"Visiting Hours" did respectable business at the box office when it first came out, though it was torn apart by critics. To some degree, I do understand why those critics didn't like the movie at the time. For starters, at 105 minutes in length, the movie is far too long and padded out. Many people watching it today will be squirming in their seats from impatience rather than from terror. At the same time, there are a few head-scratching moments that suggest some explanatory footage was removed during the editing stage, like how Ironside's character gets uniforms and other material to disguise himself when going to the hospital. Slasher fans may be disappointed by the lack of gore and blood. In fact, the movie might be rated PG-13 instead of R by today's standards. And William Shatner's character is hammy and doesn't seem to serve much purpose.But there are some things in the movie that give it merit. For starters, the movie looks very good, much more slick and expensive than most other slashers of this period. Director Jean Claude Lord also does add some atmosphere and some creepy composed shots here and there. The best thing about the movie, however, is Michael Ironside as the killer. He manages to be both extremely creepy and believable. It's no surprise that he went on to become a fairly well-known star after his great performance here.To sum up, "Visiting Hours" is flawed and no classic, but as an example of the slasher film genre, it's definitely above average, and a must watch if you are a fan of this genre.

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.

"Visiting Hours" is the intense story of Deborah Ballin, a women's rights activist who causes much controversy in her decision to support a woman who killed her abusive husband. This decision causes a psychotic misogynist to hunt down Ms.Ballin and kill her. However, his violent attack only sends her to the local hospital, where she makes friends with a kind-hearted nurse. The psychopath then hunts her and all those close to her down in order to finish what he started. Although it sounds like your typical '80s slaughter-thon, this movie actually has more depth to it than most. Instead of b-actors that don't know what they're doing, this cast is made up of some pretty good actors such as Academy-Award winner Lee Grant, William Shatner, the ever-creepy Michael Ironside, and Linda Purl. I believe that Ironside was perfectly cast here and gives a great performance as a soulless, evil killer. Another thing that sets this apart from the other slasher flicks is the dark-nature of the violence. Most of these flicks are very gory, but they are mostly light-hearted and campy. This was just dark and quite mean-spirited, which makes the movie very effective. I certainly recommend this frightening little gem!Rated: R for Violence and Profanity