Video Nasty #16: Visiting Hours

Synopsis: After being attacked in her home TV reporter Deborah Ballin is recovering on the ninth floor of the local hospital. As neighbouring patients are brutally murdered it becomes clear that Deborah's attacker is determined to finish the job. Another night at the hospital may be the death of her.

The poster for Visiting Hours is great but completely misleading. The skull rendered using room lights and the tag line 'So frightening you'll never recover' suggests that the film is a supernatural horror, when it is actually a tense thriller with more in common with Silence of the Lambs than Halloween.

Michael Ironside's portrayal of Colt, the woman-hating psychopath literally kills all competition in the movie, his near mute performance captivating yet mysterious, something which is impressive considering his predominant screen time. Celluloid psychos need a creepy hook, and Colt delivers; photographing his dying victims and setting up a snuff gallery in his house, the centrepiece of this nutty room being a mosaic of photos forming a monochrome skull. Refreshingly Colt appears to be aware of his anger problem and as such is constantly squeezing a stress ball, the psychiatric equivalent of prescribing a cancer victim Paracetemol and a good night's rest.


All other performances in the film are perfectly fine but pale is comparison to Ironside. Lee Grant's TV reporter is a solid performance, but disappointingly the script doesn't provide much more characterisation then her feminist anti-violence media facade, something which itself is never fully explained. Sheila, the vigilant nurse on Deborah's ward, actually steals the show and towards the end of the film, the murderous desires of Colt. William Shatner makes a small appearance in a marquee filling role, reminding us that he can put in a perfectly good performance when he wants to be.

Although the film lacks in blood and guts, it deliver some powerful scenes of violence, proving that you don't need a bucket of fake blood and half a pint of hydrochloric acid to shock and repulse the viewer. Colt's kills are brutal, and even when he kills the wrong person he is completely unaffected, taking the time out for a Kodak moment plus safety shots. In a predicable ironic twist the only large amount of bloodshed is the ending of the film, when the anti-violence reporter's hands are, literally, covered in blood.


The film does have a few problems. Colt's repeated kills in the hospital after numerous security reinforcements become increasingly ridiculous to the point of annoyance, and the finale's extended chase scene around the bowels of the hospital was predictable and dull stuff. Despite this, Visiting Hours is a solid serial killer flick particularly memorable for Michael Ironside's terrifying performance. Its presence on the DPP list only acts as a reminder of how arbitrary the selection process was, informed more by hearsay and promotional materials (that poster is scary) than the film's content.