The Clairvoyant

THE KILLING HOUR (aka: THE CLAIRVOYANT) opens with the body of a handcuffed woman being fished out of the Hudson river by police. Simultaneously, an artist in a studio seems to be drawing the same scenario in charcoal. In quick succession, two men are killed in horrible ways, both murders involving handcuffs, and both drawn by the same artist either before or during the act.

Detective Larry Weeks (Norman Parker) and his team are on the case. Enter TV personality, Paul "Mac" McCormack (Perry King), who's out for the scoop on "The Handcuff Killer", getting Weeks into hot water with his superiors in the process. Ultimately, Weeks and McCormack join forces to catch the manacle-using menace. Eventually, the clairvoyant artist, Virna Nightbourne (Elizabeth Kemp) comes forward to help. Can these three catch the murderer, before more deaths take place?

This movie seems to frustrate those looking for a slasher or giallo film, who consider it rather dull. Actually, it's more of a suspense / police drama with supernatural horror elements. As such, it's not a bad movie. Personally, I get tired of watching people get stabbed to death all the time, and really liked the novel approach used here. It was every bit as terrifying without being repetitive. While not altogether unexpected, the ending is quite good.

Co-stars Joe Morton as Detective Rich...

This film essentially begins with the body of a woman floating on the Hudson River in New York City. Upon closer examination, the police discover that she was handcuffed just prior to being murdered. Not long afterward, three more victims are found with each of them wearing handcuffs as well. As one might expect, it isn't long until the press gets involved with one particular television journalist by the name of "Paul 'Mac' McCormack" (Perry King) using his influence with the lead police investigator named "Detective Larry Weeks" (Norman Parker) to gather enough information to further his own personal ambitions. However, things take a dramatic turn for the worse when a woman named "Virna Nightbourne" (Elizabeth Kemp) is found who apparently has precognitive abilities and actually sees the crimes being committed before they even transpire. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was one of those films which had potential but failed, in some regard, to achieve it for a number of reasons. For starters, having Detective Weeks double as a standup comic lessened the overall seriousness this case should have had. Throw in the fact that his comedy routine just wasn't that funny also didn't help matters. Additionally, the romantic angle between Virna and Mac lacked the necessary passion as well. That being said, while I don't consider this to be a bad film by any means, it should have been much better than it actually was, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

I saw this on VHS under the title The Killing Hour.

This movie starts off really well with several unexplained killings involving handcuffs. A woman is fished out of the river, a man swims alone in a swimming pool reminiscent of a scene from Cat People, a construction worker goes down a manhole. The latter two killings are quite graphic, though without being bloody. Meanwhile, an artist draws strange pictures.

A cop who does lousy impressions in his side job as a standup comedian (yet he gets laughs, surprisingly) leads the investigation, leaking information to a tabloid television reporter. Both he and the reporter start courting the artist once they meet her.

Some additional deaths occur. The ending may be predictable, since it's possible to make a good guess as to the identity of the killer early on in the movie. Unfortunately, after the strong opening, no other scene quite lives up. Some scenes have lengthy dialog that doesn't serve the plot or characters. Still, not a bad movie by a long shot.

"The Killing Hour" is an American thriller with Italian giallo ambitions. The murders, the killer's disguise & modus operandi and especially the final denouement – which obviously can't be revealed here – are seemingly taken straight from the screenplay of an early 70's Italian giallo highlight. Even the additional topic of clairvoyance doesn't make it typically American, because near the end of the seventies the Italians were experimenting with supernatural themes, like for example in Lucio Fulci's "The Psychic". This certainly isn't a bad little movie, it's just somewhat unfortunate that the pacing is very uneven and the second half is boring and lifeless. What you can't afford to miss about "The Killing Hour" are the first ten minutes. Imagine if you agreed with some of your friends to watch this movie and you're ten minutes late to the party, well than you're just terribly out of luck, because 99% of the horrific images and carnage are already over and done with by then. In the opening sequences we witness the discovery of a naked girl's body floating in the Hudson river and two highly imaginative murders, one in a pool and one in a road construction site. All three victims wore handcuffs and there's undoubtedly a common element that links them all to the same killer. Whilst copper Larry Weeks and TV talk show host Paul McCormack are arguing about whether or not to keep the story out of the media, a shy young girl reports herself to the police. She's an artist in training but claims that at certain moments her hand uncontrollably takes over and draws the murders as they occurred or will still occur. McCormack sees the girl as a sensational guest for his talk show, but obviously doesn't realize this brings her in great mortal danger. The film starts out as a compelling whodunit full of suspense and curious characters (a cop who's a stand-up comedian in his spare time?), but gradually becomes just another dull and predictable little thriller. There's hardly anything exciting going on in the film's second half and the climax is only original and efficient if you haven't seen a single Italian giallo ever before in your life. As soon as you have, the ending of "The Killing Hour" will leave you underwhelmed and stone cold. Writer/director Armand Mastroianni, who probably has some sort of Italian roots despite being born and raised in Brooklyn, was a competent horror director back in the early 80's. He made the underrated slasher "He Knows You're Alone" as well as goofy horror flicks like "The Supernaturals" and "Cameron's Closet". This was his most serious horror effort, but the result is only semi-successful.

"The Killing Hour" a.k.a. "The Clairvoyant" is a clever scripted who done it, however over analyzing the plot would make you crazy. If you accept the fact that the storyline stretches reality beyond the breaking point, then just go with it. The New York handcuff killer is finally revealed through a series of sketches made by an art student who posses the gift of seeing the past and future through her drawings. I suppose you could do worse for a preposterous storyline? The acting is OK, the New York City locations are a plus, but if you demand a certain amount of logic in your twisty thrillers, then this is one to avoid. For entertainment only it succeeds, and for low budget entertainment it is way above average. The film is almost bloodless, and has brief nudity. - MERK