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...

"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.

As a fan of B-rated movies, I didn't know what to expect when I saw this film advertised in the TV guide on a local independent UHF station known for showing off-the-wall movies. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, this movie is perfect for people who love those tacky memories of the early 80's. You'll see the rotary dial phones. The 1980 Ford Fairmounts. The old rabbit-ear televisions. But this movie is more than all that. Despite having a lot of lesser-known actors/actresses, the storyline was unlike most other B-films. It was actually very good ... as a TV reporter and a cop try to figure out who's committing various murders in New York City ... both seemingly having personal interests vested in solving the crimes ... and both getting on each other's nerves in the interim ... this all being made worse when a supposed clairvoyant steps into the picture who seems to have the ability to know someone's going to die before it actually happens. All this makes for a film that I think deserves more credit than it must have ever got ... being I never even heard of it. If you manage to find it at the bottom of some discount barrel of old VHS movies, or you see it advertised on some late night channel, by all means, watch it. It'll be worth your time.

My review was written in July 1985 after watching the film on CBS/Fox video cassette.

"The Killing Hour" is a well-crafted but mediocre thriller. Lensed in Manhattan in 1981, low-budget indie was picked up by Jensen Farley Pictures and retitled (more appropriately to subject matter) "The Clairvoyant", subsequently acquired by 20th Century Fox after JFP went under, but unreleased theatrically, appearing instead as a cassette via CBS Fox.

Perry King toplines as Paul McCormack, Mack for short, a tv newsman/phone-in talkshow host who successfully exploits on the air a series of handcuffed-victim murders to increase his ratings and secure job advancement. At first he is aided with inside info by policeman Larry Weeks (Norman Parker), who improbably moonlights as an unfunny standup comic/impressionist (he has to identify his carbons, such as Al Pacino or Geroge Burns for the viewer), but his sensationalist reporting soon puts him at odds with the police led by Lt. Cullum (Kenneth McMillan).

Both the police and Mack are aided by Virna Nightbourne (Elizabeth Kemp), a young artist who is clairvoyant and makes drawings of each murder unconsciously.

After a promising beginning, spotlighting the ingenious rather than gory murders, pic becomes sluggish. Because of the script's paucity of suspects, the identity of the killer is quite predictable. Acting is okay and direction by Armand Mastroianni (previously known for "He Knows You're Alone") is effective within the screenplay's limitations. Lensing by British cameraman Larry Pizer is excellent.

Fun detective/psychic/serial killer flick

Odd mix of murder and humor at times. The jokes don't always land. It's sufficiently light in spots to make it feel like it won't get too dark. But it does get dark. It's about a serial killer.

The always great Kenneth McMillan has a supporting role here. The man is incredible! He could make picking his teeth seem fascinating.

Elizabeth Kemp plays the psychic. I was not impressed with her psychic scenes - they were okay. But strangely, I was wowed by her romantic scenes. Like the couple romantic scenes in this were so good I kind of wanted to see more of that and less of the psychic stuff. Good romance in a film like this... I didn't see that coming.

The mystery here is really not so great. You'll probably spot it coming. But it's an enjoyable ride and an odd mix of tones that works better than it really should. Worth a watch if you're into this kind of thing.