Visiting Hours | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jean-Claude Lord |
Written by | Brian Taggert |
Produced by | Victor Solnicki Claude Héroux Pierre David |
Starring | |
Cinematography | René Verzier |
Edited by | Jean-Claude Lord |
Music by | Jonathan Goldsmith |
Production companies | Canadian Film Development Corporation Filmplan International |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox (US) Astral Films (Canada) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes [2] |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $6 million [3] |
Box office | $13.3 million [1] |
Visiting Hours (originally titled The Fright) is a 1982 Canadian psychological slasher film directed by Jean-Claude Lord and starring Lee Grant, Michael Ironside, Linda Purl, William Shatner and Lenore Zann. The plot focuses on a feminist journalist who becomes the target of a serial killer, who follows her to the hospital after attacking her in her home.
Visiting Hours was released on May 28, 1982, and grossed $13.3 million at the box office on a budget of $6 million. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics.
Deborah Ballin, a feminist activist, inspires the wrath of the misogynistic psychopath and serial killer Colt Hawker on a TV talk show. He attacks her, but she survives and is sent to County General Hospital.
Colt begins stalking her. Deborah befriends the nurse Sheila Munroe, who admires her devotion to women's rights. Colt murders an elderly patient and a nurse. He overhears Sheila's opinions on Deborah and "that bastard" who attacked her. Colt decides to focus his attention on Sheila, stalking her and her children at home.
Colt courts a young girl, Lisa, and then brutally beats and tortures her, despite being unable to rape her. The next day, Deborah discovers that the patient and the nurse have been killed, so she suspects her attacker is back to finish the job. She tries to convince her boss, Gary Baylor, and Sheila that she is not safe, but they both think she is paranoid.
Colt visits his father, who was disfigured years ago when his abused wife fought back and threw hot oil in his face. This event resulted in Colt's hatred of self-defending women. He tries to kill Deborah again but is thwarted by her security. A frantic Sheila is paged and finds Lisa, whose wounds she had treated, waiting for her. Lisa says she knows the identity of Deborah's attacker, and where he lives.
Before she can alert anyone, Sheila receives a phone call from Colt, warning her that he is in her house with her daughter and babysitter. She sends Lisa to warn Deborah, then rushes home and finds her daughter and babysitter safe in bed. She places a call to Deborah, but Colt springs forth to stab Sheila in the stomach and pushes her to the ground. He places the phone to her ear to torture Deborah from hearing her in pain. He moves toward Sheila's daughter. Sheila can only scream in terror as he walks out, leaving her to die.
Colt goes home, where he devises one last plan to kill Deborah. He breaks a beer bottle underneath his arm, wounding himself badly. Gary and Deborah have an ambulance sent to Sheila's house. Still alive, but badly wounded, she is rushed to the hospital. Gary accompanies the police to Colt's apartment, where they discover the photos of his previous victims, as well as Deborah and Sheila's. They also learn that the wounded Hawker has been taken to County General.
Sheila is taken into the emergency room and Colt is wheeled in. After being bandaged and medicated, he sneaks away to find Deborah and attacks her. She flees to an elevator. In the basement, she goes into a radiography room, finding a helpless Sheila, all alone, waiting for X-rays.
Realizing she must lure Colt away to protect Sheila, Deborah leaves and deliberately gives her location away. Colt approaches the curtain she is hiding behind and Deborah stabs him with a switchblade, killing him. Sheila is wheeled to safety while Gary comforts Deborah.
Filming took place in the fall of 1980 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, under the working title The Fright. [4] [5] The budget was approximately $6 million. [3] Filming completed in late October 1980. [6]
The film was released theatrically in the United States by 20th Century Fox on May 28, 1982.
