VIDEO: Colourful Niagara Falls attraction gets gritty edge in 2020 film ‘Disappearance at Clifton Hill’

Niagara Falls is Canada’ most popular tourist attraction and the Horseshoe Falls, while perhaps the biggest part of that, aren’t the only lure.

Clifton Hill, jammed from top to bottom with arcades, wax museums, restaurants, novelty stores and even casinos, lend the street a bright neon vibe reminiscent of the Vegas strip. Whether that comes off as tacky tourist trap or a music-filled family-fun playground depends on the individual.

While most opt for the latter description (since those believing the former simply don’t visit), one film turned the titular name in the title into a bleak and dark playground best not seen at night.

In most ways, the 2020 film “Disappearance at Clifton Hill” is almost prophetic. Released in February 2020 (after a September 2019 Toronto International Film Festival debut), the movie depicts the theme restaurants and glow-in-the-dark putt-putt courses as emptied out or closed down altogether.

Within a month of the film’s release, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and suffice it to say, a handful of businesses didn’t make it in the city where 40,000 people are dependent on tourism.

The thriller that leans heavily into the film noir milieu follows the return of a Niagara Falls woman, Abby, coming home after her mother has passed. She and her estranged sister, Laure, have inherited the family motel, the Rainbow Inn, that has fallen so far into a state of disrepair that it’s not salvageable.

To that end, the sister was quick to accept the purchase offer from a local businessman whose family has basically owned and run most of Niagara Falls for three generations. At this point, it becomes remarkably easy to separate the film noir from reality.

However, the real tease of the movie and reason it leans dark is Abby remembering watching the abduction of a one-eyed boy (bad eye covered with a gauge patch) when she was just seven years old. The remainder of the film involves her putting on her Nancy Drew cap and trying to patch together the 20 year-plus mystery.

The official story is the boy plunged to his death in the Niagara Gorge only to be swept over the falls. However, since the body was never recovered, there’s a question mark attached.

Abby meets a local conspiracy theorist and podcaster, played in a quirky and oddball turn by legendary Canadian film-maker David Cronenberg. So naturally, the two join forces to solve the mystery.

Without giving the rest away, including a confusing conclusion, the film portrays Clifton Hill in a different light – one where sinister people are lurking behind corners.

In other words, not at all like the Clifton Hill enjoyed daily by thousands. On the positive side, the film garnered enough attention that it collected seven nominations for Canadian cinema awards after its release.

Here’s a peek at the thriller.