I consider myself quite well educated in, and acquainted with, the slasher films of the 1970s and '80s, having spent more time and money than I should have watching the films and reading such books as Justin Kerswell's Teenage Wasteland. I'm consistently surprised at how many films I haven't seen, not just sequels, which are easily missed, but some of the numerous original films which and related from the genre's 'golden age'.
X–Ray (aka Hospital Massacre, Ward 13 and Be My Valentine, or Else…), was written and directed by Boaz Davidson, whose previous film was Lemon Popsicle, made four years previously, and was made for the Golan-Globus production team and Cannon Films.
It begins with an opening sequence similar to that in Prom Night, when a cruel joke perpetrated by two children results in a death – in this case, the popular Susan Jeremy receives a Valentine's card from a neighbourhood boy called Harold who, after seeing her crumple up the card, in a fit of anger, hangs her friend David from a hat stand.
Nineteen years later, the recently divorced Susan goes to the hospital on Valentine's Day to collect some test results and, on the way into the building, is watched by a man several floors up, who is dressed in surgical scrubs and stroking a photo of a young Susan. When she is on her way up, the masked stranger sabotages her elevator in order to murder the doctor who has her records. The unfortunate janitor who finds the body has his face dunked in acid! While she is waiting for the doctor, Susan persuades an intern into looking at her results, which he notices are strange, with something definitely amiss, but this may be due to a 'con job' and, when he goes to investigate, he disappears.
This is only the beginning of Susan's problems, because she is kept on the ward – even strapped to her bed – by medical staff who refuse to believe her when she tells them there is someone after her and her life may be in danger. Part of the film's appeal comes from the nightmarish setting, with events taking place inside the worst hospital in the entire world from which, at least for Susan, there is no escape. Whether it was intended to be a commentary on the American health care system, or whether that's an interpretation made after the fact is open for debate, but it works either way.
Probably because I'd seen Prom Night and other similar slasher films, I guessed the identity of the masked psychopath very early on, but this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the film. Davidson proves as adept with a horror/thriller as with a teen comedy and, even though his intention was to write the screenplay for someone else to direct and he found himself helming the project due to several factors which I won't go into here, he does a great job with some of the suspenseful scenes and, especially, the gory ones, also in eliciting a terrific performance from Playboy pin up Barbi Benton, who can scream with the best of them!
The A/V quality on the new 88 Films BD is excellent and there are two very good interviews, one with Boaz Davidson, and another with cinematographer Nicholas Josef von Sternberg. I haven't listened to the commentary with Calum Waddell and Justin Kerswell yet, but I intend to do this tonight.
Highly recommended.