In the United Kingdom, the film was subject to censorship, [7] and had one minute of footage excised for its theatrical release. [8] It was subsequently classified as a "video nasty" by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), [9] though the video print of the film remains the same as the censored theatrical cut. [8]
Reviews from critics were very negative. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "an especially clumsy, overwrought example of slash-and-hack melodrama ... The laughs here are not intentional." [10] Variety wrote that the film, "though artless, is terror-crammed and bloody enough to appeal to the raunchy circuit trade." [11] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave it half a star out of four and called it "yet another depressing sickie-with-knife-chasing-women picture." He found it "shocking and depressing" that Grant and Shatner appeared in it, asking, "Do these people really need a paycheck that badly?" [12]
Many critics commented on the film's portrayal of violence against women: Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film "just another sickening, numbskull movie that hypocritically exploits extreme violence against women while purportedly protesting it." [13] The Austin American-Statesman 's Patrick Taggart deemed it "mainly a celebration of violence... there's no warmth here, nor any truly sympathetic characters." [14] Tom Shales of The Washington Post wrote, "You're not just sorry you came to a movie like this; you feel saddened and troubled that it even exists, that somebody saw a few more quick bucks in such a tired, ritualized and malicious formula." [15]
Geoff Brown of The Monthly Film Bulletin called it a "lamentable shocker," with the writer and director "charging like bulls through a script ridden with implausibilities." [16] Bill Cosford of the Miami Herald awarded the film a one-star out of four-star rating, citing plot inconsistencies as a major fault. [17]
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 14%, based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. [18]
The film was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in April 2006. [19] It was re-released by Scream Factory, along with Bad Dreams (1988)—another hospital-set horror film—as a double feature DVD on September 13, 2011, [20] with a Blu-ray edition following on February 18, 2014. [21]
Dressed to Kill is a 1980 American erotic psychological thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma, and starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen. It depicts the events leading up to the brutal murder of a New York City housewife (Dickinson) before following a prostitute (Allen) who witnesses the crime, and her attempts to solve it with the help of the victim's son. It contains several direct references to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho.
White Dog is a 1982 American drama horror film, which Samuel Fuller directed from a screenplay he and Curtis Hanson had dramatized, which, in turn, they based on Romain Gary's 1970 novel of the same title. The film depicts the struggle of a dog trainer named Keys, who is black, trying to retrain a stray dog found by a young actress, that is a "white dog"—a dog trained to make vicious attacks upon, and to kill, any black person. Fuller uses the film as a platform to deliver a message against racism as it examines the question of whether racism is a treatable problem or an incurable condition.
Halloween II is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, in his directorial debut, written and produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, who reprise their respective roles as Laurie Strode and Dr. Sam Loomis. It is the second installment in the Halloween film series and is a continuation sequel to Halloween (1978). The plot picks up directly after the cliffhanger ending of the first film, with Michael Myers following survivor Laurie Strode to the local hospital, while his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis continues his pursuit of him.
Fright Night Part 2 is a 1988 American supernatural horror film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, the sequel to the 1985 film Fright Night. Roddy McDowall and William Ragsdale reprise their roles as Charley Brewster and Peter Vincent, alongside new cast members Traci Lind, Julie Carmen and Jon Gries. Composer Brad Fiedel also returned with another distinct synthesizer score.
Basket Case is a 1982 American horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Edgar Ievins, the film stars Kevin Van Hentenryck as Duane Bradley, a young man who seeks vengeance on the doctors and nurses who performed an unwanted surgery that separated him from his deformed conjoined twin brother Belial, whom Duane hides in a large wicker basket.
Homicidal is a 1961 American horror-thriller film produced and directed by William Castle, and starring Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce and Jean Arless. The film follows a murderous woman in a small California town whose presence unearths secrets concerning a prominent local family.
Vice Squad is a 1982 American exploitation crime thriller film directed by Gary Sherman and starring Wings Hauser, Season Hubley, and Gary Swanson. Its plot follows a Los Angeles businesswoman-turned-prostitute who is enlisted by the Los Angeles Police Department to help apprehend a homicidal and misogynistic pimp. The original music score was composed by Joe Renzetti and Keith Rubinstein. Wings Hauser sang the vocal track for the film's opening and closing theme song, "Neon Slime".
