In this week\u2019s low-profile VOD releases, characters find themselves trapped in a shuttered prison, a haunted subway station, and an empty office building, with results that range from illuminating to infuriating \u2014 for both the characters and the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zero Hour<\/em><\/strong> (VOD December 15):<\/strong> There\u2019s probably about 15 minutes of actual plot in this 70-minute movie, which is padded out with meandering, interminable drone shots, stock footage, flashbacks that merely repeat the same scene over again, and 10-plus minutes of opening and closing credits. What little narrative remains doesn\u2019t make much sense, full of shocking twists that only widen the already gaping plot holes. The bulk of it takes place in an empty office building after hours, where Ida (Mikaela Hoover) is being chased by masked assailants, who may be the same people responsible for her husband\u2019s recent murder. She knows this because her late husband Isaac (writer-director Justin Groetsch) seems to be texting her from beyond the grave, giving her pointers on how to evade her pursuers. There\u2019s no suspense to the clumsily staged action, and both the supernatural elements and the attackers\u2019 strategies are negated by later developments that render even the meager stakes largely irrelevant. Grade: D-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ghost Station<\/em><\/strong> (VOD and DVD\/Blu-ray December 19):<\/strong> There\u2019s potential in some of the ideas introduced in this Korean horror movie, even though director Jeong Yong-ki borrows most of them from other, better horror films. Journalist Na-young (Kim Bo-ra), pressured by her sleazy bosses to find a story that will go viral, amplifies the sketchy reports of mysterious deaths at a supposedly haunted subway station, discovering terrifying secrets in the process. Those secrets involve a curse that can be passed from one person to another, created thanks to a grudge held by children who were left for dead in a well. Jeong isn\u2019t coy about evoking J-horror classics like Ju-on: The Grudge<\/em> and Ringu<\/em>, and The Ghost Station<\/em> suffers in comparison, without similarly evocative imagery or memorable deaths. The focus of Na-young\u2019s investigation keeps shifting, so that the apparent justice or vengeance that the curse requires is never fully realized. There are a few creepy moments leading up to the abrupt, unsatisfying ending. Grade: C+<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Snow White\u2019s Christmas Adventure<\/em><\/strong> (VOD December 19):<\/strong> It\u2019s unclear how exactly this half-heartedly holiday-themed film (titled simply Snow White\u2019s Adventure<\/em> in the credits) is meant to connect to the established Snow White story, but narrative coherence is not something the filmmakers seem concerned about. Snow White (Jennifer Mischiati) has already fallen for the Prince (Elijah Rowen) \u2014 whom she refers to solely by the name Prince \u2014 and has an existing relationship with the Queen (Rayna Campbell), who\u2019s mostly just petty rather than evil. Mad that Snow White has failed to send her a Christmas card, the Queen casts a spell on Prince, causing him to get lost on his way back from buying Snow White a Christmas gift. The characters mill about in sparsely appointed locations, marking time until the arbitrary heartwarming ending. The dialogue is rudimentary and repetitive, the cinematography is flat and ugly, the performances are awkward, and Mischiati and Campbell are overshadowed by their terrible wigs. Grade: D<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n