SHADOW HOURS

Year: 2000
USA: Blockbuster Entertainment Group
Cast: Balthazar Getty, Rebecca Gayheart, Peter Weller, Michael Dorn, Peter Greene, Brad Dourif, Frederic Forrest, Richard Moll, Johnny Whitworth, Corin Nemec, Daniel Faraldo, Benjamin Lum, Christopher Doyle, Maral Nigolian, Julie Brown
Director: Isaac H Eaton
Country: USA
USA: 95 mins
USA Rated: R for strong violence, sexuality, masochistic images, drug use and language
USA Release Date: 14 July 2000 (Limited Release - Los Angeles and New York)

Synopsis

Every major urban center is actually two cities. The first is the one that everybody sees every day as he goes about his daily life; the second is a hidden one which can only be found by a guide who knows his way through the maze of darkness. It is this second city- with its secret clubs and shocking performance artists that actually exists in Los Angeles-that is explored in Isaac Eaton's "Shadow Hours." And like most people, Michael Holloway (Balthazar Getty) has two sides to himself: one that is a sweet, caring soon-to-be father and the other that explores the indulgence of the darker side of life.

In SHADOW HOURS Michael Holloway wants to start a new life with his pregnant wife Chloe (Rebecca Gayheart) and put behind him a past filled with drugs and alcohol. Working as a night gas station clerk in Los Angeles trying to make an honest living, his only shelter is a glass-enclosed urban outpost separating him from the drunks and derelicts of the night.

On one of Michael's endless nights, the elegant Stuart Chapell (Peter Weller) entices him to join in his "research" for his upcoming novel. Michael succumbs to Stuart who lavishes on him expensive tailored suites and pays him for his time as they set out in search of the alternative side of the Los Angeles nightlife.

What starts as a fairly innocent journey into the seedier side of the city's nightclubs turns into a swift descent into sinful pleasure, decay and debauchery. Michael is pulled in further and further by Stuart who challenges him: "You have to go all the way down or You'll never finish it.

Chloe is tormented by Michael's fall back into his abusive behaviors. Although he tries to resist Stuart's constant seduction into this surreal world, he cannot stop his fall. As he questions who he really is and battles with the world he has discovered. Michael is haunted by forces which will decide his future.