Hospitals seem a natural setting for a horror films: claustrophobic rooms filled with the sick and dying, operating theaters dedicated to slicing open the human body, plus basement morgues stacked with the fresh corpses of those who didn't make it.  And finally, most terrifying of all…the bill!  Here are ten particularly gruesome cinematic facilities where health care reform is truly a necessity.

Coma (1978). Based on Robin Cook's best seller, this is still by far the best hospital thriller for sheer white-knuckle suspense.  While working at a prestigious Boston hospital, medical student Genevieve Bujold uncovers a sinister conspiracy to kill healthy people for their body parts. The subtext of a woman trying to be taken seriously in what was considered a man's milieu helps feed the general sense of paranoia and distrust, as even her boyfriend (Michael Douglas) becomes a suspect.  Well directed by the late Michael Crichton from his screenplay.

Extreme Measures (1996). Hugh Grant breaks out of his romantic comedy corset to play a British doctor who discovers a different kind of sinister conspiracy involving illegal (and often horrifying) spinal surgery experiments at a New York hospital run by well-regarded neurologist Gene Hackman.  An unsettling but surprisingly thoughtful examination at the heart of medical ethics: do brutal means justify miraculous ends?

Anatomie (2000). Medical ethics are thrown out the window in this German import, about the nasty doings at a Heidelberg hospital that is the home to a secret anti-Hippocratic Society that deliberately disregards the Hippocratic Oath and experiments on subjects without their consent.  Early scene of man waking up on an operating table to discover he's being dissected alive is unforgettable.

Visiting Hours (1982).  This "stalker in the hospital" import from Canada had one of the coolest trailers: the lights on the building slowly went out until it revealed the shape of a skull.  Meanwhile, inside the hospital, a determined slasher (played to creepy perfection by Michael Ironside) is out to make sure crusading reporter Lee Grant does not recover from his first attack.  Added bonus: small but fun appearance by William Shatner.

Autopsy (2008).  Sometimes you know a place is just no good, but not the five thick-headed college kids who end up as raw meat for crazed doctor and his brutal cohorts at an eerie and nearly abandoned Louisiana hospital.  Robert Patrick ("Terminator 2", "The X Files") has a field day as the mad surgeon.

Diary of the Dead (2007).  George Romero's latest installment of his "dead" saga is not only one of the best, it also has a terrific sequence set in an abandoned hospital, where a band of survivors go to mend their wounds, but end up under attack by zombie doctors nurses and patients that roam the hallways and operating rooms.  Great scene where zombie patient rolls out of his hospital bed as his open innards spill to the floor with a juicy splat.

Re-Animator (1985).  Stuart Gordon's classic update of the HP Lovecraft tale about mad scientist Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and his extremely painful and gooey process of bringing the dead back to life.  The film includes many unforgettable scenes that take place in a hospital morgue, including the notorious "giving head" scene and the zombie climax where every dead body in the morgue suddenly attacks our heroes, including a rather tenacious coil of large intestines. 

Some of the more popular horror franchises also took advantage of the hospital setting: 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors (1987). The most recent batch of Freddy-infested kids find themselves in a special ward of a hospital dedicated to curing them of their nightmares, helped by original heroine now turned dream therapist, Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp).  Fortunately (for us) the treatment doesn't work and Freddy is let loose to stalk them one by one in this superior entry of the series.  Highlights include one young patient who learns why too much TV can be bad for your health. 

Halloween II (1981).  After surviving the initial Haddonfield massacre in the first "Halloween', Laurie Strode finds herself taken to a nearly deserted hospital to recover, where unfortunately, the only person willing to pick up a knife and operate is the still-stalking Michael Myers.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988). As in "Halloween II", our heroine/survivor from the original "Hellraiser" now finds herself under questionable hospital care.  What's worse than finding Michael Myers as your surgeon?  How about Pinhead and his Cenobite pals.  I guess it's better than Blue Cross.