Nigel P It's a risk featuring a child actor in a dominant role in a film; the child's acting maybe be adequate but not convince, or worse, he can produce a precocious, obnoxious performance which can lose the character sympathy. Luckily, Omar Muñoz is both convincing and appealing, which is refreshing, especially as his character Jesus is written as a mischievous scamp.The Dark Hour is a Spanish film which explores an unknown dystopian society.Jesus could be seen as the eyes of the viewer. He lives with a group of what appear to be survivors of a holocaust which may or may not have wiped out the rest of mankind. Their world is a sealed bunker of sorts. It seems to be infiltrated by ghost-like mutants, necessitating regular curfew. The relationships between the others is nicely outlined by Jesus, who seems intent to record a video-diary – however, this is not a found footage film, for reasons that become clear at the story's end.The bleak setting is beautifully conveyed, however the lack of apparent answers until the very end leads to the story dragging a little occasionally. The carefully built-up atmosphere is stiflingly grim, and there is a genuine sense of hope when the remaining characters manage to escape the bunker … or do they? I won't give away the final twist, which is tremendous and haunting. There are elements of zombie films here, although I would cautiously suggest this is better than most. It branches out into sci-fi territory, but is assuredly a claustrophobic horror film.

thekarmicnomad This is a great little Sci-fi film. The production isn't that lavish but every Euro was well spent. The acting is top notch; the lighting is excellent with none of that "shot in the car park around back" feel. Clever tools like interjected scenes shot from the camcorder (there aren't that many) and the constant propaganda on the TV help Immerse you in to the world very quickly. The characterisations are strong and develop rapidly.There are bits of the plot that are unexplained and may or not make sense if you really thought about it, but if you like Sci-fi (real sci-fi not Star Trek) you can't go wrong. The film is dark in essence, but I didn't find it overly depressing or gory, think Screamers or Cube.

Claudio Carvalho The eight years boy Jesús (Omar Muñoz) has been living in a crumbling underground facility since he was born with eight survivors of an apocalyptical war: the leader Maria (Silke) and her lover Pablo (Julio Perillán); the gays Lucas (Pablo Scola) and Mateo (Sergio Villanueva); the astronomer Magdalena (Carola Manzanares) and the teenager Ana (Nadia de Santiago); the soldier Pedro (Jorge Casalduero) and the lonely Judas (Pepo Oliva). They are permanently is state of surveillance, threatened by the contaminated mutants The Strangers and once a day they have to lock themselves in their rooms without heating to protect against the dangerous ghosts The Invisibles that attack in the Cold Hour. They cannot go to the surface, destroyed by a nuclear war. When they need supplies, medications and ammunitions, they organize expeditions to a store. When the menace of The Invisibles affects the safety of the group of survivors, they need to reach the surface."La Hora Fría" is a great low-budget movie showing a pessimist view of the fate of mankind after a nuclear war. The atmosphere is melancholic and claustrophobic and the story discloses the characters through the innocent eyes of an eight years old boy. I expected to find an explanation to their biblical names, but the film never clarifies. The story recalls "The Omega Man", "Day of the Dead" and "28 Days Later...", but is original and supported by a great cast that transmits fear, panic and lack of hope to the viewer, and by an excellent cinematography, using gloomy colors. I was a little disappointed with the ambiguous conclusion, and I understand that Pedro was right and the group was part of an experiment, but I am not sure if this was the intention of the writer. I believe the director Elio Quiroga failed since he was not able to express his real intention in the last scene. Probably due to commercial reasons, the Brazilian title does not correspond to the original Spanish title, as usual. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Hora Negra" ("The Dark Hour")

kosmasp It's funny that the English title isn't literally, but they opted to go for the more "frightening" DARK hour, instead of the correct COLD hour! But that's just a side note. Back to the movie, that is as I stated in the summary line, a sci-fi story. And I think that it could've been a double episode of the Outer Limits. I don't say it, as a bad thing.I liked the movie. The strange atmosphere, the great actors and a ambiguous ending (you could say that, as I did, or maybe it's crystal clear to you, you have to watch it and tell for yourself) all combined to a great whole. And although it is quite unique, something was missing, but I couldn't tell you what, for me to like it even more ...