by CHRIS BARRY, ANNE MARIE MARKO, SARAH ROWLAND and MARK SLUTSKY

The Dark Hours

This modest Canadian production beat out entries from the likes of Italian macabre maestro Dario Argento and Japanese gore guru Takashi Miike for the audience award at Scotland’s 2005 Dead by Dawn horror film fest. And it’s no wonder: The Dark Hours is an anomaly in that it’s a stark and intelligent horror that doesn’t pander to the franchise-hungry teen market.

Partly inspired by a documentary on Bellevue Hospital, director Paul Fox tells the bone-chilling story of Samantha (played by Kate Greenhouse, who won best actress at Fantasia 2005). She’s an unorthodox psychiatrist who treats violent sex offenders at a sterile nut house for the criminally insane. After losing it on one of her patients, she decides to take some much-needed time off and hang out with her husband and sister at the family cottage. But before she gets a chance to chill with some hot cocoa, a former patient (played by the hardest working bad guy in Canadian cinema, Aidan Devine) and his sidekick (Dov Tiefenbach, a throw-back to old-school character actors) break in and force them into a nightmarish game of truth or dare. It turns out the good doctor has questionable ethics and her cabin-mates have a few dirty little secrets of their own.

If you’re looking for camp, cheese and cartilage (not that the three Cs don’t have their place in horror cinema), this isn’t for you. But if you want thrills that don’t come at the expense of a smart story, see The Dark Hours. (SR)

Zathura

From Chris Van Allsburg, the author of the book Jumanji, and director Jon Favreau (continuing the kidpic tangent he began with Elf) comes this perfectly likeable space adventure tale. The idea is sort of similar to Jumanji—a board game comes to life and havoc is wreaked—although luckily without Robin Williams.

Tim Robbins, however, does make an appearance, as the divorced dad of two kids (Jonah Bobo and Josh Hutcherson), who are constantly at each other’s throats. When Robbins steps out one day to run an errand, the kids come across an old mechanical game, the titular Zathura. A ’50s-era contraption, it spits out messages that begin to alter reality, most notably by transporting the house and its inhabitants to somewhere in the orbit of Saturn. Robots, aliens and astronauts then follow, as the brothers realize they have to play the game to its conclusion if they’re ever to return home.

The movie takes the retro, pressed-tin look of the game and blows it up to life-size—the spaceships and robots and whatnot all have a pleasingly old-fashioned look to them. It’s fun to watch, and the script is smart and well-paced enough to remain entertaining for its running time (just shy of two hours). This is definitely a kid-pleaser, and while I wouldn’t say it was particularly brainy, Favreau admirably refuses to play dumb, making it very watchable for adults too. A pleasant surprise. (MS)

The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico

Montreal director Michael Dowse makes mockumentary filmmaking look so easy. Take two Calgary rockers and let them “give’r” (FUBAR), then take one celebrity deaf DJ and let him self-destruct (It’s All Gone Pete Tong), et voila: two of the funniest Canadian films ever made. Nothing to it, right? Wrong. As Toronto director Michael Mabbott proves, you can take the coolest premise, several legendary cameos and a killer soundtrack and still blow it big-time.

His debut feature The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico is a tribute to fictional outlaw country singer Guy Terrifico (played by former Super Friendz frontman Matt Murphy). To Mabbott’s credit, his love and appreciation of all the greats (Willie, Waylon and Johnny) is clear. He scored some hilarious footage of Kris Kristofferson slurring and stumbling his way through an acceptance speech at the 1970 Country Music Awards, and he even convinced the immortal Merle Haggard to play himself.

If only the script and performances were as impressive as the guest appearances. There’s just not enough honky tonk splendour in the world to compensate for running jokes like Terrifico humping the drum or juvenile gags like the June Carter-inspired character getting bad gas from stage fright. Disappointing, to say the least. (SR)

Perfect Crime

Take one part Fatal Attraction, one part How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, throw in a little Weekend at Bernie’s, assemble a stellar cast of talented Spanish vedettes, give ’em a smart script written by iconoclastic director Álex de la Iglesia and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a relatively decent black comedy. And Perfect Crime is, indeed, a relatively decent black comedy. Chock full of social commentary and even the occasional subtle metaphor, de la Iglesia’s latest takes aim at male vanity, the so-called “war between the sexes” and every hackneyed artist’s favourite whipping boy, the vapidity of consumer culture.

Here’s the basic plot: Rafael (Guillermo Toledo) is a top salesman at a busy Madrid department store. He’s also a gifted stud who spends as much time poking his female co-workers as he does hustling up sales. Life is good. Until he accidentally murders his main sales rival and finds himself at the mercy of an unfortunate looking female co-worker (Mónica Cervera) who witnesses the scene and promptly extorts him first for sexual favours, and later into getting married. Suddenly life isn’t so good anymore. But oh, what to do? Kill the ugly bitch, perhaps? Maybe. But I’m certainly not telling.

Perfect Crime probably promises a little more than it actually delivers. That said, however, it still packs way more punch than similar Hollywood fare and, if nothing else, the truly marvellous performances by Toledo and Cervera alone are worth the price of admission. (CB)

Pride & Prejudice

One might be inclined to think the last thing the world needs is yet another screen adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen’s 19th-century send-up of sex and class inequality. But director Joe Wright’s take on this classic work of fiction really isn’t half bad. And while far from anything resembling a masterpiece, it is surprisingly fresh, enchanting, and, yes, even worth checking out.

Just in case you’re not already familiar with this well-known, well-worn tale, it’s the story of the Bennets, a family of five daughters who, as they cannot legally inherit property, all need husbands or will end up homeless, penniless and alone. Keira Knightley plays Elizabeth Bennet, a confident, passionate young woman, who is perhaps just a little too headstrong for her own good. When she meets aristocratic sourpuss Mr. Darcy, she is at first affronted by his snobbishness and, later, when she learns he’s counselled his goofy best friend to opt out of marrying her sister, Elizabeth’s distaste becomes disgust. But he’s in love with her, of course. And it’s up to Elizabeth to overcome her pride and see beyond her prejudice (get it?) to discover who he really is and to admit to herself that, sigh, she loves him too.

The entire cast is strong, but Knightley’s performance is particularly smashing, as is Brenda Blethyn’s, who’s a real hoot as the frantic and desperate Mrs. Bennet. (AMM)

The Dark Hours, Zathura, The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, Perfect Crime and Pride & Prejudice open Friday, Nov. 11

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