Visiting Hours Reviews

This mindless slasher movie borrows unashamedly from better pictures like PEEPING TOM and PSYCHO. Crusading feminist journalist Deborah Ballin (Lee Grant) is attacked and raped by Colt Hawker (Michael Ironside), a misogynistic creep who blames his hatred of women on a lousy childhood. Deborah survives the attack and is hospitalized, but Colt--who likes to photograph his victims in their death throes--continues his reign of terror at the hospital, cleverly evading the security system and killing others while he tries to get to Deborah. While Ironside (SCANNERS) contributes a memorably depraved performance, VISITING HOURS is a fairly repugnant film that seems to share its killer's attitude toward women. Director Jean Claude Lord does manage to build some effective suspense sequences, but overall his direction is hyperactive--as is the annoyingly insistent musical score by Jonathan Goldsmith.