The Dark Hours

I'm writing a horror screenplay. Until I saw The Dark Hours, I thought it was pretty decent. But this movie turned everything I thought I knew about horror on its head and made even some of my very favorite horror flicks seem superficial by comparison.

It's not that it's particularly original -- Chris Nolan could almost be listed in the credits for the cue that Paul Fox picks up from Memento and Following. What makes it stand out? It's damn scary -- it gave me the same visceral feeling of horror formerly reserved for classics like Halloween and Psycho. But even then it's like comparing apples to oranges because it's just as much a psychological thriller as it is a horror film. The Dark Hours takes the best from psychological thrillers, so-called "slasher flicks" and the lamentably-popular genre of torture horror and mixes them up in such a way that it seems fresh and original.

The film features a cast of talented unknowns, which works in its favor because there are no big egos drawing one's attention away from the story itself (and trust me -- you'll NEED to be paying attention to get the full effect).

Lopped off two stars for some unnecessary gore. Although it wasn't as extreme as many horror films, it didn't really add anything of value to the film -- gore doesn't produce scares, just shock.

The Dark Hours is an unbelievably brisk psychological scary movie that packs a lot of thrills into it's 80 minute running time. Although it's not generally the type of horror movie I like, it requires the audience to think a bit about what is going on, something which I'd rather not do in movies like this) Dark Hours is great because the lead actress, Kate Greenhouse, is great as the doctor who gets more then she bargained for when she makes a surprise visit to her ex and her sister. An ex-patient of hers also pays a visit, and he decides they're going to play some mind games, just like he endured in the clinic which he came from. Only the games have slightly sinister overtones..

All the acting is very good here. What a pleasure to see Dov Tiefenbach again. Loved him in The Delicate Art of Parking, so it was quite a surprise to see him play something nastier in this movie. Again Greenhouse is great, and all the cast pull together to make this movie a dynamite sit through.

Some of the comments I've read about this movie so far seem to be a little too much on the positive side. While I'm not saying that this isn't a good film - as usual with obscure films made in countries other than the USA - there's a fair few people overrating it, when really it's just another variant on the idea used in Funny Games over a decade ago (which wasn't even original then), done with less panache and less to say. After a slow first twenty minutes, The Dark Hours finally gets going; and once it does get going, it does indeed become very thrilling, and it's easy to see why many people enjoyed it for that reason. The idea that the movie draws on mainly is the horror of having your space invaded by a maniac; and the film then dashes this central theme with ideas of immoral acts being justified and the horrors of the truth. The film follows psychiatrist Samantha Goodman as she travels to a small cabin in the woods to stay with her husband and sister. A young man who might be more than his mousy appearance suggests... soon interrupts their stay.

The thing I like most about this film is the isolated 'cabin in the woods' setting. Horror classic, The Evil Dead, proved that this setting is a great location for horror; and The Darks Hours is just one of the films to confirm that. The invaders force their innocent victims to partake in a series of macabre and terrifying games - and this too helps to add to the atmosphere that the movie is creating. Much like it did in Funny Games. The Dark Hours is brought to life by a talented cast of unknowns, and director Paul Fox proves his worth by getting good performances out of all of them. Kate Greenhouse takes the lead role and is backed up by the quartet of Aidan Devine, Gordon Currie, Iris Graham and Dov Tiefenbach. The acting here shows how good performances can enhance a script, as The Dark Hours works from a very basic plot that would be lost if the cast want up to the challenge of bring the characters to life. Overall, while you wont catch me describing this film as 'terrifying', 'brilliant' or even 'intelligent', The Dark Hours is definitely worth seeing as it pulls psychological horror together with shocking gore well, and represents a modest success for non-US obscure horror.

If you're a Horror fan such as myself, you must have noticed by now that this profound underrated genre has a few different types of films, other than having a few sub-genres. The Dark Hours, a Canadian production, is much like a combination between Funny Games (where two psychopathic killers take a family hostage and forces then to play sadistic games) and any film (take your pick) where the protagonist can't tell fantasy from reality due to a mental condition.

In some films, the effects of fear and unpleasantness are achieved by frightening and startling the spectators, often using cheap cheats like sudden loud music. Not such is the case in The Dark Hours. In this film, the audience is, in a way, tortured along with the characters.

Nothing makes a good Horror film great like some unexpected and surprising twists. In this film - what at first bothered me was the fact that the questions asked aren't fully answered. Meaning, the audience can't know for sure what really happened, and what didn't. Eventually, I realized that this feature was exactly what made this film what it is.

What's real? What really happened, and what happened only in the protagonist's imagination? Come the film's end - you'll be debating with your friends (or yourself), as the film provides "half-proofs" to support or disprove any theory.

Personally, I prefer it when the twists and endings of films do in fact answer all the the questions the original story plants in the spectators' minds, making us go "Ohhhhhh, now I get it!". Still, I really appreciate the M.O this film uses to invoke confusion and despair.

I do think tagging this film "sci-fi" is pretty inaccurate, but I guess this is a matter of personal interpretation like almost everything else about it.

All in all, The Dark Hours proved to be an original and mind-blowing film, taking the audience for a ride of questions and confusion. For me - that has really done the trick. Very highly recommended for any Horror fan who enjoys it when films successfully mess with their minds!

I just saw this film at the FanTasia film festival in Montreal and was blown away by it. I really didn't expect anything and was more than surprised with the professional quality of it. High praises go to the DP for amazing lightings and colours. The filmmakers were not shy on using efficient camera movements reminiscent of Kubrick's works. The music was discreet and up to the point, no cheap tricks were used here to scare us with a sudden raise in volume or other easy silly tricks we see way too often in Hollywood movies in recent years. The acting was flawless which is not only a sign of a great scriptwriter but of good direction of actors on behalf of the filmmaker. I have seen some pretty awful dialogue in some horror films which the actors obviously couldn't say with a straight face, so it's nice to see some great dialogues in a horror film! But my appreciation didn't stop with the technical aspects of it. It was a very efficient horror film in the sense that it produced raw emotions for the audience. It doesn't make us jump up in our seats, but it makes us cringe. This is why i call this a REAL horror film as opposed to an easy-to-do thriller. The ideas were original, the cutting of the scenes led us to think of different possible ways the story could unfold, and kept us interested till the end.

Really this is a MUST SEE film. Being a Canadian film, I do hope they will get good distribution and that the world will be able to see this. This team of filmmakers and actors will go far. Keep their names in mind because I would bet that we'll be hearing them a lot in the future.