review

THE KILLING HOUR

There's a serial killer loose in New York. A young woman's body has just been fished out of the Hudson River. Soon, two more murders occur, each victim found bound by a pair of handcuffs. The police are clueless and the killer doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Somewhere across the city a young art student finds herself drawing pictures of the murders in rather haunting detail.


Paul and Larry shoot the shit.

Seems cliche, I know, but there's nothing tired or dull about THE KILLING HOUR, an intelligent whodunit recently released on DVD by Blue Underground. The film was made in 1982, the same year Lucio Fulci unleashed his giallo THE NEW YORK RIPPER upon the Big Apple. Turns out Fulci's film was not the only film to relocate an Italian sensibility to our shores, as THE KILLING HOUR owes quite a bit to the poliziotto. While the giallo is primarily concerned with either the victim or the killer, the poliziotto focused on the lawmen trying to stop the reign of terror. THE KILLING HOUR devotes most of it's running time to Larry Weeks, a detective (and wannabe stand-up comic), and his budding romance with Virna Nightbourne, the woman whose drawings might help uncover the identity of the killer. Things get complicated when Paul McCormack, a morning talk show host, begins to cover The Handcuff Killer on his show, leading the killer to accelerate his activity. Plus, Paul's taken an interest in Virna, as well.


I've always thought that a film can be as routine as they come, adhering to every rule in the book, yet still be a good film if executed well. THE KILLING HOUR doesn't break new ground. It has no new tricks up it's sleeves. You've seen this film before a dozen times in a couple of different decades, I'm sure. But what makes THE KILLING HOUR stand out is it's cast and it's screenplay. Given the relatively short amount of time that The Handcuff Killer has in the film, you would expect things to get awfully boring awfully quick, but that's not the case. Wonderful characterization and dialogue keep the film afloat even when people aren't being crushed by elevators or electrocuted. There might not be any real firepower in the cast listing but the performances are as good as they come, with even the most ancillary character coming across as not only real but memorable.


Our psychic art student.

Kind of a who's-who of B-movie actors, THE KILLING HOUR boasts performances by Perry King, Norman Parker, Jon Pilato, Joe Morton, Antone Pagan, and Elizabeth Kemp, who acted in Mastroianni's debut feature, the early slasher HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE. Morton and Pilato might be the only actors there you recognize, but don't let that fool you into thinking this is a hopeless film. Backed by a memorable, if a bit anemic, screenplay by B. Jonathan Ringkamp, THE KILLING HOUR is a quick and pleasant experience, marred slightly by a disappointing ending. King and Parker, who play Paul McCormack and Larry Weeks respectively, manage a good bit of tension in their scenes together, and Kemp is particularly good as Virna, the troubled clairvoyant.


One of may memorable murders.

Before he went to live in the land of the made-for-television movie of the week, Mastroianni directed one other notable horror film, CAMERON'S CLOSET. While that film did not live up to his obvious potential, it still has it's diehard fans. I'm not one of them. Considering the skill evident in both HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE and THE KILLING HOUR, two films that, despite their genres, are very well-written character pieces, it's a shame Mastroianni didn't continue to work in the horror/suspense genres. Had he continued, chances are he would have stepped into the ranks of such notables as Romero, Carpenter, and Craven. That might seem like lofty praise for so relatively unknown a figure, but, in his rather slim genre filmography, Mastroianni has shown himself as a director who has a serious knack for not only directing suspense sequences but also getting great performances out of his actors. I think that, given time, he would have been that good.


I don't know if I'd recommend THE KILLING HOUR to most horror fans. It's not violent, spilling only about a cup of blood, nor is it supremely suspenseful. I suppose it would be best appreciated by crime buffs.


Highly Recommended.


DISCUSS THIS FILM IN THE FORUM! JUST CLICK HERE TO VISIT!