A shot of horror from Neil LaBute

 Well, it's better than Out of the Blue, a recently released Neo-noir clinker.

 I’m referring to House of Darkness, the second movie from writer/director Neil LaBute to reach theaters within the last couple of weeks.

  LaBute's early triumph, In the Company of Men (1997), prompted many to accuse him of mining a strong vein of mysogyny. I didn't see the movie that way but LaBute's work usually paves the way for strong arguments.

  In House of Darkness, LaBute gives full vent to any desire he might have had to distribute a healthy comeuppance to insensitive men. 

  The result is a medium-grade horror film in which a libidinous but  shallow financial advisor (Justin Long) meets his match in the person of three sisters (well-played by Kate Bosworth, Gia Crovatin, and Lucy Waters). 

   The movie begins just after Long's Hap Jackson meets Bosworth's Mina Murray at a bar. Hap gives Mina a ride home, hoping the trip will lead to something more. He anticipates a conquest, so much so that he calls one his buddies to brag when Mina leaves him alone to prepare drinks.

    In this case, home happens to be a mansion surrounded by woods, a sure sign that Hap has as much chance of finding carnal bliss as one might have locating a Serena hater at the US Open — or anywhere else for that matter.

   For much of its 88-minute running time, House of Darkness plays like a creepy two-hander as Mina and Hap flirt, spar and try to out-maneuver each other. Mina, who initially seems like a push-over, quickly reveals a cunning side and we know that Hap -- poor Hap, if you will -- is in for it.

   But how much do we feel for hapless Hap? Not much, as it turns out.

   As played by Long, Hap varies his personality to fit whatever situation he confronts. He doesn’t inspire either high levels of identification or sympathy. 

   It's also clear -- thanks to a giveaway title -- that horror looms.

   To arrive at the movie's bloody conclusion, LaBute introduces a mythic fairy-tale element and pushes the story to gory extremes.

    More game-like than deep, House of Darkness keeps you watching. And say this: It's difficult to sustain interest when a movie creates little doubt about where it's headed. A strong cast -- hats off particularly to Crovatin -- creates enough tension to carry LaBute's revenge-driven effort to its inevitable finale.

More Neo-noir, fewer thrills

   

Writer/director Neil LaBute came out of the gate fast, wowing Sundance audiences with the severely caustic In the Company of Men (1997).  LaBute has been working steadily since, plying his trade in movies, theater, and TV. Few writers can turn a line of dialogue into a punch to the face better than LaBute and his movies usually are worth an argument or two. So, it was with modest expectations that I approached Out of the Blue, LaBute's latest entry into the Neo-noir sweepstakes. Ray Nicholson plays Conor, the potential sap in a drama in which his character -- an ex-con working as a librarian -- falls for a supposedly irresistible seductress (Diane Kruger).  Hank Azaria makes intermittent appearances as Conor's parole officer, Gia Crovatin signs on as one of Conor's library co-workers, and Chase Sui Wonders portrays the stepdaughter of Kruger's character. Nicholson and Kruger fail to generate the requisite heat, Azaria's character seems out of place, and most audiences easily will guess which way LaBute wants the noir winds to blow. Those expecting end-of-picture twists will find them but Out of the Blue neither sings nor stings. Insertion of titles between segments (perhaps intended as humorous) slows things down as LaBute works his way through a kickless tale of murder, gullibility, and deceit.

Two indies, a hit and a miss

NOT YOUR ORDINARY CHRISTMAS MOVIE

White Reindeer ultimately gets around to being a Christmas movie, but not without a whole lot of struggle. Director Zach Clark's seasonally placed story focuses on Suzanne (Anna Margaret Hollyman), a Virginia real estate agent whose husband is killed during a home break-in. Clark, who also wrote the screenplay, deals with the period of grief, dislocation and revelation following the death of Suzanne's husband. After her stunned entry into widowhood, an appropriately dazed Suzanne begins to learn things about her late husband that she didn't know, a journey of discovery that brings her into contact with a stripper (Laura Lemar-Goldsborough) who's raising a young daughter. As Christmas approaches, Suzanne also finds herself at swingers' party in her suburban neighborhood. Credit Clark with mining the humor and absurdity in Suzanne's situation. He takes the road-less-traveled for a Christmas movie, but manages to find his way to a redemptive finale.

ANOTHER FROM DIRECTOR NEIL LABUTE

Director Neil LaBute's Some Velvet Morning can feel like more like an exercise that a full-blown movie. Those familiar with LaBute's work -- his short films almost usually end with a twist that throws everything else into disarray -- may think the writer/director is playing familiar notes with a confined drama that centers on a male character's acid sarcasm and raging need. Alice Eve plays Velvet, a high priced hooker who answers the door of her Brooklyn brownstone to discover that a former lover (Stanley Tucci) has arrived for a surprise visit. Tucci's Fred is holding a couple of suitcases, and claims to have left his wife: He's apparently ready for a relationship with Velvet, even though he hasn't seen her for four years. LaBute fans won't be surprised to learn that Velvet and Fred spend much of the movie locked in battle. Cinematographer Rogier Stoffers gives LaBute's two-hander (set almost entirely in Velvet's brownstone) real visual tension, and Eve and Tucci know how to have at it. But if you're schooled in LaBute's work, you may be able to anticipate the movie's ending long before it arrives. If not, you may find yourself wondering exactly why you've been invited to this caustic and insular party.