Friday, October 31, 2008

The Dark Hours

Okay, I'm jumping from vintage 1970s horror last time to a 2005 psycho-thriller this time. One that I think works better if you don't know too much about it, so I'm not going to get into much detail.

The Dark Hours is a fairly low-budget suspenser set mostly in one location, a cabin in the woods. The acting is decent, and especially good from both Kate Greenhouse, the lead, as well as her antagonist played by Aidan Devine. There's a bit of gore but not a whole lot. Enough that I think one can classify it as horror.

It's also very much a "things are not what they seem" story, with a number of layers to reveal. One could say it's more of a character drama (it almost seems like a theatre production at times) than a straight-up horror. But it's an interesting one, and I don't think it ever succumbs to pretentiousness.

Despite the "low" half-million dollar budget, this movie has the dubious distinction of pulling in only $423 at the box office. Yeowtch! I don't think it deserved to be so ignored by the public. However, I could see how a hardcore horror fan wouldn't find it "horror" enough, and someone looking for an arty drama film might find the violence gratuitous or out of place. I happen to be a fan of horror hybrids however, so this didn't bother me.

Compared to modern Hollywood (or French) horror, this film will look very cheap. But if you don't need your hair blown back by special effects, gore and action, give a movie that relies primarily on writing and acting a chance.

3 comments:

CRwM said...

Welcome to the blog genre of the damned, brother.

Want me to link you up? Or would you rather I wait and let you build up a few more entries.

'Cause I'll totally hook you up if you want.

spacejack said...

Oh hey! You're a bit early, we're still painting the walls and getting the furniture delivered. And I apparently need to hook up email notification for comments here.

But sure, go ahead!

I basically put this up mostly because I was getting the urge to write too many off-topic mini-reviews in comments on your site. Canadian horror movies as a topic in itself didn't quite seem to have a dedicated site, and I thought it'd be a fun sub-set of horror to explore.

"Terror Train" is up next.

By the way, guest writers are welcome - there are more Canuck horror movies than I realized. I'm trying to convince another horror-fan friend to contribute, but I don't know if he'll have the time.

Mr. Xploit, Esquire said...

I really like this movie. It is also quite a bit more dark and gruesome than you give it credit for. Plyers anyone?! It's quite a mindfuck, and almost dares to go where few horror films do.