"Visiting Hours" is a movie I have wanted to see for years, due to... well... its cool poster. I admit it. I was a kid when it came out on video, and I thought the picture of the hospital at night with the image of a skull appearing in the matrix of the lighted rooms was just the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
When I finally got around to renting it this past weekend, I was quite disappointed.
The basic plot is that an outspoken tv host (Lee Grant) criticizes a guest on her show because he defended a known criminal in court. Soon, Grant is attacked by a psycho in her own home, played by Michael Ironside, perhaps best known as Daryl Revoc in "Scanners". Grant manages to defend herself so that she is not killed, yet injured, so she is sent to the hospital to recover. Ironside follows. Along the way, we meet a young nurse whom decides to "watch over" Grant's character. Okay. That all seems typical for a slasher, but so much is missing.
Grant simply goes through the motions in her role. At the end of the movie, I felt neither sympathy or compassion for her character, and frankly, didn't care what happened to her. I did enjoy the performance given by Linda Purl as Shiela Monroe, the caring, young nurse who puts her life on the line for her patient. However, just when it seems that Purl will be the heroine, she is taken out of commission! HUH? WHA?!?!
Ironside is good as the psycho, but has very few lines of dialogue. We do get to see some flashbacks, to attempt to explain/justify his violent behavior. This is an interesting change from most slasher films that either don't explain a killer's motives, or do it by exchanging dialogue between other characters.
William Shatner has a small role as the producer of the tv show that Grant works on. His acting is not the expected "Captain Kirk" style, but more subdued, and is a nice surprise.
The gore effects are scant, limited to very brief glimpses of slicings and stabbings. There is a nice effect when the killer smashes his arm down on some glass shards, but that's it.
I am a fan of horror, and some of my favs are Creepshow, Alien, and the Friday the 13th series, but all things considered, "Visiting Hours" just didn't gel for me.
When I finally got around to renting it this past weekend, I was quite disappointed.
The basic plot is that an outspoken tv host (Lee Grant) criticizes a guest on her show because he defended a known criminal in court. Soon, Grant is attacked by a psycho in her own home, played by Michael Ironside, perhaps best known as Daryl Revoc in "Scanners". Grant manages to defend herself so that she is not killed, yet injured, so she is sent to the hospital to recover. Ironside follows. Along the way, we meet a young nurse whom decides to "watch over" Grant's character. Okay. That all seems typical for a slasher, but so much is missing.
Grant simply goes through the motions in her role. At the end of the movie, I felt neither sympathy or compassion for her character, and frankly, didn't care what happened to her. I did enjoy the performance given by Linda Purl as Shiela Monroe, the caring, young nurse who puts her life on the line for her patient. However, just when it seems that Purl will be the heroine, she is taken out of commission! HUH? WHA?!?!
Ironside is good as the psycho, but has very few lines of dialogue. We do get to see some flashbacks, to attempt to explain/justify his violent behavior. This is an interesting change from most slasher films that either don't explain a killer's motives, or do it by exchanging dialogue between other characters.
William Shatner has a small role as the producer of the tv show that Grant works on. His acting is not the expected "Captain Kirk" style, but more subdued, and is a nice surprise.
The gore effects are scant, limited to very brief glimpses of slicings and stabbings. There is a nice effect when the killer smashes his arm down on some glass shards, but that's it.
I am a fan of horror, and some of my favs are Creepshow, Alien, and the Friday the 13th series, but all things considered, "Visiting Hours" just didn't gel for me.