A pioneering scheme has been launched at Peterborough City Hospital that encourages older patients undergoing certain orthopedic operations to watch their favourite movie during surgery. The idea is to keep them relaxed while their procedure is carried out under spinal block anesthesia. Consultant anaesthetist Dr Richard Griffiths (top marks for a topical cinema name, there) reports recent requests for The Sound of Music and Dirty Dancing. On the surface, it seems a winner: the hospital saves on sedation costs; the public can expand their cinephilia (and avoid the risks of a general anaesthetic). But anyone with a collection of more than three DVDs will know that they have a way of slipping into the wrong box. Here are five movies to check you're not inadvertently watching as you go under the knife.
The Eye
Jessica Alba is a blind violinist who has an almost entirely successful cornea transplant. There's just one side effect: endless visions of dead people, just at the moment of their murder.
Audition
Pre-Cannes you might feel the need to mug up on the back catalogue of Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, who has a movie in competition. But Audition – a man's leg is laboriously removed with piano wire – may not be the place to start.
The Human Centipede
Tom Six's game-changing horror about a German doctor who kidnaps tourists then stitches them together made a point of its anatomical accuracy. But, until the DVD scheme is rolled out to those undergoing similar procedures, such medical veracity will be of little benefit.
Coma
If ever the NHS wanted a poster image to promote its Choose and Book scheme, the sight of Rip Torn in scrubs would seem perfect. He's the chief anaesthetist in this Michael Crichton film, which has Michael Douglas uncovering a roaring trade in black market organs at his local hospital.
Awake
The distributors of this thriller about anaesthetic awareness (conscious yet paralysed during surgery) actually cautioned those awaiting ops to give it a wide berth. A shame, as it's laughing-gas funny. Bilingual property mogul Hayden Christensen must lie prostrate as he hears the scalpels get sharpened and the surgeons say things such as: "We're gonna kill this guy then go get a couple of Martinis."
