Another Underrated Thriller!
THE KILLING HOUR (originally titled THE CLAIRVOYANT) is a vivid, well-crafted adult thriller in the tradition of Brian DePalma and the gialli of Mario Bava and Dario Argento. It is also an oasis from the teen-slasher craze at the time. A body is discovered floating in the Hudson River with handcuffs. Soon two more murders involving handcuffs ensue and the police, including detective/comedian Larry Weeks (Norman Parker, who is incredible), is on the case. But so is talk-show host Paul "Mac" McCormick (soap star Perry King), who does exactly what the police didn't want to happen: turn the killings into a media spectacle. And soon a young art student named Virna Nightbourne (Elizabeth Kemp), who can mysteriously sketch each murder as they happen, becomes involved.

This film is kind of like EYES OF LAURA MARS as it would have been directed by Bava or Argento. But I will say that director Armand Mastroianni (HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE, which featured Kemp) can accomplish so much while showing so little in terms of the murder sequences! In fact, the pool murder, cast in an ominous red glow, looks like something Argento or Bava would have come up with. Also, the music score (by Alexander Peskanov, who scored ALONE with his brother Mark) resembles something Pino Donnagio would have composed for DePalma. And after all, why go for graphic violence when you have such fine performances, especially from character actors Kenneth McMillan and Joe Morton? This thriller is definetly worth your time!

In terms of extras, there's a fun and insightful commentary by Mastroianni and then Anchor Bay head Bill Lustig, who talk about how the film came to be (William Friedkin was involved) among other things. We also get five deleted scenes (obviously cut to speed up the movie), one of which ended up in the trailer. Best of all, it's an unrated director's cut! Don't miss it!

watchable
not a bad but not an awsome movie but it worth a look

Serial Killing that is not serious at all
A thriller that is fascinating from the very start. A serial killer is handcuffing his victims and then killing them ruthlessly. But a girl has a sixth sense and she sees the killings, the murders, the victims in their ordeals. The murderer is the final surprise of course, especially since the police goes the wrong way and covers him for us. The problems touched in this film are simple. the role of the media and particularly TV as a discloser of investigation details, and then the development of a debate about such serial killings with only one objective : to make a lot of audience and hence a lot of money. To be famous first of all and above all. The second question is that of prescience : is it possible, acceptable, believable, etc ? It is convincing in the film, but not much more. The third problem is the motivation of a serial killer and the famous profiling of the FBI. It is both rejected by the older cop who is responsible for the investigation, and by the film because the motivation of the killer is totally antagonistic with the profiling technique. All the victims have handcuffs but apart from that there is no other connection between the various victims or murders and the motivation has nothing to do with standard and even substandard serial killing motivations. It is something completely different. I can't reveal it here of course. But this very « plot » makes the film very trite. It is dynamic, entertaining but it is not very enlightening on the subject it deals with. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

Murder Mystery at its Best
Once called "The Clairvoyant", The Killing Hour is a suspense/thriller/murder mystery rolled into one. Personally, I prefer the original title, since it better captures a key element of the story. Our protagonist (played by Elizabeth Kemp) has two unique gifts. She is an artist and has a sixth sense. But she doesn't see dead people, instead she can foresee who will be the next victim in a series of seemingly unrelated murders. Unrelated that is, except for the handcuffs found on each victim. Her clairvoyance strikes her when she is drawing and usually, she draws the next victim. She begins to panic, when during one of her episodes, she draws herself.

When she finally goes to the police, she manages to convince the skeptical officers assigned to the murders that their may be some validity to her story. More willing to believe her, a TV talk show host/reporter (played by Perry King) tries to befriend her and interview her on his show.

Slowly, the killer moves in on her. The clairvoyant knows he (or she) is near, but her power doesn't reveal the face to her. Nor does the director give this one away. We have to wait until he is ready to reveal the killer, but once he does, it all makes perfect sense.

Overall, I found this movie to be a pleasant surprise. Suspenseful, cleverly written, well acted, it will keep you guessing until the end, when the killer finally and unexpectedly, is revealed.

SURPRISINGLY GOOD MOVIE
At first glance, you might think this is an exploitation movie that thrives on T and A and extreme violence, but the Killing Hour, aka the Clairvoyant, is a surprisingly well produced, well directed, and well acted movie. Good perfomances by Elizabeth Kemp (especially Liz Kemp) and Perry King.