While you may have to swim the Bering Strait to see it (or, at least, find one of the scattered showings throughout New York), Terry R. Wickham's Hair of the Dog shows promise of both its director and writer-producer Timothy David Clark. While no masterpiece, Wickham and Clark show that they have a strong handle on the genre and its tropes, and the twisted sense of humor necessary to succeed in horror. The downside is that the film cost $2000 and it shows. It has none of the manic visual style of Robert Rodriguez's $7000 El Mariachi, but little does. And to be fair, it's really hard to put together a film for such a low price, let alone a film this engaging. Wickham and Clark don't show the potential of mad genius, such as the early DV work of Guillermo Del Toro or some of David Lynch's shorts, but Hair of the Dog is a well-paced thriller with wit and some interesting music (composed for the film by David Helpling).

Defense attorney Alex Blakely (Chris Weir) wakes up one morning with the very words on his lips that scare even the most ardent merchant of the macabre: What happened last night? Alex has a black eye and a dim recollection of a blonde with bulging biceps. Alex was partying with his porn director pal (rape films are his "bread and butter") and can't remember why there's a bloody knife in the front seat of his car. Luckily, his born-again neighbor is more than willing to help him remember, with a short detour to pray with a porn star.

All of this shows that the filmmakers have the right quirky idea, but they sadly lack the tone for their violent, odd-ball ending to be much of a payoff. Up to that point the story plays like a long Tales From the Crypt episode, which isn't a bad thing, and the filmmakers have the good sense to wrap things up quickly (the runtime is only 45 minutes, just enough time to get in, do their thing, and get out). Wickham seems more concerned with the story than attempting any amazing feats with his digital camera, which (hopefully) shows that he understands his boundaries and is actually interested in genre fare. The acting is not great, though Weir is interesting enough as the befuddled barrister, and Mia Troche puts in a really funny turn as a porn star with, apparently, lower aspirations. In fact, one of her videos (maybe the worlds first porno with no nudity whatsoever) is laugh-out-loud funny, and counter-points nicely with the action of the story. Actually, as the press notes brag, the film has virtually no bad language and zero nudity. Neat trick for a horror film about a porn director.

Overall, Hair of the Dog gets an A for effort, and will hopefully be a stepping stone to larger budgets and more carefully realized projects in the future.