Very well executed

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

When I sat down to watch this movie, I was really expecting a serious B movie, with the low production value and all. The movie really wow-ed me, but it wasn't just the high production value that got me, it was the writing, directing and acting. The script and direction (both courtesy of new comer Isaac H. Eaton) were great. I watched the movie because of Peter Weller, king of all B-Movies. I was more than impressed by his performance (a definate stand out among this cast, or any for that matter) and the rest of the main cast was great too. Interresting to see Peter Greene as a good guy, and B'Zar and Rebecca Gayheart were perfect. All in all, this movie is more than enough entertainment for a friday night, I throughly enjoyed it and recommend it highly. Without hesitation I give it 10/10.

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.

wasnt a bad film, had a powerful message albeit presented in a often cliche'd form. i especially liked the philosophy of where the devil went wrong with Job....all in all, a good film with solid performances by the leading men.

If you thought the bizarre and errie world of THE CELL was scary and weird, you haven't seen nothing yet. SHADOW HOURS takes the viewer into the dark and seedy world that does exist, in Los Angeles. From night clubs, to tourture clubs, to drugculture, to fight clubs, the viewer doesn't really miss much of what else is dark in the city. Balthazar Getty (who looks similar to Charlie Sheen) is Michael Holloway a man who use to be part of the drug culture and it nearly cost him his life. But everything changed when he met Chloe (Rebecca Gayheart) a girl who made Michael give up his addictive illegal habits and go straight. So Michael works the graveyard shift at a gas station around central Los Angeles. Night after night, people come in, give Michael money, pump gas into their vehicles and then leave. One night Michael takes part of his anger out on a customer, Stuart Chappell (Peter Weller). Stuart pulls up in a nice looking Porsche and wearing a expensive suit. Michael feels guilty about yelling at innocent Stuart who only wanted gas, so he apoligizes to him, and Stuart accepts and wants to take Michael out for a cocktail. However, Stuart isn't innocent, he doesn't want to take Michael out only for a cocktail, and he didn't arrive to only get gas. Stuart shows Michael the underground world of Los Angeles, from strip clubs to places where people watch people getting torture. One good thing about SHADOW HOURS is the look and mood of the film. The picture starts off of fast motion cars speeding on a freeway, with the numbers on a gas pump moving in rapid speed, while music from Moby is being played on the soundtrack. If anyone is going to make a movie that takes place around in Los Angeles, one SHOULD play industrial music, especially by the artist Moby. Michael Mann protrayed Los Angeles to a prefction in his 1995 classic HEAT. As the view saw the scummy and seedy realistic side of Los Angeles, the fast dance tempo of Moby was played on the soundtrack. And SHADOW HOURS does accomplish that in some of it's scenes, which I really enjoyed. However, nothing much could be said for the rest of the film. The plot isn't anything special or new, it's more or less a updated version of the dark figure leading the innocent figure into a dark world. And some of the scenes in the film are not that original, but others (including a sexual torture club) are very disturbing to watch. The only actor who stands out in this film is by Peter Weller. He gives flamboyance to his character of Stuart that you wonder is this man really psychotic, or is he indeed the devil himself. But for the other actors, they pretty much give a paint-by-numbers performance. Getty doesn't really carry the movie, when he should be the leading actor carrying the film, he appears to be a sidekick to the Weller character. Rebecca Gayheart also gives a generic performance as the pregnant wife who stays awake late at night and wonders what her husband is up to. But a decent supporting performances from Brad Dourif as the gas station manager, and a unrecognizeable Frederic Forrest, help give the movie some color. I do see what director Isaac Eaton was trying to say in this film by getting his message across. But it's nothing really new or unique. For a small budget independent film, it does manage to show something promising, but in the end you don't walk out going "wow" it's more of a "ho-hum." ** (out of five)