Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
scott_dunning
I've seen some weird movies and I've seen some bad movies, I've even seen some bad weird movies, but I've never seen a movie quite like this. I really don't want to rip in too hard because I don't know why or how this movie came to be made. My guess would be a group of film students decided to make a film using their own camera and editing equipment, with no budget whatsoever, and they got a bunch of friends with no acting ability to play the parts. If that's the case then good on them for giving it ago. If in fact this was a serious offering by a movie studio then I question their life direction and would suggest they should limit their industry involvement to ushering people to their seats at a cinema. The acting was some of the worst i have ever seen. The story was woeful. The special effects were, ummmm, ahhhh, well, I don't think I can adequately describe just how bad they were, you have to see it to believe it. All in all this movie was terrible. There really is no other word for it.
Jacob Montoya
I would give this a -10 if I could. This was one movie I wish I have never seen or wasted my time on. To me it seemed like it was the filmmaker and possibly even the male actors involved cheap excuse to get all the girls naked and to subject them to rape, torture, etc... Disgusting and vile acts are shown dealing with "body fluids" and "Necrophilia" just to name a couple... Why the females would even agree to be a part of this is beyond me? If they were or are that desperate to be in a movie then they would have been better off doing an honest porn/adult movie or even a soft core adult movie instead of what they subjected themselves to in this movie just to be in a movie. Like I said, I just can't believe people would actually agree to go ahead and do the things or allow the other people to do things to them just for a "movie" and with how it is it just appears like the writer/directors cheap way of getting girls to be naked and to abuse them. Completely horrible and avoid at all costs...
danbamberg
On the surface, "The Hospital" is sick, disturbing, brutal, depraved and unrelenting. Yet, there is something much deeper and perhaps more sinister going on. Is it all a trick? It is that which, behind its gruesome attempt to out sick the sick list, makes it worthy and memorable. "The Hospital" is passionately demented and won't so much shock its viewers, as it will skip the electrocution phase completely and move swiftly into the stage of sifting through the ashes of one's psyche.If you endure the chaos you are literally infected with some of the most bizarre and disturbing scenes ever captured in legitimate American film. If you walk out or turn it off, you give into a psychological weakness. If you complete the experience and are repulsed the game is then to separate personal opinion of the content from the brilliance of the effort and the effect. Whether or not co-writers/producers/stars Daniel Emery Taylor and Jim O'Rear meant to make a psychological statement is something which will likely remain a mystery. Regardless of the true intent, the film is unquestionably a psychological statement. How much can you take? If you take it all, what does that say about your character? If you don't try it, isn't that submission to a fear of exploring territories within your own mind and soul that you'd never dared before? Finally, if you've completed the experience and are completely revolted, (as I was) can you separate the gruesome content from the beauty of the effort?Yes, this film makes that sort of impact. It makes that sort of effort. It's madness parallels the dinner scene in Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chain Saw Massacre," but its perversions and unrelenting welding of typically unspoken vices surpass films that are spoken about in the dark closets of fandom or those currently engraved into Japanese pop culture.It is two films really. The first half offers a simple little slasher before we are unexpectedly taken to places no sane man or woman would sign up for in the final half. It's an almost comedic homage film turned completely on its head to become a potent dark poisoning of the mind. The starring cast put on some of the most unforgettable performances for a horror film in decades.O'Rear has a lot to be proud of. Not only did he co-write and co-produce the film but also he places himself in a role that highlights his abilities the way that "The Devil's Rejects" highlighted the ability of Bill Mosley. O'Rear can play a straight guy all day, but his real talent is hidden beneath a madness that leaps onto the screen in this film. Well known to be extremely friendly, O'Rear does so well with his performance that one questions, when shaking his hand, what he would do if you crossed him in a dark alley on a bad day. On the male side of the cast, O'Rear is undeniably the standout, but that is not a discredit to his cast mates. It is simply a huge credit to his previously unseen star power. He plays an initially in-control and humdrum straight guy and suddenly is revealed as an over the top sadist, Alan (a' la Otis Driftwood on a speed binge).Newcomer, Alicia Clark puts on a victim's performance that is so real, so gut wrenching, and so emotionally raw that I wondered if she underwent psychological treatment following production. Without her performance in the most significant scene of the film the transition from tongue in cheek slasher to dark and brutal psychological warfare doesn't work as well. Only a handful of actresses working regularly today could likely pull off her performance. Most of those have had more award nominations than roles. She is a talent to watch.Daniel Emery Taylor also has a tremendous amount to be proud of. Not only is this film co-written, co-produced and directed by him, he also plays the most unusual red herring in film history as the deranged hospital caretaker, Stanley Creech. To suggest Stanley as a mere red herring is perhaps dismissive but considering the film's path, is an accurate statement. Taylor has mostly simple lines, as his character is a simple man, but Stanley is as sick and perverse as they come, but somehow casts a peculiar amount of sympathy from the audience. Taylor's subtleties in not exaggerating the performance make the over the top idea of Stanley much stronger than they would've been played any other way. The film tackles some of the most disturbing subject matters hanging in the cobwebs of society, and in some areas it does so respectfully. In others it shouts "damn the torpedoes" and sinks to new depths. This is the genius of the film.Where has society gone, to what depths? The film doesn't answer this question, but it certainly asks it loudly and proudly. It has heart and passion and ultimately stands out above the crowd. It is a work of sick art as is made clear in its splendidly clever, albeit disgusting tribute to the late painter Bob Ross, a scene that will likely be talked about a decade from now.Destined for cult status, "The Hospital" has taken the independent horror game into a different direction, breaking all the rules, and serving up a splendidly sadistic bit of vice infested anarchy. Whether you ultimately love this film, hate this film, or somehow find yourself alone on the impossible road in between, you will remember it for a long time. You will compare other films to it. You will set standards and plummets based upon it. Yes, it is that good. Yes, it is that awful. Yes, it is everything it said it would be, and much, much more.
