Hospital Massacre (1981)

aka: X-RAY
Dir: Boaz Davidson

80's slasher film making 101.

Prologue that takes place in the past and sets the motivation for the serial killer.

The making of a slasher

It's 1961, Valentine's Day and little Suzy receives a hand delivered card from creepy Harold. Seeing that Suzy's playmate crumpled up the cared, Harold breaks into the house and kills Suzy's friend. A slasher fiend is born.

Cut to the present day.

Hubba Hubba

Nineteen years after the tragic murder, Susan (the gorgeous Barbi Benton) has split from her jerk of a husband Tom (Jimmy Stathis THE BLACK ROOM) and has a new man in her life. Needing to pick up the results from a routine medical check up she's dropped off at the hospital by her beau.

Put the heroine in danger and kill off characters who, incredibly, aren't missed.

There's a killer on the loose in the hospital. He's set up shop on the 9th floor of the hospital as it is closed off due to needing a good fumigation (!). At all times the killer stalks the halls dressed in surgical gear so that his identity remains a mystery. The dastardly killer has concocted an elaborate plot to keep Susan in the hospital for as long as possible. He kills her regular doctor and replaces her x-rays with those from a terminal case. Dr. Saxon (John Warner Williams BLACK MAGIC WOMAN) steps in for the missing doctor and forces Susan to spend the night at the hospital to allow for additional testing to be done.

Red herrings, lots of them.

Save her new beau, all the men act like sex crazed maniacs in the presence of Susan. A janitor ogles her intently when she checks in. Dr. Saxon performs on her what must be one of the most humiliating exams ever. Without explanation he intimidates her into stripping and feels her up. Susan is placed in a room with three older woman who like to go for long walks on the 9th floor and one of the women is obviously a man in drag (none of the characters makes mention of it). Her ex-husband, who is supposed to be watching their daughter, is not around when Susan phones him to let him know she'll be staying longer at the hospital than expected.

The final fight between killer and heroine

By the time the killer's identity is revealed and he's in full on slasher mode I had long given up caring what happened to who. Yes, even with improbable odds Susan manages to take out her stalker. The end.

Distributed by Cannon and directed by Boaz Davidson (LEMON POPSICLE), HOSPITAL MASSACRE is yet another cheap film looking to cash in on the then current slasher craze. It's dull, tedious and Barbi Benton is the only reason to bother watching it.

* out of ****