#815 The Clairvoyant aka The Killing Hour (1982)
The high demand for thrillers and the constant competition along with the new wave of nordic thriller and the new renaissance of the TV has caused the genre coming quite a long way since the 80s, and it takes a pretty good thriller to wow someone one these days. The Clairvoyant, a somewhat insignificant entry even in the 80s scale hasn’t got what it takes to thrill the viewer.
The movie starts off strong with multiple gruesome and inventive kills involving a pair of handcuffs, suggesting there’s a serial killer on the loose. As the story shifts from the traditional detective work towards the young woman who foresees the killings by sketching them, the movie starts to lose its focus, and when the badly staged TV talk show portion is introduced, the movie just derails. Clairvoyant is not a visual treat either, having a distinctive look and feel of an dated movie – if I was to guess, I would’ve placed it to around the year 1976.
What saves the movie from being a complete train wreck is the end where the plot – as unconvincing as it is – actually comes together in a way that make sense.
80s-o-meter: 58%
Total: 47%