The Killing Hour

Everything about New York is fantastic. The food, the people, the culture. Or so I’m told. I can usually only afford hostels in bad neighbourhoods, and the acrid blue clouds of second-hand freebase smoke generally keep me chewing the skin off my fingers in a closet rather than seeing the sights. But once I get home and out of rehab, I can always experience the city vicariously by watching films like The Killing Hour.

Shot in New York, Killing Hour takes full advantage of the locations, atmosphere, and strong talent pool of the Big Apple. Unlike Hollywood, actors come to New York to act, not to hustle coke to a producer for a walk-on role in Two and a Half Men, so films shot in the city tend to be stronger, regardless of their budget level. So, the performances in The Killing Hour are universally solid, and are combined with a strong script and an occasionally surprising story of a young, clairvoyant artist having visions of a serial killer’s victims.

Directed by He Knows You’re Alone filmmaker Armand Mastroianni, The Killing Hour maintains a grounded, realistic feel despite its fantastic premise. When handcuffed murder victims begin appearing, New York’s finest attempt to bring the mysterious killer to justice, while trying to avoid aping Dirty Harry character diamonds. They succeed with the latter task, mainly by fully embodying the quirky personalities in Mastroianni and B. Jonathan Ringkamp’s script, from a curmudgeonly, nail-biting lieutenant to Norman Parker’s Detective Weeks, who moonlights as a fairly annoying stand-up comic. Their sole lead in the case is Virna Nightborne, as her charcoal sketches provide snapshot images of the murders. Torn between Weeks and an ambitious tabloid TV anchor, played by Perry King from Class of 1984, Nightborne soon becomes a target of the killer.

The film starts of promisingly, using the talented cast to establish characters quickly, and popping off a few killings within the first five minutes. Though the film threatens to sag in the middle, verging on a conventional procedural thriller with the occasional X-Files flourish, Mastrioanni draws enough out of his performers to keep The Killing Hour going until its predictable but dynamic twist ending. And though the violence isn't frequent, when it's surprisingly brutal when it does appear, and packs all the punch of a cloud of freebase.

Blue Underground’s DVD contains commentary with Mastrioanni, deleted scenes, and a theatrical trailer. A Mastrioanni bio is also included.

alkratina@comicbookbin.com