Haunted Hospital: Heilstätten – Film Review

The German horror film, Haunted Hospital: Heilstätten, directed by Michael David Pate and co-written with Ecki Ziedrich, had all the elements to offer an interesting blend of found footage and haunted asylum sub-genres, yet falls disappointingly short.

A solid premise offers a slight hint of promise – a group of YouTubers aim to conduct a 24-hour challenge in a derelict, gloomy sanctuary near Berlin. As per horror genre expectations, the sanctuary has an eerie past and the YouTubers inevitably discover that they are not alone. Sadly, despite the potentially interesting premise, the narrative execution is, for the most part, clumsy, predictable, and dull. With just enough moments of potential terror to make you jump but too few to keep you interested.

While it’s expected that characters in horror films might lack depth and seem rather interchangeable, Haunted Hospital takes this unfortunate trend to a new low. Marnie, portrayed by Sonja Gerhardt, appears to be the most sensible of the group but doesn’t stand out, while her fellow YouTubers, Theo (Tim Oliver Schultz), Emma (Lisa-Marie Koroll), Finn (Timmi Trinks), and Charly (Emilio Sakraya) blend together as obnoxious caricatures, with seemingly little regard for their own well-being or respect for their haunting surroundings.

Rather than trying to evoke empathy or identification, the characters’ reactions to the circumstances they are in do not go beyond typical horror tropes and clichés – running, screaming, panic. Character motivations and interactions are underdeveloped and lead to numerous logical gaps and instances of why would you do that? in the story.

Another regrettable aspect is the underutilization of the gloomy sanctuary setting. The architecture and the ambiance could have been an asset in generating an oppressive, sinister atmosphere but this potential is lost as we rarely get a comprehensive sense of the place. Lackluster lighting, unimaginative shot composition, and minimal exploration of the asylum confines restrict the scare factor considerably.

Moreover, Haunted Hospital seems torn between embracing its modern context and playing to more traditional horror elements. While the film initially focuses on social media and modern obsessions with viral fame, this quickly becomes sidelined by a haphazard jump to old-school tropes – insane doctors, inhumane experiments, and the residual ghosts they left behind. Neither approach feels fleshed out or cohesive and this results in an inconsistent narrative structure and thematic focus.

Even when the horror starts to ramp up, the scares feel disjointed and randomly inserted rather than a steady build-up of dread. Rather than organic consequences of a fleshed-out story, the frightening scenes feel like disjointed events contrived for cheap thrills.

Pate and Ziedrich’s efforts to shake things up in the third act are commendable but do not save the overall plot. The supposed plot twists are lackluster and seem hastily inserted in an attempt to catch the viewer off guard. This abrupt tonal shift doesn’t pay off due to poor pacing, shallow character development, and absence of effective narrative groundwork.

In terms of technical aspects, the found footage cinematography, mostly via handheld and security cameras, results in shaky, unclear shots which often confuse rather than enhance the terror. Some sound effects do occasionally work in amplifying scares, but are too infrequent to contribute to the film’s overall effect.

Haunted Hospital: Heilstätten takes an intriguing concept and marries it with potentially terrifying backdrops, yet it struggles to engage due to poor character development, disjointed scares, a half-hearted commitment to its themes, and the generally unimpressive execution of the narrative. What could have been a terrifying trip into the bowels of a haunted sanctuary turns out to be a lackluster and forgettable venture.