ravaged society) makes this into an obscure horror that works pretty well at being creepyâŚ
7/10