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The Dark Hours
Samantha Goodman (Kate Greenhouse) is a psychiatrist
who specialises in violent sexual predators. She also suffers from an
incurable brain tumour, which after two years of dormancy, has started
to grow again. To combat her encroaching death, she is injecting herself
with an experimental drug which caused the brain function of rats to be
altered. It is with this state of mind that she takes a weekend break
with her husband and sister in a winter cabin in the middle of nowhere.
There is snow and ice all over.
In trusty deference to the horror tradition, a young
man comes knocking at the door. So they soon let him in. From there, the
movie picks up, but it would be wrong to tell you how! Let me just say
you’d better buckle up!
This film is hard to discuss because its best feature
is the plot itself. I refuse to enter into any more details—sorry! I can
say that if you’ve seen Cabin Fever and various other ‘in the
middle of nowhere’ horror films, you’ll be right at home here. I must
also say there is nothing super-natural in this movie, which is such a
welcome relief for rationalist-atheists like me! I think the human
psyche is bizarre and disturbing enough and director Paul Fox (who
directed three episodes of TV’s “Degrassi: the Next Generation”) and
writer Wil Zmak don’t hold back. Some of the shots pass the sadism
barrier and you feel guilty looking on at what’s on the screen.
After a quite opening, The Dark Hours peppers
up and doesn’t stop screwing with your mind until the perplexing end. I
really enjoyed this one. It’s bound to be better enjoyed in a group of
fellow genre enthusiasts.
*I saw it on a promo DVD and so the features were not
available—and the audio was very simple. The proper release will have
5.1 sound, which is good because sound is a central technique in this
thriller.
Felix Staica |
