The Desperate Hours (1955)

 

        Arrow Films are releasing William Wyler’s tense and suspenseful THE DESPERATE HOURS on Blu-ray. It’s a film that, if you watch it in the right frame of mind, may well remind you of John Carpenter’s classic HALLOWEEN in places, with its suburban setting and the way in which the police hunt their quarry. But that’s getting ahead of things. 

Glenn Griffin (a wonderfully worn-looking Humphrey Bogart), his brother Hal (Dewey Martin) and their accomplice, the brutish Sam Kobish (Robert Middleton), escape from prison. They decide to hole up in the suburban home of Daniel Hilliard (Fredric March) and his wife and two children. Meanwhile the Griffins’ old foe Deputy Sheriff Jess Bard (Arthur Kennedy) is hot on their trail, but narrowing down exactly where they are will depend on the family they are terrorising giving the police a clue.

The screenplay for THE DESPERATE HOURS  is by Joseph Hayes and is based on both his novel and his play. For a film that takes place mainly in a single house, director William Wyler does a great job of making the story as cinematic as possible, with angled shots and composites that makes this feel anything but stagey. As I mentioned above, if you love HALLOWEEN you may be struck by a number of similarities, to the point where when Bogart is punching through a door you’ll be convinced John Carpenter must have seen this and been influenced by it to make his landmark slasher. Well written, well acted and supremely suspenseful, THE DESPERATE HOURS was quite likely the inspiration for a host of home invasion movies that followed.

Extras on Arrow’s Blu-ray include a new commentary track from Daniel Kremer, as well as a 39 minute appreciation from University of Warwick film specialist José Arroyo that goes into the background of the making of the film. Eloise Rose provides a 15 minute visual essay on the film and there’s a 12 minute audio interview with William Wyler’s daughter who was present on set at the time of filming. There’s also a trailer and lobby cards as well as a collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film from Philip Kemp and Neil Sinyard. 

William Wyler’s THE DESPERATE HOURS is out on Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 14th September 2026 from Arrow Films