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1973 Shocker ‘Horror Hospital’ Gets DVD Release
Before he played the mild-mannered butler Alfred in Tim Burton’s “Batman” movies, Michael Gough was an icon of horror, appearing in such classics as “Berserk,” “Trog” and “Horrors of the Black Museum.” But none of his roles can compare to his performance as sadistic and deranged Dr. Christian Storm in Horror Hospital. Director Antony Balch’s legendary 1973 shocker has now been restored to its uncensored glory and will be released on DVD by genre masters Dark Sky Films, via MPI Media Group, on June 15, 2010. The disc, carrying an SRP of $19.98, includes a new feature-length commentary.
As with many British fright flicks of the ’70s, HORROR HOSPITAL pours humor, sex and abundant nudity into the macabre mix, but Anthony Balch (“Secrets of Sex”) amps up the action to eye-popping levels. Exhausted young rock singer Jason (Robin Askwith, “Confessions of a Window Cleaner,” “Let’s Get Laid”) decides to visit a rural retreat for some rest and rejuvenating treatment. Along the way, Jason meets Judy (Vanessa Shaw), a pretty girl who is also traveling to the “health hotel,” where her aunt is the matron. But when the new couple arrives for their relaxing vacation, they instead become trapped in a nightmare of wandering psychotic patients, cheeky dwarves, decapitations, lethal luxury sedans and a diabolical plan to create a slave army of lobotomized teenage zombies – all at the hands of the domineering Aunt Harris (Ellen Pollock) and her husband, the skull-drilling Dr. Storm.
Skip Martin (“Vampire Circus”) and Dennis Price (“Theater of Blood”) co-star in this bloody/campy cult favorite, now transferred in HD from the original 35mm camera negative and featuring a revealing new commentary with producer Richard Gordon (“Fiend Without a Face”), moderated by Tom Weaver. The DVD also includes an extensive still gallery which features selects from the personal library of Mr. Gordon, as well as rare lobby cards from Germany
Dark Sky Films’ DVD features the rare uncut, uncensored version of HORROR HOSPITAL and presents the film in its original widescreen aspect ratio, enhanced for 16×9 TVs.
Are you ready to go back?
After a record-breaking box office run and an extended cut re-release, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ Backrooms is heading home to Digital.
Backrooms will be available to rent or buy this Tuesday, July 14.
In the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in Backrooms as the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, who discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Renate Reinsve (A Different Man) also stars in Backrooms.
Will Soodik wrote the screenplay.
I wrote in my review, “Backrooms is at once complex and sparse, but never repetitive. It might be set in 1990, but it effectively captures modern anxieties and isolation in a way that frequently makes your skin crawl. While the journey ultimately loses steam by its cryptic end, Parsons’ visual representation of the human psyche disturbs like no other.”
YouTube prodigy Kane Parsons makes his feature directorial debut based on his creepypasta-inspired video series, which debuted in 2022 and has amassed over 190 million views to date.