Das Horror-Hospital

When one thinks of 80's slasher flicks, one doesn't usually think of middle aged women like Lee Grant running around and screaming while a crazed madman chases her with a knife, but that's what Visiting Hours amounts to. Because of the age switch, it manages to keep the audience on its toes a bit and it's nice to see a slasher film with a more mature cast and a little character development here and there.

Even Linda Purl (who's easily the youngest one in the cast) plays a single mother struggling to make ends meet as a nurse. There's a level of maturity to everyone in the cast. These aren't people who talk about homework, prom, and boyfriends. They've got their own dreams and goals and that makes it far more terrifying when they are stalked and attacked by said madman.

The madman in question here is Michael Ironside (and no, that's not a spoiler) who lurks, sneers, and sweats with delirious abandon. It's something to see. Even William Shatner gets in on the action, but he only has a few scenes and doesn't really add much to the proceedings.

Visiting Hours might not be full of nubile coeds or buckets of gore, but it knows how to build suspense and there are a number of hair raising shocks and jump-out-of-your-seat moments.

"Visiting Hours" did respectable business at the box office when it first came out, though it was torn apart by critics. To some degree, I do understand why those critics didn't like the movie at the time. For starters, at 105 minutes in length, the movie is far too long and padded out. Many people watching it today will be squirming in their seats from impatience rather than from terror. At the same time, there are a few head-scratching moments that suggest some explanatory footage was removed during the editing stage, like how Ironside's character gets uniforms and other material to disguise himself when going to the hospital. Slasher fans may be disappointed by the lack of gore and blood. In fact, the movie might be rated PG-13 instead of R by today's standards. And William Shatner's character is hammy and doesn't seem to serve much purpose.

But there are some things in the movie that give it merit. For starters, the movie looks very good, much more slick and expensive than most other slashers of this period. Director Jean Claude Lord also does add some atmosphere and some creepy composed shots here and there. The best thing about the movie, however, is Michael Ironside as the killer. He manages to be both extremely creepy and believable. It's no surprise that he went on to become a fairly well-known star after his great performance here.

To sum up, "Visiting Hours" is flawed and no classic, but as an example of the slasher film genre, it's definitely above average, and a must watch if you are a fan of this genre.

There's nothing spectacular about this Canadian-made slasher flick, but it still provides a few jolts, a bit of the creeps and a few unintentional laughs. Grant plays a strong-willed TV host who's crusading for the rights of a woman accused of murdering her husband (following years of abuse from him.) Unfortunately, this ticks off loose cannon Ironside and he decides to shut Grant up...permanently. His first try doesn't quite do the trick, so he has to infiltrate her hospital to finish her off, hence the title. Purl plays a Florence Nightingale in waiting who's devotion to Grant makes her another target of Ironside. Shatner has a thankless role as Grant's producer/lover. Grant turns in her usual committed, thought-out performance, but it's for naught in a routine thriller like this. Ironside is convincingly slimy and treacherous. His almost wordless performance is effectively creepy. Purl is likable and solid in an impossibly idealized role (the lady works overtime at the hospital and volunteers at the free clinic while trying to raise two kids all with a smile on her face!) Shatner fans will be pleased to see him looking rather handsome and tan, but he doesn't get to do very much. The film has a very unsettling tone throughout, aided by an eerie score and claustrophobic settings. It also features many cliches of the genre (absence of logic in the characters, unrealistically deserted settings, sluts being punished for their sexuality, etc...) Still, it's creative enough and occasionally unpredictable enough to hold interest. Some of the acting in minor roles (notably the nurses) is weak, but Zann does a pretty decent job as a slutty date of Ironside's and the leads hold the film together (as much as they can with the somewhat contrived script.) Grant's conviction to her role and Ironside's steely determination go a long way to saving the movie.

"Visiting Hours" has Lee Grant as an outspoken and controversial feminist journalist who becomes the prime target of women-hating serial killer Colt Hawker (Michael Ironside). After being viciously attacked by Hawker in her home, she is taken to the hospital where she learns she will have to undergo surgery for her wounds. Unfortunately, that's the least of her worries, because Hawker hasn't let her go as prey, and she can't leave the hospital.

Underrated as a thriller and overblown as a "slasher," "Visiting Hours" is one of the stronger and lesser-seen killer thrillers of the 1980s, but there is plenty in it to be admired. Although it's often classified as a slasher film, it's really more of a psychothriller under the guise of a slasher, laboriously meditating on the killer's disturbed, misogynistic psyche, and taking more stock in sequence buildups and moments of true suspense than actual splatter. The real kicker in this film is the setup in which Grant's character finds herself quite frankly trapped in the hospital; not only is she injured, but the hospital staff cannot legally let her leave, rendering her (and the rest of the hospital) a sitting duck for the malicious Hawker.

For being filmed in 1981, the film has a surprisingly fresh and considerably modern look to it. Whereas many horror films of this era suffer from poor aging, this is one of a rare few that seems to have retained a contemporary edge. Slick cinematography and impressive acting from Lee Grant and Michael Ironside help maintain an unusually classy standard. Linda Purl is great as the likable nurse who falls prey to the madman, and William Shatner's presence is welcome as Grant's stubborn boss. Thrown into the mix is a confused albeit interesting social commentary angle on non-violence, and Grant's moxie-filled character punctuates the film's time period and the social landscape of second wave feminism.

Overall, "Visiting Hours" is one of the classier horror films of the early '80s, and has a much more mature feel to it. With the contemporary edge it possesses, it's still surprisingly accessible to a modern audience, and the performances and elaborate sequence buildups really make it stand out among its peers. It is at times admittedly plodding at some points, but it's a small misgiving in an otherwise above-average thriller. 7/10.

What starts as a decent slashers, quickly turns in to a boring snail of a movie with moments of interest sprinkled throughout. It should also be noted that it's a type of slasher where we see who is the killer at the very beginning of the movie and follow him along other main characters, while we learn about his troubled past, and that for me eliminates a lot of the suspense and scares. Speaking of scares (if you can even call them that), they mostly come from jumpscares. There is some decent acting, but there's also a laughable death scene and overall length of the movie. It's so unnecessarily long that I just wanted it to end. And then the interesting part comes. And then it's boring again. It does have what is probably one of the cutest nurse portrayals in a movie ever though. In the end, it's just a mediocre psychological thriller (so much for looking up to "Halloween 2") you will probably forget about very soon after you watch it. I give it 6/10, and do note it's barely a 6, because I would have given it 5, if it weren't for some interesting parts. Horror movie fans, do what you must, and the rest of you; avoid it.