Directed by Christopher Lawrence Chapman, 2017’s Inoperable stars Danielle Harris (Halloween 4 and 5) as a traffic accident victim who wakes up in a seemingly abandoned hospital, during a category 5 hurricane in Tampa, Florida. Dark forces have been awakened within the hospital by the hurricane and Harris’ character must find a way out before the hurricane ends or be trapped forever.
Inoperable uses Groundhog Day mixed with both supernatural and slasher movie aesthetics for what sounds good on paper, but feels a like a little too much in practice. It doesn’t help that Inoperable isn’t the only horror film this past year to use the Groundhog Day conceit, but it also suffers from being a bit of a slog in parts. Early in the film when Harris is exploring the hospital she passes by the psychiatric ward and then we slowly start to see patients and doctors acting bizarrely. I thought it would be her alone in a hospital with a bunch of crazy people playing doctor and got excited, but when we repeated Harris waking up that excitement went out the window.
I’m not going to tell you the supernatural elements don’t work at all, but they unnecessarily cluttered the narrative in my opinion. Fans of Harris should definitely check it out, as she’s one of the strongest parts of Inoperable. There are several aesthetically cool bits throughout, but in the end, they simply weren’t enough to save the movie for me.
Inoperable is out February 6 on DVD and VOD from Zorya Films, Millman Productions and ITN Distribution. You can also purchase the movie on Amazon.