"Homer's Triple Bypass" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 17, 1992. In this episode, Homer suffers a heart attack due to his very poor health and diet. Dr. Hibbert tells Homer that he needs a triple bypass, but the Simpson family resorts to discount surgeon Dr. Nick after learning how expensive the operation would be in a regular hospital.
Incubus is a 1982 Canadian supernatural slasher film directed by John Hough and written by George Franklin, based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Ray Russell. It stars John Cassavetes, Kerrie Keane, and John Ireland. The plot focuses on a small Wisconsin town where a mysterious figure is raping and murdering young women. Its title is sometimes extended to The Incubus.
Laurie Strode is a character from the Halloween series. She first appeared in Halloween (1978) as a high school student who becomes targeted by serial killer Michael Myers, in which she was portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis. Created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, Laurie appeared in nine of thirteen films in the series. The character has subsequently been represented in various other media, including novels, video games, and comic books.
Happy Birthday to Me is a 1981 slasher film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Melissa Sue Anderson and Glenn Ford. Its plot revolves around six brutal murders occurring around a popular high school senior's birthday.
Trauma is a 1993 Italian giallo horror film directed by Dario Argento and starring Asia Argento, Christopher Rydell, Piper Laurie, and Frederic Forrest. Set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it follows a troubled teenage girl who, with the help of a boyfriend, attempts to stop a serial killer who murdered her parents.
Last House on Dead End Street, originally released as The Fun House, is a 1977 American exploitation horror film written, produced, and directed by Roger Watkins, under the pseudonym Victor Janos. The plot follows a disgruntled ex-convict who takes revenge on society by kidnapping four acquaintances and filming their murders in an abandoned building.
The Slayer is a 1982 American independent supernatural horror film directed by J. S. Cardone. Set on a small island near the Atlantic coast, the plot concerns two couples who upon visiting the island get trapped there due to an oncoming hurricane. As one of the women knows from her plaguing nightmares that the island is dangerous, over the next three days they begin to be killed by something unseen. The film is notable for gaining notoriety and being classified in the United Kingdom as a "video nasty" in the 1980s.
Girls Nite Out is a 1982 American slasher film written and produced by Anthony N. Gurvis, directed by Robert Deubel, and starring Julia Montgomery, Suzanne Barnes, Rutanya Alda, and Hal Holbrook. The film focuses on a group of female college students who are targeted by a killer in a bear mascot costume during an all-night scavenger hunt on their campus.
Mother Love is a 1989 BBC British television drama. It was adapted by Andrew Davies from Domini Taylor's 1983 novel concerning a mother's obsessive love for her son, vengeful hatred of his father, her ex-husband, and the effect on her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. It starred Diana Rigg, David McCallum, James Wilby, and Fiona Gillies, and was directed by Simon Langton.
Hideous! is a 1997 comedy horror film and monster movie, about several elite human oddity collectors and traders who find themselves locked in a castle with several mutated creatures come to life. The film combines live-action actors with rod puppetry creatures.
Lisa is a 1990 American thriller film directed by Gary Sherman and starring Staci Keanan, D. W. Moffett, Cheryl Ladd and Jeffrey Tambor. Its plot follows a teenage girl's infatuation with a stranger that, unknown to her, is a serial killer-stalker.
Video Violence, also known as Video Violence... When Renting is Not Enough, is a 1987 American horror film directed by Gary Cohen and starring Gary Schwartz and Chick Kaplan. The film was shot entirely on a VHS camcorder.
The Nesting is a 1981 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Armand Weston, and starring Robin Groves, Michael Lally, John Carradine and Gloria Grahame in her final film role. Its plot follows an agoraphobic novelist who rents a rural mansion that she comes to find is haunted by the prostitute victims of a mass murder that occurred there in the 1940s.