Rafe Oman
The episodes within Daniel B.Iske & Scott Coleman’s Twilight Zone meets Midnight Caller venture “The Dead Hour” are, like any anthology, hit and miss but when it hits… it really hits.
Anchored by the terrific Melissa Holder as a warped D.J that introduces each horror-skewed ep, there’s some truly imaginative moments among the bunch here – the pilot, written by Iske and Coleman, is a doozie with a bunch of determined work horses find themselves caught up in a sinister game; ‘Fame’ is particularly good, really tapping into very dark horror territory as an ambitious up-and-coming actress thinks she’s finally cracked the big time (she hasn’t) when a filmmaker hires her for his project.
There’s nobody among the cast you’ll recognize- unlike some of the network anthology shows – and quite a few don’t have the acting chops of their better known peers but aside from Holder, Mark Holder and Diane Watson stand out as gifted performers. Those performances are overshadowed by some terrific writing but they do assist in making “The Dead Hour” a worthwhile watch.
The series, Terror Films’ first foray into TV, is available on digital platforms globally.
