Visiting Hours (1982)

A crazed, women-hating killer (Ironside) attacks journalist Deborah Ballin (Grant). When he discovers that his attack didn't kill Deborah, he comes to the hospital to finish what he started.

Director:

Jean-Claude Lord

Writer:

Brian Taggert (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Ironside, Lee Grant, Linda Purl

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Ironside	...	Colt Hawker
Lee Grant	...	Deborah Ballin
Linda Purl	...	Sheila Munroe
William Shatner	...	Gary Baylor
Lenore Zann	...	Lisa
Harvey Atkin	...	Vinnie Bradshaw
Helen Hughes	...	Louise Shepherd
Michael J. Reynolds	...	Porter Halstrom
Kirsten Bishop	...	Denise (as Kirsten Bishopric)
Deborah Kirshenbaum	...	Connie Wexler (as Debra Kirschenbaum)
Elizabeth Leigh-Milne	...	Patricia Ellis
Maureen McRae	...	Elizabeth Hawker
Dustin Waln	...	Mr. Hawker
Neil Affleck	...	Police Officer
Damir Andrei	...	Paramedic

Storyline

Deborah Ballin is a controversial middle-aged TV journalist, who is campaigning on air on behalf of a battered woman who murdered her abusive husband, claiming justifiable defense against the so-called victim. But her outspoken views championing women's rights incense one of the studio's cleaning staff, closet homicidal psycho (and misogynist) Colt Hawker whose deep seated despising all all things female occurred from seeing his Mother throwing boiling oil in the face of his abusive Father when he was a small child (and who's M.O. is to photograph victims he stabs as they're spasming to death). So much so that he decides there and then to shut her up...PERMANENTLY! Managing to beat her home, he soon dispatches her maid Francine, before turning his rage onto her as she come home (greeting her in only wearing her jewelry and make-up). Despite the brutal injuries he lashes out on her, she manages to survive and is rushed off to hospital. But undaunted he catches up to her in hospital and...

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | journalist | psycho | rage | boiling oil | 

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Taglines:

So frightening you'll never recover.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Get Well Soon

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 5,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,250,157 (USA) (4 June 1982)

Gross:

$5,250,157 (USA) (4 June 1982)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), Filmplan, Victor Solnicki Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The limp Michael Ironside sports at the end of the movie was real; he broke his ankle on the first day of filming.

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Goofs

(at around 45 mins) Michael Ironside's character dashes through a bathroom door in the hospital, and the camera and 2-3 crew members are briefly reflected in the mirror above the sink, before he closes the door.

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Quotes

Colt Hawker: [Letters framed on his wall] God, you blast them all: blacks, Jews, Mexicans...

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Connections

Featured in Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010)

User Reviews

Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!

There's nothing spectacular about this Canadian-made slasher flick, but it still provides a few jolts, a bit of the creeps and a few unintentional laughs. Grant plays a strong-willed TV host who's crusading for the rights of a woman accused of murdering her husband (following years of abuse from him.) Unfortunately, this ticks off loose cannon Ironside and he decides to shut Grant up...permanently. His first try doesn't quite do the trick, so he has to infiltrate her hospital to finish her off, hence the title. Purl plays a Florence Nightingale in waiting who's devotion to Grant makes her another target of Ironside. Shatner has a thankless role as Grant's producer/lover. Grant turns in her usual committed, thought-out performance, but it's for naught in a routine thriller like this. Ironside is convincingly slimy and treacherous. His almost wordless performance is effectively creepy. Purl is likable and solid in an impossibly idealized role (the lady works overtime at the hospital and volunteers at the free clinic while trying to raise two kids all with a smile on her face!) Shatner fans will be pleased to see him looking rather handsome and tan, but he doesn't get to do very much. The film has a very unsettling tone throughout, aided by an eerie score and claustrophobic settings. It also features many cliches of the genre (absence of logic in the characters, unrealistically deserted settings, sluts being punished for their sexuality, etc...) Still, it's creative enough and occasionally unpredictable enough to hold interest. Some of the acting in minor roles (notably the nurses) is weak, but Zann does a pretty decent job as a slutty date of Ironside's and the leads hold the film together (as much as they can with the somewhat contrived script.) Grant's conviction to her role and Ironside's steely determination go a long way to saving the movie.