Horror Hospital
| Horror Hospital | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Antony Balch |
| Produced by | Richard Gordon |
| Written by |
Antony Balch Alan Watson |
| Starring |
Robin Askwith Michael Gough |
|
Release date
|
1973 (UK) |
|
Running time
|
85 min. |
| Language | English |
Horror Hospital (also known as Computer Killers) is a 1973 British horror-comedy film starring Robin Askwith, Michael Gough, Dennis Price and Skip Martin. It was the penultimate film directed by Antony Balch.
When attempts to break into the pop business leaves him with nothing but a bloody nose, songwriter Jason Jones (Robin Askwith) decides to take a break with "Hairy Holidays", an outfit run by shifty, gay travel agent Pollock (Dennis Price). After failing to chat Jason up, Pollock sends him to pseudo-health farm Brittlehurst Manor. On the train journey there Jason meets Judy (Vanessa Shaw) who is also on the way to the same destination to meet her long lost aunt. Both are unaware that the health farm (i.e. "Horror Hospital") is a front for Dr. Storm (Michael Gough) and his lobotomy experiments that turn wayward hippies into his mindless zombie slaves. The wheelchair-bound doctor surrounds himself with an entourage that includes Judy's aunt, erstwhile brothel madam Olga (Ellen Pollock), dwarf Frederick (Skip Martin) and numerous zombie biker thugs. Dr. Storm also has a Rolls Royce fitted with a giant blade that decapitates escapees and interfering parties. Abraham (Kurt Christian) arrives at the Horror Hospital "looking for his chick" and is promptly whacked around the head by the motorcycle zombies. Frederick, fed up at literally being Storm's whipping boy helps the kids escape—paving the way for the '70s' youth to put the final spanner in the works to Storm's scheme.
After the success of his feature film debut Secrets of Sex (1969), an anthology sex film that flirted with horror themes, Balch envisioned his second film as an out and out horror film and one with a continuous narrative. Location filming was undertaken in and around Knebworth House near Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
The script was written by Balch and his friend Alan Watson during the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, although the film's title was thought up before the plot. Among Watson’s ideas for the Horror Hospital script was the lethal Rolls Royce, with its giant blade that decapitated people as it drove by.
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