Rating: ***1/2
Starring: Joe Spano, Diane Venora and David McCallum
Set in the future where almost every operation in a high tech clinic are run and controlled by a series of terminal computers, due to the fact that the staff has barely anything to do, they pass the time by breaking a few ethical rules including betting on which of their wards will bite the big one first. When one patient, suffering from a bladder infection, dies from severe hemorrhaging due to an unknown substance placed in her medication, some action were to be expected to get into the bottom of this.
In comes Dr. Frank Holt, who never trusted a single computer and whose bitterness towards the idea have his peers batting at him with sarcastic eyes, perhaps enough to make sure he is to blame for the bizarre accidents that begin to plague the automated hospital. Pressured, Holt has no other choice but to go on an all-out investigation that unravels a series of betrayal, murder and unauthorized medical experiments.
Some might argue that this film shouldn't fall into and get mixed-up with slasher titles, and I'm not going to disagree much because I can understand why; Terminal Choice (1985) has no human killer and the murders are done through sabotaged machines rather than hand-held weapons. And yet, it does contain some slasher overtones and a workable mystery that can keep seasoned fans glued; who is doing this and why are the big questions presented before us and it's cleverly executed to keep you engaged as the further the conspiracy begins to unfold, more victims start dying from "accidents".
The murders in this film, while not very "slasher-like", still pass my expectations by tapping into the fear of entrusting one's life to total strangers, though not of fellow man, but of machines. The idea of your weakened state taken into the advantage of the killer may have been done already in similar flicks like Hospital Massacre (1981) or Visiting Hours (1982) but in here, it's more chilling as it is done by automated machines. There's no reasoning with it. No mercy. It will simply do because it is programmed to do so. So whenever a kill happens, the film don't keep it simple: patients will try to squirm to get away, blood will soaks blouses, there's great tension built for each of these deaths and murder attempts, which eventually goes into full swing by the time our dear doctor friend got himself injured and is left at the mercy of a madman and their machines.
It's a shame that this movie is often overlooked because for a thriller, it delivers what most slashers fail to do and that is creating clever variations from the usual bodycounting while keeping the tone in check and the murder-mystery fairly scary. The acting is solid and though the pacing might get a little slow by the middle of its run, it pays off quite fairly at the last act.
Terminal Choice (1985) is one movie that's aware of what it is and tries to give what the fans want: a bloody slasher film mixed with a crime-thriller style mystery. Seek it, you wont be disappointed.
Bodycount:
1 female suffers through continuous hemorrhaging due to tainted drug, bled to death
1 female suffocates on a malfunctioning ventilator
1 male found killed (method unknown)
1 male electrocuted by a defibrillator
1 male got tainted drug injected to his neck, bled to death from severe hemorrhaging
1 male shot to death
Total:6
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