Thursday, March 10, 2011

Hospital Horrors: The Least Of Your Worries Is That Gown!


The Walking Dead (tv)

Scores of people are deathly afraid of hospitals.  I however, am not one of those people.  The paralyzing fear that some get just by entering the doors even to go visit someone is not something I have ever struggled with.  Maybe it's because when I was young, my grandfather was clergy for the local hospital and I went dozens of times with him to visit members of his church who were sick or recovering from various ailments.  I'd sit in the waiting room of the cardiac or intensive care room and read my Hardy Boys books while waiting for him to comfort someone going through a less than desirable situation.

(Of course those were the days when you could actually leave an eight year old unattended and didn't have to worry about someone taking off with them...)

To me, hospitals were places of healing - it was where you went to get "fixed up".  Even as I grew older and was really only there to visit an ailing family member or what-have-you I still didn't get all freaked out.  My mother worked for the local family doctor in our small town from the time I was two, so the frightening antiseptic smell of medicine was actually comforting to me because my mother always smelled like it when she came home from work and I hugged her hello.

Horror Hospital, 1973
These days, I'm still fairly unaffected by houses of medicine.  Not only have I myself worked for a doctor for over twenty years now, I am also actually employed by a hospital.  And even though it was at said hospital where I witnessed the early cardiac death of my soon-to-be father-in-law and the surprising death of my grandfather (the same clergyman I'd followed through the hospital doors all those years ago), hospitals themselves still don't bother me.

If you're wondering where I'm going with this, I do have a point.  Hospitals shouldn't be as scary as they seem.  But in horror, it's really a no-holds-barred situation.  Most times they are made out to be the bad guy. Though they are a place where you are supposed to be safe, intended to recuperate and feel better, instead you get the whammy.

I thought at first to just post a group of pics that show just how many horror movies (and a few television shows) have hospital moments, but I found so many I figured I'd let you guess. Some are blatantly obvious, others not so much. So whether it's a traditional hospital, a secret makeshift lab, or other spooky medicinal setting...

How many do you know?

1.

3

21
34

41

42

50

54


56

14 comments:

Michele (TheGirlWhoLovesHorror) said...

Whoa, okay...

1. Friday the 13th
2. The Omen
3. Shutter Island
7. Halloween 2 remake
16. Let the Right One In
19. Misery
20. The Grudge or Grudge 2 can't tell
26. Gothika
28. Nightmare on Elm Street
32. House on Haunted Hill
33. Pet Semetery
35. The Sixth Sense
37. Re-Animator
38. Hellraiser 2
39. Halloween 2
40. Saw 3
41. Flatliners
43. Aftermath
45. American Werewolf in London
48. The Eye?
49. Orphan
51. Candyman
54. The Fly
58. Dr. Giggles

James Gracey said...

Woah! This must have taken you forever. Some fantastic moments here - so many flashbacks to films I'd completely forgotten about, and quite a few I have to admit to not knowing at all! Hospital based slashers are amongst my favourite kind of slasher film - Cold Prey 2 being a recent treat! Nice to see it here. Also nice to read about your own associations with hospitals.

Hope all is well on your side of the sea... ;o)

Christine Hadden said...

Horror Girl: Your answers are all correct with the exception of #48, and of course a definite answer on #20 - and it IS one of the two.
Great going... so far :)

James: It did take me awhile, but I was amazed at the amount of films that had important scenes in hospitals or took place there outright, so I just kept on going...yikes.

I'll get back to you this weekend about all the haps here. Hope you're well ;)

Dorian Gray said...

Wow, TheGirlWhoLovesHorror was on a roll--nice job! Anyway I have a few answers/guesses of my own, so here goes:

9. The Jacket
17. The Mothman Prophecies
18. Frankenstein (?)
22. The Crazies (remake)?
34. Phenomena aka Creepers
42. The Walking Dead
47. Visiting Hours
48. Awake
53. Alien
59. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Christine Hadden said...

Dorian: Correct on all counts :)

Melissa said...

I know a lot of them but most have been taken. I am not so sure about these except for 44 and 60, I know those for sure!

7. Haute Tension
8. Grudge 2
44. Exorcist 3
57. Dead Ringers
60. True Blood!!!

Christine Hadden said...

Melissa: your last three are right, the first two are not :o)

Unknown said...

Not looking at the other comments (probably should though)
1. Friday the 13th
2. Omen
3. Shutter Island
4. Andromeda Strain
5. Moon
6. Aliens
9. Jacket
10. Silent Hill
16. Let The Right one In
17. Mothman Prophecies
18. Frankenstein
19. Misery
20. Grudge
21. My Bloody Valentine (remake)
22. Crazies
26. Gothika
28. Nightmare on Elm Street
29. Eye
30. Cemetery man
32. House on Haunted Hill (remake)
33. Pet Semetary
34. Phenomena (creepers)
35. Sixth Sense
37. Re-Animator
38. Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
39. Halloween 2 (original)
40. Saw III
41. Flatliners
42. Walking Dead
43. Aftermath
44. Exorcist III
45. American Werewolf in London
48. Awake
49. orphan
50. Final Destination 2? (looks like Ali Lauter)
51. Candyman
53. Alien
54. The Fly (remake)
56. Daywalkers
58. Dr. Giggles
59. nightmare on Elm Street 3

Christine Hadden said...

Meat Cleaver: Only four of your guesses were incorrect. #6 is not AlienS, #29 is not The Eye, #30 is not Cemetery Man, and #50 is not Final Destination 2.
Other than that, awesome job :)

B.R. said...

Awesome post! What the hell is going on is #37? Or do I even want to know? It looks vaguely familiar(or at lest the ghoul does), but I don't think I've seen it before.

Christine Hadden said...

#37 is Re-Animator. Coincidentally, an H.P. Lovecraft story, which is ironic since you asked if I'd seen any Lovecraft-inspired films ;)

B.R. said...

Looks cool. Though I wonder what Ol' H.P.L. would think of it? I just wish that H.P. Lovecraft movies would come on more often; at this point, Evil Dead and maybe 15 minutes of Dagon sums up my cinematic Lovecraft experience. This is why cable is evil and cable guys should be food for the Old Ones.

Did I mention that I'm a rabid Lovecraft fan?

Cthulhu fhtagn - G'thugha w'gah!!

Anonymous said...

What's 25? I saw this movie not a long ago, but I can't figure it out and I'm going nuts! The screenshot reminds me of The Island (2005), and I have a blurred memory of watching it and thinking that these two movies had something in common. Maybe it wasn't a remake, but sort of..?
Argh!

Anonymous said...

Nevermind, I got it.
#25 is Coma (1978)