The Horror!

The impressive Timecrimes is one of an increasingly rare breed: a science-fiction film that relies on a well-executed story rather than expensive special effects for its impact. The movie tells the story of Hector, an unremarkable, middle-aged Spanish man who spies a beautiful stranger in the woods while relaxing at his country home; when he follows her, he’s attacked and pursued by a frightening figure swathed in a bloody bandage. Hector takes refuge at a scientific research facility, and what he finds there tips off a series of events that leads him on a looping, mind-warping chase through time itself. The action plays out as a science-fiction think piece inexorably wrapped up in the kind of noir crime drama in which a simple mistake and some questionable intentions set up a sequence of unforeseeably horrific consequences.

“It’s a fun and twisty time travelogue that pulls all of the strings into a fantastic God’s eye of cinematic cool,” says Keith Garcia, programming manager at Starz FilmCenter, where the film opens tonight. Starz is in the Tivoli building on the Auraria campus; tickets are $9.50 general admission, $7 for students and seniors. For showtimes and details, visit www.denverfilm.org or call 303-595-3456.

March 13-19, 2009