Review #290: 'Visiting Hours' (1982)

With the Leveson inquiry displaying the inherent underhanded practices of journalist, ironically in the media at the moment, it seemed quite apt to watch this early 1980's thriller about a stalker attempting to kill a TV journalist, Deborah Ballin (Lee Grant). Admittedly, this particular spewer-of-the-news has not hacked into any phone of celebrity or grieving family. Instead, Colt Hawker (the always sinister looking Michael Ironside) dislikes Ballin's ultra-feminist views, which are shown in an early interview. Her producer, Gary Baylor (the always exaggerated ham, William Shatner), expresses his concern, believing that her outspoken views could attract violence. Inevitably Colt attacks at her apartment that night, but unknowingly only injures her, landing her in hospital.

On discovering his failure, he attempts attacking her in the hospital. This is pretty pedestrian storytelling. It is often placed within the sub-genre of slasher films. However, Visiting Hours has none of the signifier's associated with films such as Halloween (1978) or Friday the 13th (1980): No point-of-view from the killers perspective; no puritanical equation of sex and death; no supernatural being and undead icon (Freddy Krueger/Jason Voorhees/Michael Myers). Instead of stylistic verve, it often feels like a contemporary TV movie, which is exacerbated by the music (although there are moments of brilliance in the score). As Colt's attempts to get to the guarded journalist become too difficult, he moves onto a young nurse, Sheila Munroe (Linda Purl).

Colt Hawker is evidently a misogynist. Whilst we occasionally see flashbacks of the abuse he and his mother suffered at the hands of his father, we are never really furnished with the ability to dig any further - we can perhaps only surmise that it is simply feminism itself, the changing power-balance of genders, that he is attacking. After all, the women he stalks or kills are evidently independent, working women. A strange entry into the Video Nasties list, this is a film that bores more that it creates suspense. The main saving grace is that powerful, contorting face of Ironside. I swear that whenever he gets angry on film, his face looks like it will explode (I know we did see that in Scanners (1982), but he does it in nearly all of his films).


Directed by: Jean-Claude Lord
Starring: Michael Ironside, Lee Grant, Linda Purl, William Shatner
Country: Canada

Rating: **

Marc Ivamy