Terror Transmission

The Dark Hours – 2005 – Canada – Capri Releasing

Those crazy Canucks are at it again, beating us at our own game with this brilliant and provocative addition to the psycho-killer genre.

I have to admit that the serial / psychotic-killer genre is my least favorite interpretation of the horror film. Aside from classics such as Peeping Tom, No Way to Treat a Lady, and, of course, Psycho, alongside a couple of cinema verite entries like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and The Last Horror Movie, there are very few films in this genre that I would care to watch a second time through. I find them to be depressing in their abjectly mirrored reality and lacking the escapist quality I do so enjoy from their more cherished brethren, the monster movie. It is difficult for me to empathize with and root for someone who kills with utter disregard for justification (beyond their own insanity), so these bleak films, for the most part anyway, end up being a joyless exercise in body-counting carnage for me. But every once in a while one of these pics rises above this mundane routine and makes me sit bolt upright and take notice (Haneke’s original Funny Games and Lustig’s Maniac merit this). And sauntering into this ever-so sparse category comes tonight’s film, The Dark Hours.

Dr. Samantha Goodman, a high level psychiatric doctor who specializes in sociopathic psychos, has just learned that her brain tumor (which had been in stasis for a couple of years) has metastasized to the size of a swinging bulldog testicle. Yeah, THAT big. She retreats to her cabin in the Canadian wilderness to break the news to her struggling writer husband, David, and her younger sister, Melody, who are there working together on his upcoming book. Samantha begins to notice some complications arising from her condition, suffering moments of selectively clarified hearing and lapses in her grasp of time. After she relates the severity of her prognosis to David and Melody, who are duly stupefied, a neurotic and nearly frozen young man comes to their door urgently begging for assistance. He is reluctantly ushered in by the trio, his bizarre behavior allaying itself as he warms himself by their fire. However, as soon as the family relaxes their guard, the stranger asks innocently enough if their dog “is all protective and stuff,” and you can see where this is going…

Without giving away the entire plot (which is a pleasure that needs to be experienced firsthand) it is sufficient to relate that one of the “good” doctor’s psychopathic patients, Harlan Pyne, appears on the scene for some deserved remuneration. It seems that Samantha had been, rather unethically, treating Harlan’s brain tumor (which mirrored her own) with experimental medication that had rendered him comatose for the last year. But how did he get to the remote cabin, and after a year in a coma, how is he as vital and strong as ever? And who is his twitchy and murderous sidekick?

The Dark Hours budgetary restrictions work well in its favor by limiting the scope of the action and putting the directorial emphasis on the clever script and superb acting performances (something not uncommon for Canadian pictures). Harlan is played by Aidan Devine, whose matter-of-fact delivery and confident intellect mark his character as one of the finest and most memorable portrayals of a sociopath it has been my pleasure to watch. Kate Greenhouse (Dr. Samantha Goodman) communicates the torture and forlorn isolation of her part with a strength and dignity not many actresses are capable of, and Gordon Currie (as her feckless hubby Dave) is charming and credible. The standout performance has to be that of Dov Tiefenbach (as the neurotic, Adrian) who communicates an overwhelming sense of anxiety which infectiously places cast and viewer alike in alarmed distress.

Sound, editing and taut direction are all sui generis, and the film proudly eschews all of the filmic cliches inherent in the genre, making it fresh and exciting. The final act twist will leave you galvanized, and is punctuated by one of the subtlest (and therefore, most effective) gore scenes in recent film, which left me squirming in my seat. A markedly intelligent film, The Dark Hours comes highly recommended.

Jason’s Grade: B+

One should note that the Canadian DVD released by Capri Releasing (which is reviewed here) is in the theatrical aspect ratio of 1:85-1, whereas the US DVD released by Freestyle is in a piss-poor 1:33-1 aspect ratio. Caveat Emptor!