THE DARK HOURS

Psychiatrist Samantha Goodman discovers that the tumor in her brain, stable for two years, has suddenly started growing again. That same weekend, Samantha heads to her mountain cabin where her husband David and her sister Melody are waiting for her, intending to tell them the news. While a snowstorm rages outside, a cold young man knocks on the door and, under the pretext of being able to use the phone, takes the family hostage; shortly afterward, Harlan Pyne appears, the true mastermind behind the plan, a murderer recently released from the psychiatric hospital that Samantha had repeatedly denied permission to leave. Thus, the family will be at the mercy of the two madmen who will put into action a sadistic game of psychological pressure and physical torture. Small Canadian production from 2005, "The dark hours" is an example of how a decent film can be made without having a substantial budget, but playing everything on suspense and a story rich in twists. The situation narrated in the film is the classic one already proposed in several sado-thrillers like "La casa sperduta nel parco" and "Funny games", differing however from the complacent barbarism, at times moralistic, of Deodato's film, to come closer to the amoral coldness of Haneke's film. In "The dark hours", the two psychopaths act out of a concrete desire for revenge, amplified by an obvious lack of mental health: Harlan has spent part of his life behind the walls of an asylum, after staining himself with horrible crimes; his young assistant has a fragile psyche and has embodied in Harlan his master, a paternal figure that he probably lacked. Samantha faces her delicate health situation with courage, but the tumor that is eating away at her brain risks creating in her states of perceptual alteration that go beyond simple auditory dizziness. The tensions that arise between the various characters are amplified by the sadistic "truth or dare" games they are subjected to and that will bring to light even unacceptable truths. In short, the plot, although simple, is supported by a screenplay capable of surprising the viewer on several occasions, even if in the final part it risks collapsing on itself due to clever games from psychological thrillers now overused in contemporary cinema. The film's short duration (less than 75 minutes) does not play in its favor, inadequate for the complete psychological delineation of all the characters sometimes only sketched, as happens with Harlan's assistant and Samantha's sister. The performers are of good level and stand out in particular Kate Greenhouse ("Webs"), in the role of Dr. Samantha and Aidan Devine ("Oscure presenze a Cold Creek"), in the role of the psychopath Harlan. Some gruesome scenes are not absent, including a chilling amputation of a finger with pliers, performed explicitly without editing cuts. With a few more precautions, an excellent product could have emerged. Ideal for an evening balancing between engagement and disengagement.