Develiker
terrible... so disappointed.
Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
Jenna Walter
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Syed Aqif Mukhtar
I started watching Shadow Hours one evening on Foxtel (Australia). Pretty soon I realized that I had to watch it all the way through as the suspense regarding the mysterious rich man (Stuart) kept on building. The movie is about a journey of a young man (Holloway) in to the very dark side of city's night life with that mysterious rich man. Holloway was a former drug addict and is supporting his wife pregnant with their first child by working through grave yard shift on a petrol station (yes we call it petrol in Australia :). He gets acquainted with a rich guy who takes him to very strange clubs and places. That sparks a battle of conscious within Holloway and he finally manages to get out of way by following a rather hard way.The movie reminded me of 8mm in which Nicholas Cage goes deep in to the dark and ugly of porn, gambling and some very psycho stuff in pursuit of a missing girl. Shadow Hours also takes us to all these sick places where at first you will not understand that what kind of people would want to go through that sickening lifestyle. But, If you think a bit more that probably you will realize that most of the people who hang around these places and gets abused by people like Stuart are mentally ill and are probably not accepted by the society. By hanging around such places people like Holloway who often are at borderline of sanity can be influenced in a terrible way. Anyway the movie was entertaining and thought provoking and I will recommend it to all people who liked 8mm.
Rogue-32
This ultimately pointless little excursion into perversion starts out promisingly enough: desperate ex-cokester (Balthazar Getty) with pregnant wife working the night shift at a sleazy gas station seeks something, ANYthing, to offer escape from his dreary, drugless, thrill-less existence. Enter Peter Weller (Robo Cop himself!), driving the sleek car, wearing the sleek clothes, walkin' the sleek walk and talkin' the sleekest talk poor Balthazar's ever heard. Naturally, he follows his new bud off into the night and is taken on a depraved journey that perversely fills his void. In no time he's back on the blow, of course, and he's also addicted to his new best friend, who continuously ups the ante (best friend that he is) by exposing Balthazar to deeper, more depraved kicks. (There's a lot of s&m activity, people suspended by hooks, that sort of thing, and there's a fight club scenario, and of course there has to be Russian Roulette - what would depravity be without Russian Roulette, I ask you.) Robo's doing this, you see (or rather he TELLS us) so Little Balthy can hit rock bottom and rise from his ashes, purified and reborn, blah blah blah. This would be good, if it actually happened - catharsis is Number One in MY book. However, by the time this sordid sleaze plays itself to its crazed conclusion, NOTHING is really changed, there is no real catharsis for our 'hero' (and I use the word VERY loosely here), and we don't even know whether Robo has actually committed the murders that have been taking place throughout the proceedings. By this time, though, guess what? You don't care! You just want to crawl into a clean, safe bed somewhere and sleep it off.
moviefreak78
'Shadow Hours' opened in late 2000 to some harsh reviews. Many critics believed that director Isaac H. Eaton borrowed from one too many films and that his storyline is jumbled and confused. I for one think that while the storyline can get familiar, the general storyline was going in interesting directions that made it more interesting to watch. And what made it even more interesting is that this film had a supporting cast of many familiar faces.Balthazar Getty, in the lead role of the recovering addict, is servicable, but not exceptional. He seems one-note in many scenes, and clearly gets his scenes stolen from co-star Peter Weller, who has (I think) his best role in years as the devious writer Stuart Chappell. This is clearly Weller's best performance since 'The New Age' and he relishes it with a passion. One definitely doesn't know where his character is going, and Weller fleshes him out with enough mystery and charisma (without resorting to absurd overacting) to make him an enjoyable antagonist. If losing out to Weller isn't enough, Getty's acting chops also get more heat from Peter Greene, playing a cop, is just as creepy as the other man named Peter.The soundtrack, with it's constant techno beat, is actually a refreshing change and works with the various set-pieces in the movie. All in all, check this film out. One might be surprised how good it is. It's more proof that one shouldn't always listen to critics.
George Parker
"Shadow Hours" is a well shot, well acted, impatient B-flick which gets moving quickly and keeps up the momentum throughout. Although the film is a journeyman production at best, it creates a curious mystique by asking more questions than it answers and keeps the audience guessing to the end and beyond. Weller's character is particularly compelling as he mentors a recovering addict, Getty, on life with a series of tours through the decadent underbelly of Los Angeles nightlife. Not for everyone, some will find this film provocative and will be looking forward to better offerings from this auteur in the future.