An envelope of archive photographs has taught Northwick Park that it was home to the filming of a horror movie back in the 1970s.
Scenes from the 1976 chiller, The Omen, are believed to have been filmed on the upper floors of the hospital.
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has since been looking back on the horror story, which featured Gregory Pack and Lee Remick and won an Oscar.
Despite its chilling plot about the rise of the son of Satan, the trust said this did little to deter nursing staff and patients trying to get a glimpse of the stars at the time.
According to the trust, one local newspaper previously reported “an unprecedented recovery rate as ladies, supposedly in a delicate state, leapt from their beds and ran upstairs hoping to see Gregory Peck”.
The film was a box office hit, noted the trust, but was plagued with misfortune leading to claims that it was curse.
This was because of a series of incidents that included a zoo keeper being mauled to death the day after filming, the death of a special effects assistant who was mirroring a gruesome incident in the film and a crew plane struck by lightning.
The filming production also saw the director’s hotel bombed, a stuntman attacked by Rottweilers and a camera team narrowly escaping a plane crash which killed everyone on board.
The trust also highlighted that the opening scenes of the post-apocalyptic 28 Days Later were filmed at another of the trust’s sites, Central Middlesex Hospital, in 2002.
omenone
Source: London North West University Healthcare Trust
omenseven
Source: London North West University Healthcare Trust
https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/hospital/archive-photos-found-at-london-hospital-reveal-horror-past/7027516.article