The Dark Hours (2005)

Good idea, fairly intriguing story, but to reveal something you first have to hide it.This has a touch of Mulholland Dr, as the heroine deludes herself over a sequence of events that ends in horror.I'm up for it, but the problem is we know we're through the looking glass too early on, and it turns out the explanation is the one we guessed straight up.There's a great performance by the psycho, and I liked the reveal on the identity of his sidekick (although strictly the psycho is not yet a ghost).Apart from the heroine and the psycho, it was impossible not to get annoyed at the characters - not sure what the film makers intended there. Maybe they should have let the game playing go on a bit more to mix up the heroine's feelings about the characters.Production is good, but music minimal and almost ineffective.

Like a brain surgeon's deftly wielded scalpel sinking into grey matter, skillful manipulation of cinematic elements merges with subtle transpositions in The Dark Hours. Along with clever segue-ways and strategically positioned ambiguity, The Dark Hours' filmmakers blur the line between objective and subjective reality in this fast-moving nail biter. It's engrossing, captivating, slickly edited and well-acted. Get ready for some disturbing twists and an unsettling climax.The Dark Hours keeps us guessing, dangling over the precipice between our home theater easy chairs, contemplating "what ifs," and fretting over what will happen next. And what happens next is just ... well just awful! For the characters in the story, that is.When institutional head-shrinker, Samantha Goodman (Kate Greenhouse) takes refuge from a personal crisis in her secluded snowbound cabin, she expects a quiet weekend with her aspiring novelist husband David (Gordon Currie) and sister Melody (Irius Graham). A worn expression about best-laid plans comes to mind, as one thing, something terrible, leads to another.Much of the action takes place after dark in Sam's remote abode, illuminated in a flickering amber candle and fireplace glow. There's a claustrophobic feeling inside the bungalow, which contrasts with the utter desolateness of the wide open, frozen tundra nightscape upon which it vulnerably sits. Hanging precariously by only a few threads, a wispy, gauze-like veneer of sanity separates the known from the uncertain. Only the cabin's frail wooden door insulates the occupants from infiltration by malevolent elements which might appear from anywhere out in the night. Indeed, such elements come knocking and once that creaky door is opened, sheer hell breaks loose.Instead of her hoped-for introspective interlude with David, from whom Samantha desperately requires emotional support, she instead discovers she's trapped in a love triangle between David and Melody. Just as Sam starts to unravel the details, the arrival of a duo of lunatics (literally) disrupts her family affair.The more the merrier, however, as the uninvited guests intend to help Sam acquire some truly objective perspective about her situation -and theirs. One of the interlopers is a patient, Harlan (Aidan Devine), with whom Samantha has a controversial history. He's escaped, and now with twitchy teenage protégé Adrian (Dov Tiefenbach) in tow, Harlan wants to impress upon Sam that he never much cared for her less-than-Hippocratic bedside manner.To boot, Harlan plans to help Sam sort out her domestic and professional issues, Jungian style. Or maybe just Nietzsche and Dr. Mengele style. Because while Harlan's diseased cerebrum is squirming like a toad, it turns out his is not the only one. Harlan detects that all present are in need of a little "psycho" therapy. Delightfully, he just happens to have a treatment regimen in mind for everyone -one which champions truth, illumination, and ... well this won't hurt a bit.OK, maybe just a LITTLE! Because it's going to start with some excruciatingly morbid games, games at gunpoint which involve a telephone, a diary and pair of cutting pliers.As the quintet prepare to venture on a schizophrenic journey of enlightenment, seamless perceptual juxtapositions provide an eerie insight to the escalating chain of developments, some of which are relayed via foreboding flashbacks and non-linear plot points. What ensues is pure bedlam when all involved spiral into a swirling maelstrom of horrid revelations and bloody confrontation.

I can not say enough good things about "The Dark Hours". Don't let the unoriginal title phase you, this flick is exactly what the horror genre needs. This is a type of film that requires every second of your attention, for every little action comes back and ties in at the end. Performances are believable all-around, and Adian Devin makes a brilliant villain, simultaneously hilarious and terrifying. The film is exceptionally well shot on its tiny budget (less than a half-million Canadian dollars). Paul Fox has truly done a bang-up job on his directional debut here. His style and visual creativity elevate what is already a great film and makes it both intellectually stimulating AND a feast for the eye. Wil Zmak's script is intelligent and never underestimates its audience, and the ending will leave a definite mark on your mind. I'd also like to point out the music score, which was downright brilliant. As a film score fan I can say that even though this score will unfortunately never see a CD release it is quite a remarkable and original score. Gore fans will get a kick out of the finger scene as well. Really great horror film; simply not to be ignored. Why can't we have more films like this?

This movie is not worthy of seeing. Don't waste your money on unimportant drivel like this.Kate Greenhouse stars as Samantha Goodman, a doctor at a psychiatric facility. She learns in the first few minutes of the film that she has an inoperable brain tumor whose progress has only increased over the past year. She has hallucinations and occasionally will blank out and see people's mouths moving, but hear no sound. That's the first sign of things to come. Hmmmm....doctor....growing brain tumor....regular hallucinations....welcome to the stupid and predictable plot of The Dark Hours.Sam calls up her husband on the phone (she hallucinates that he's in her office talking to her) and tells him she wants to spend the weekend with him. He knows she is sick and has a tumor, but he is not aware of the results she's gotten from the most recent tests. He tells her that he is busy and he has to finish writing his book, so he can't. He will be too busy with her younger sister, who is apparently jobless and still living at home. She helps him "edit" his work.Sam leaves and proceeds to join them anyway at their cabin in the woods. Not long after she arrives, there is a knock at the door, and a stranger comes into the house. Then the unthinkable happens--a patient of Sam's who was in a coma and not likely to live suddenly shows up at their door too. Apparently the first guy is his accomplice, and they are out to torture and terrorize Sam and her family.What's going on here really? Will Sam be able to escape with her life? And what will happen to her husband and her little sister? You can find most of this info out from reading other reviews. I just thought I would add my 2 cents worth. I thought this movie was boring. The acting was poor, especially Sam's sister. The psychopathic drifter, the madman's apprentice, was also very corny and poorly acted. The plot twists were all supposed to be shocking revelations, but really they were simply predictable and staid. They've been done before, and better, in many other films. There was not a single moment of anything even resembling tension or scariness in this film.I got this film for free, so I can't complain about wanting my money back. However, to those of you who have not yet offered up your money, DON'T BOTHER! It's a huge waste of time. Go see something else that's more worthwhile, and leave this on the shelves where it belongs.