Blu-ray Review – Cold In July (2014)

Cold in July was directed by Jim Mickle who has previously made horror films but has moved quite effortless into making neo-noir films with style. It’s adapted from the novel of the same name by Joe L. Lansdale who also wrote the story, which became the basis for Bubba Ho-Tep.

The year is 1989, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall) is awoken is the middle of the night by a house intruder and shoots and kills him. The intruder’s father Ben Russell (Sam Shepard) has been released from prison and, after Richard visits the graveyard the day of the burial, Ben threatens his son. He tries to get police protection from Ben but not everything is as it seems. The film is full of twists and turns which, at first glance, seem impossible but if you think about them they are actually plausible.

The film has enough grit and punch to satisfy genre fans and is gory enough to make the gory hounds happy. Its biggest strength is in the performance of Michael C. Hall who perfectly captures a man shaken by experience of killing a man, with a vulnerability that is rare in many of today’s actors. Sam Sheppard is his usual great self as the grizzled cranky old dad of the victim whose characters go in some unexpected directions. Don Johnson steals the film as his cowboy detective Jim Bob Luke who shows up half way through the film; it seems like he is having a real comeback of late with this and Django Unchained.

It may be not the finest neo-noir to come out of this year but it’s a solid old fashioned crime film that harkens back to 1970s, with enough style to make it its own. The film boosts some nice cinematography by Jim Mickle’s normal cinematographer Ryan Samul. It also has a throwback 80s synth score during the last half of the film which certainly recalls a certain film about a nameless Driver that came out a couple of years ago. Michael C. Hall also has some impressively bad 80s hair as well which makes it worthwhile, even if it is just to laugh at.

*** 1/2 Stars
Ian Schultz

Genre:Crime, Thriller Distributor: Icon Film Distribution DVD Release Date: 20th October 2014 (UK)Rating: 18 Director: Jim Mickle Cast:Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson, Vinessa Shaw,Nick Damici Buy:Cold In July [Blu-ray]