Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

What starts out as a potentially disturbing thriller about the vulnerability of women to disturbed and violent men - even in a public place - ends up becoming almost comical as the police blunder about like the Keystone Kops in pursuit of a villain who puts more effort into looking sinister than developing any proficiency as a serial killer. TV producer Gary Baylor (William Shatner) actually has a short speech breathlessly detailing to journalist Deborah Ballin (Lee Grant) how tip-top the security is in the hospital in which she's a patient; to which she moans: "There's NO security! He's in, he's out!" And she's right!Michael Ironside as Colt Hawker might as well be stomping about wearing a T-shirt with "PSYCHOTIC LONER" printed in capitals on it, but throughout the film has the run of the place without ever attracting attention despite making no attempt to put those around him off their guard by at least attempting to behave like a normal human being.More and more police pile into the building, but Hawker is never short of deserted corridors down which to skulk; and the only time the cops ever seem to stir themselves out of their torpor is to obstruct people who are genuinely trying to help. Fortunately Hawker is as inept as they are at his chosen vocation of psycho-killer, and proves easily distracted into pursuing other potential victims who attract his attention rather than killing his original intended victims when he has the chance.

Unsuccessful in killing an outspoken television reporter, a cleaner continues to stalk his victim in hospital in this thriller from Canada. The film begins well, full of voyeuristic hand-held camera-work that places us in his shoes, eerily sharp sounding record and moody music. The attack at lead actress Lee Grant's house is effectively drawn out too as we experience her terror for minutes on end. Subsequent scenes also come with bite as he pretends to be a hospital orderly and even a surgeon, yet the film derails in its final hour as focus awkwardly shifts away from Grant's overwhelming fear and paranoia. Michael Ironside as her stalker ultimately gets more screen time. He is sinister enough, but it is not a juicy enough character to sustain the film alone. Linda Purl as Grant's nurse gets more screen time than her too. Again, this seems great since she is fantastic and has quite a complex character in between raising two kids while in a lesbian relationship. The fact that Ironside suddenly takes to stalking her rather than Grant never makes sense though; same goes for all the others he kills since he actually has a reason for wanting Grant! That said, everything culminates in a fantastic silent, protracted face-off between Grant and Ironside and the film remains atmospheric even when the plot derails. This is, however, a film for which the promotional poster is arguably better than the movie itself.

A crazed, women-hating killer (Michael Ironside) attacks journalist Deborah Ballin (Lee Grant). When he discovers that his attack did not kill Deborah, he comes to the hospital to finish what he started.Is this a good film? Is it a good slasher? Is it a good Canadian slasher? Many people would say no to these, but I think this is a good one just for existing. Of course, I am a pro-slasher horror fan, so it may not take much... but throw in Michael Ironside and William Shatner and how can you go wrong? Director Jean-Claude Lord may not be well known, especially in the world of horror. Not only is he not a horror director primarily, but he is from Quebec, so much of his work is in French! Honestly, I am not even sure if I ever saw anything else he did.

I found Visiting Hours to be a pretty good thriller, able to effectively create a feeling of tension when the killer was stalking his victim. Michael Ironside played the killer well and created a sense of menace in his character.There are a few flaws I noticed with what the characters do and say (or don't say). For example, the one girl who was assaulted by the killer knew where he lived so she got back at him by hiring some friends to trash the place, if she knew where he lived, why didn't she tell the cops? There's also a scene where the main woman is running from the killer in a hospital, she doesn't scream or make any noise at all really. I understand not wanting to give away where she is, but there were people there, the hospital was empty, but there were cops outside, and there actually was a janitor that walked by not hearing anything, because she didn't scream for help!!!.Though I found that the level of suspense and tension in the movie was rather effective so I was able to forgive these things, but they did keep me from possibly giving it a higher rating.