This Canadian production drew attention after winning some strong awards in the festival circuit.  Best film, audience choice awards...  Many have been waiting for this to become available on DVD (which it now is).  On the surface, its a damsel in distress, a secluded cottage in the woods, and a psycho weilding a dangerous axe.  To simply call this a slasher film would sell it short.  What this tale lacks in all-out Friday the 13th type gore it makes up for with tension and twists.  As long as you don't go into this film expecting mass murder victims and bare breasts, you will most likely be refreshingly surprised with what The Dark Hours has to offer.

Dr. Samantha Goodman (played great by Kate Greenhouse), is an attractive psychiatrist in her thirties, and is having a particularly bad day.  Her inoperable brain tumor has begun to grow again, after being dormant for so long - and a patient tries to attack her after a cold and heartless review.  In an attempt to collect her thoughts and regroup, she decides to join her husband and her sister at a remote cottage in the mountains.  If for no other reason, to be close to family, and mentally endure the weekend.  "Odd" behavior by her husband gets overshadowed by the morbid news she has to share, and as the three of them gather around each other to cry and mourn - there comes a knocking at the door. 

Harlan Pyne (Aidan Devine), a violent sexual offender, has gotten out of the ward and followed Dr. Goodman all the way up to the snowed-in cabin.  Convinced that Samantha has performed unethical experiments on him, he recruits a young man who he uses as his pawn, and invades the home, holding the doctor, her husband and her sister captive at gun point.

For the first 3/4 of the film, it is a puzzle of enlightment, as we learn more about Dr. Goodman and her tumor, how she's managed to keep it at bay, and what she is surprisingly guilty of doing at the hospital - specifically to Harlan Pyne, who we find out has the same rare tumor.  This movie rides the razors edge on a morality issue - is it ok to test drugs on a violent psycho who crushes skulls of young boys, in order to save the life of a more "moral" human being?  Samantha Goodman is a doctor, whose job it is to take care of and rehabilitate the mentally ill.  Is she inherintly evil for experimenting on a lowlife who should be killed for his crimes anyhow?  These are the questions the viewer must wrestle with, as Harlan tracks his way up to the cabin for revenge and some psychological "tests" of his own.

Anyone who has visited a psychiatrist in a time of need knows the routine.  Your mind is playing games with you, hurting you even, and you go to a doctor for some help - some answers.  In most cases, you're left frustrated, with professional responses like, "How does that make you feel?" and "Why do you think this bothers you", and as you lose your mind in fear and panic, they tell you to "Try and remain rational..."  Former patients might have a smirk on the corner of their lips as Harlan plays games with the doctor and her family, quoting those same lines when moments are at their most intense and distressful.

"How big a strip do you think I can pull off..."

The violence in the film makes its marks.  Although I wouldn't classify it as a gore movie, the injuries and moments of death are quite powerful.  A family dog shot in the head, a steel nail deep into the earhole.  A surprising axe murder, and well - lets just say Dr. Goodman's life is completely in her own hands at the end of the film.  Those of you who have seen the ending know what Im talking about.  The games that get played are equally gripping.  The "phone game", "punishment", and a little "truth or dare" all have life changing outcomes.  Ill refrain from spoiling the ending.

Final analysis:  Most of the film is a straightforward, axe-weilding psycho movie that gets thick with tension as he plays games with their lives and limbs.  But there is a twist in the last 15 minutes of the film that puts a whole new perspective on things.  Its a bit confusing - some viewers will be left frustrated with a question mark above their heads - other will be able to figure it out with a little help of the rewind button if they can untie a couple of key mental knots.  What it all amounts to is a fresh take on the slasher scenario, and an unexpected ending that is as resolving as it is graphic and not for the squeamish.  Hardcore axe murder fans may be left sold a little short - but viewers looking for a non-Hollywood-cookie-cutter story should be pleasantly surprised, if not slightly confused.

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