ONTD Original™ - Halloween Edition: 20 Horror Movies Set in Clinics & Hospitals

One of the greatest displeasures in life is having to go to the doctor. No one wants to be ill or feel physically unwell. But at least you're not some of the unluckey patients in these twenty horror movies set inside of hospitals and other clinics. They're probably not coming out once they go in...

Halloween II
1981

After surviving the wrath of Michael Myers, Laurie is taken to the hospital along with the body of the man that murdered her friends. There, though, it's revealed that Michael isn't so dead after all...

The entire Halloween series may not be as consistently entertaining as other vintage horror franchises, but at least it has two actually good entries (three if you count H20 and if you regard Season of the Witch as a worthy standalone) in it. Halloween II may not be regarded as the classic that is the original. Yet it has a higher rewatchability appeal thanks to it feeling the need to match up with the slasher clones that followed Halloween.

Visiting Hours
1982

A feminist activist is attacked by a misogynistic serial killer. When the psychopath fails to kill his victim, he follows her to the hospital.

This early '80s slasher is more dramatic and not as trashy as many of its brethren to come. For one thing, the acting is quite good for this type of movie. If there is anything wrong with Visiting Hours, it would be the running time (105 minutes is twenty minutes too long for any slasher) and the lack of mystery when it comes to who the killer is. Their identity is revealed right at the beginning, which is always a bummer

The Sender
1982

Unexplainable things start to happen at a hospital after a suicidal John Doe is admitted.

Here is a worthy if not a bit too low key paranormal thriller that has some great visuals. It never lives up to its potential, and it does suffer from a lack of excitement, though.

X-Ray
1982

A maniac out for revenge stalks a woman visiting a hospital to pick up test results.

As simple as the plot sounds, X-Ray remains a wee bit fun at times, too. If you were looking for something profound and intelligent in a movie also known as "Hospital Massacre," you might want to visit your doctor. Having a constant stick up your butt can't be good for you!

Bad Dreams
1988

The survivor of a cult that committed mass suicide thinks she's being stalked by the ghost of the cult's leader.

If you go into this expecting a typical slasher, you may be disappointed. Bad Dreams plays on the idea of dreams having an effect on real life, something already done in The Slayer and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The payoff isn't as grand as those aforementioned movies, but the production values and some minor scares make Bad Dreams worth at least one watch.

The Dead Pit
1989

A woman that has lost her memory is admitted into a mental hospital. After an earthquake, an undead former doctor at the hospital that tortured patients is freed along with his army of zombies.

This straight-to-video zombie picture from 1989 is surprisingly more watchable than the plot suggests. However, the movie never lives up to that eerie poster. It's no winner in any regard, but if your standards are low enough (it's best that they remain that way for the remainder of this post), Dead Pit can pass the time until something better comes along in the queue.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
1987

Freddy scares the young residents of a mental health facility into killing themselves.

The Elm Street franchise is painfully inconsistent like the Halloween one. This sequel is one of the few better ones in the series. At least at this point, Freddy has yet to enter total one-liner territory.

Dr. Giggles
1992

The son of a homicidal doctor escapes from a mental hospital and begins a killing spree.

The early '90s tried to cling to the glory that was the '80s horror boom, but little was as successful or resonant with audiences as the "classics." Dr. Giggles was one of those sloppy, amazingly uneven teen slashers that came and went years prior to Scream's debut. Unless you want to see the late Glenn Quinn of Roseanne and Angel fame or a young Holly Marie Combs from Charmed, you might not want to skip this doctor's visit.

The Exorcist III
1990

A police lieutenant searches for the connection between a dead serial killer and the late priest Kinderman.

If you didn't like The Exorcist II: The Heretic, you may not like this one either. Yet this atmospheric sequel, which ignores the previous movie, has some merits: a good location and some great chemistry between the leads.

The Dentist
1996

A disgruntled dentist, after finding his wife with another man, starts to take his frustration out on his patients and anyone else that bothers him.

This is one of the absolute worst horror movies to come out of the '90s. Yet it and its sequel (yes, a sequel exists) are so hilarious and over-the-top that you can't avert your eyes. A root canal might actually be a better option than watching this movie.

Session 9
2001

While cleaning up an abandoned mental asylum, an asbestos cleanup crew begins to disappear one by one.

This has the format of a typical slasher, but Session 9 plays more to the psychological angle. It's a slow burn that viewers will either find refreshing or tiring.The tension is thick in this indie horror.

Gothika
2003

After running over a child, a psychiatrist wakes up in a mental hospital. She has been accused of murdering her husband, but she doesn't remember anything after the car accident.

Halle Berry lucked out with this movie. Her name alone helped to propel it to box office success. In truth, Gothika is a really mediocre, big budget horror movie with some of the most embarrassing dialogue to ever fall out of Berry's mouth. And that's including the words of B*A*P*S. Dialogue such as "I'm not deluded, Pete, I'm possessed" says it all.

Boo
2005

Five students decide to spend the night in an old hospital rumored to be haunted.

One does not watch this straight-to-video ghost flick for the innovative story or stellar acting, neither or which are anywhere in the vicinity of Boo. It's the spirit of Boo that makes up the lack of originality. The director really makes this really feel like a Halloween movie. The practical special effects for the ghouls and ghosts are eye catching when you consider the small budget Boo was given.

Dark Floors
2008

A father and his autistic daughter are on the run from demons inside a haunted hospital.

This Finnish movie makes no sense whatsoever. It appears to be a vanity project for the Finnish heavy metal band Lordi, who happen to play the monsters in Dark Floors.

Fragile
2005

A troubled nurse tries to protect the young patients from evil in an old children's hospital.

Calista Flockhart starred in this obscure British-Spanish co-production directed by Jaume Balagueró (REC). It coasts on atmosphere and style more than freshness.

Cold Prey II
2008

The survivor of a massacre at a snowy hotel is taken to the same hospital as her friends' killer. Despite her warnings to the staff, the killer awakens and begins to kill once again.

The sequel to the Norwegian slasher Cold Prey sounds too much like Halloween II. The mold isn't broken here, but Cold Prey 2 manages to be more entertaining than its predecessor. And unlike in Halloween II, the final girl(s) here get to battle the villain face-to-face.

Deadgirl

2008

Two male friends discover a living dead girl inside of an abandoned psychiatric hospital. One friend uses her as a sex object while the other one tries to figure out how to stop all of this before something even worse happens.

As creative as this zombie movie's basic idea is, it's also a disgusting one as it's about guys raping a zombie. The ending is especially deplorable.

Asylum Blackout
2011

A group of cooks are left to fend for themselves during a blackout at a hospital for the criminally insane.

This French produced English language thiller is also known as The Incident in some markets. It ends up being more of a torture porn once the action kicks in, but there is a decent twist at the end.

Grave Encounters
2011

The crew of a paranormal investigative reality show gets more than it bargained for when they enter a supposedly haunted psychiatric hospital.

The Vicious Brothers pulled off one half of what could have been a wholly entertaining ghost movie. The tension leaves once the movie becomes nothing but a haunted attraction where scary stuff pops up for the sake of a cheap jump thrill. There is a sequel that fails on about the same level.

Bloodwork
2012

Two college students participate in a clinical trial over Spring Break. However, the side effects from the experimental drug they take are more ghastly than they ever could have expected.

Bloodwork is practically a remake of the British movie The Facility, yet it is marginally less boring and more straightforward.

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