Plot: Susan (Barbi Benton) makes a quick stop at the hospital to pick up some test results, a process that should take mere minutes. First she experiences trouble with the elevator when it stalls between floors, then she is unable to track down her doctor, who seems to have vanished. As she searches for answers, she is unaware that her doctor is now dead and someone is tampering with her test results. When Susan finally finds someone who can take a look at her results, the forged x-rays reveal some real problems and she is asked to remain for additional tests. This leads to a creepy examination and blood work, which again, someone tampers with. All the while, this mysterious stranger is preying upon the hospital staff and no one is the wiser. As time passes, more people are killed and Susan grows more and more paranoid about her situation. Will she ever leave the hospital alive and who is behind this murderous rampage?
Entertainment Value: I love this movie for one simple reason, everyone in this hospital is a complete asshole. No kind nurses or empathetic doctors, just mean spirited and ice cold medical staff, not to mention cruel and abusive patients. This is like a nightmare just from that perspective, let alone the murders and stalking that unfold. The story here is fine, as someone obviously wants poor Susan to suffer and is willing to kill off whoever blocks the path to that. Or you know, just kill whoever. Barbi Benton and her big tits have the central role and while she endures a lot here, it is hard to be sympathetic since she comes off like a total bitch. But to me, that is great as it dovetails with how awful the rest of the characters are. The pace here is brisk and tense, with minimal slowdown and that helps a lot. X-Ray doesn’t try to break new ground, it does what a slasher should do and delivers on that front. I wouldn’t call it original or a genre classic, but it is a fun, well made horror movie. So if you’re into 80s horror movies, slasher cinema, Barbi Benton’s tits, or The Cannon Group, give it a look.
As I said above, Barbi Benton shows off her melons here and they’re wonderful, but that’s the extent of the nakedness. Not to sell her ample bosom short, but the breast count is limited to her rack. She’s in just her panties during a creepy, really creepy examination, so there’s that. The camera leers with long pans of her body, so close up that you can see every little detail of her skin. In terms of blood, most of the violence happens off screen, but the blood splashes into our view. I don’t mind that if the blood is ample, which is sometimes is here, but not always. We also have more graphic kills here and there, such as a guy getting stabbed through a doorway and a very cool finale with a full body burn and a glorious high fall from an obvious dummy. The dialogue never jumps out as memorable, but everyone is so cold or mean that it never fails to entertain in that regard. There are also exchanges that make little to no sense, beyond keeping the narrative twists under wraps. So fun dialogue if you’re into dysfunction and awkward social situations. This movie has some oddball elements, like the suspicious, cold, and mean hospital staff, the creepy examination, and Susan’s horrible personality, but it mostly stays within genre conventions. I do think it deserves a couple points though, with the end sequence shoring up the fun factor.
Nudity: 2/10
Blood: 4/10
Dialogue: 4/10
Overall Insanity: 2/10
Marc Fusion 