Altered Hours

A really disappointing movie with a very confused storyline

I'm glad I gave it a shot. It's better than the reviews would lead you to believe. Lately I have started to bypass the reviews and watch based only on the description. This movie does require you to pay attention, or you may get confused. There are a lot of jumps in the story, like any good movie about time travel paradox. If you can put the iPad down and just enjoy the movie it's worth the watch.

Was drawn into seeing 'Altered Hours' with a cool poster/cover, a very intriguing and creative premise (one of the most innovative for any film seen recently) and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

'Altered Hours' is a film it doesn't do enough with its potential (although there are far bigger wastes of potential in film) and could have been much better, can't say that it is a great film because it isn't. It is not a terrible film though, as far as recent low-budget film viewings go it's a difficult one to rate and review but with good things. It certainly could have been far worse, considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre at best and irredeemably terrible at worst.

Starting with the positives, there is an eeriness to the scenery and some of the lighting. Parts are nicely shot. The music didn't seem inappropriate or intrusive and it didn't feel too much of one mood. The lead acting is not bad, there is an air of competence and generally it was better than average.

It is not a dull film and enough of it is suspenseful and intriguing, not feeling bland or predictable. The start is promising and the ending was a thankful departure from the huge amount of confused, abrupt, easily foreseeable and ludicrous endings seen recently in my film watching.

However, some of the supporting acting agreed is pretty woeful, especially for the villain, hamminess and monotony at their worst. Too much of 'Altered Hours' looks cheap too, very confused editing and the camera work looks rushed.

Found the characters too underdeveloped, even the protagonist, to properly care about them. The script is too much of an underwritten first-draft, with cheesiness and a lack of clarity that translates also in some of the story. Suspense doesn't come consistently in the middle, where things bog down a little, and parts are muddled.

Overall, difficult to rate and review but didn't feel like my time was wasted. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Positive reviews for this film are forgiving and I think based mostly on concepts only pointed at by the film, not actually realized. Yes, the premise is great, but the impetus of the movie shifts and the acting is spotty at best. I don't mind having to figure things out as I go--that can be the appeal of a film--but the cast and crew seemed to also be developing their vision as they filmed. Most important is that the co-star's character is sorely underdeveloped given the crusader she emerges as in the end. They recall bits of the movie that were to have foreshadowed this, but the effect flops. Somewhat similarly, the main character's motive for using Z has to be stated explicitly at the end. While it makes total sense with the movie content, he's too much of a mystery otherwise to triangulate/confirm. What's less of an issue, but still sticks out is the poor acting of the inexplicable villain and the absurdly, grotesquely incompetent acting of the detective. It's probably not all the fault of the actor, though, as no one seemed to have a clue what was or was not supposed to be driving the film, which also contributed to the empty acting and tedium.

For any story about time-travel there are going to be confusing and unclear parts. How these are handled somewhat defines the experience. Altered Hours uses the premise of drug-induced time-travel/viewing to avoid paradoxes such as those encountered in time-machine stories. While the concept is good, the actual film making is pretty woeful, indeed terrible in parts. The main protagonists' acting is bearable, but some of the supporting characters are appalling, really dire in places. However, the outcome of the story, the raison d'être for the behaviour of the characters is finally well explained. I was quite moved by the ending, indeed it was what saved the film for me. It's a clever story, poorly delivered. I look forward to the next story from these writers in the future - hopefully with a better budget and cast!