Synopsis

A secret military research team develops a weaponized sound intended to kill from a distance. Inside a derelict hospital, scientists and officers record, test, and monitor the mysterious frequency as its destructive power becomes clear. Kate Bush appears first as a tea-serving orderly and later as the sound itself, emerging as an otherworldly creature. The experiment ultimately destroys the installation and its occupants, while the final image suggests that the deadly force may still be loose beyond the facility.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Experiment IV" was recorded as a new song for Kate Bush's 1986 greatest-hits compilation, "The Whole Story."

• Bush chose a derelict military hospital for the shoot because of its immense scale, long corridors, and labyrinthine layout. Florence Nightingale had been involved in the hospital's design.

• The abandoned building had no heating or lighting during production, making the shoot physically demanding. It was later converted into luxury apartments.

• The production recreated a recording studio inside the hospital. Equipment came from Bush's own studio, while Abbey Road Studios lent the mixing console used in the film.

• The console was the same desk associated with Beatles recordings and had also been used by Bush during the making of "Never for Ever."

• Dawn French, Hugh Laurie, Peter Vaughan, and Richard Vernon appear among the cast. Bush's brother Paddy Bush and musician Del Palmer also took part.

• Charles Knode created the masks used for the sound creature.

• The song's violin part references the shrieking string sound associated with the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," reinforcing the video's horror-film atmosphere.

• The video received a Grammy nomination for Best Concept Music Video.