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Cold in July is set in East Texas, 1989, and while that part of the world still has the delights of Bros and Stock Aitken And Waterman to encounter, Richard Dane (Michael C Hall) finds an intruder in his house, after being woken up by wife Ann (Vinessa Shaw), who was previously woken up by something being smashed. By accident, he shoots and kills the person, resulting in their brains splattered all over the wall behind them, and leaving the couple in deep shock.
Early on, it gets a bit like Cape Fear when the convict father of the dead lad, Ben Russel (Sam Shepard), keeps turning up to silently harrass Dane and his family, with it looking to the police like he’s just going about his daily business. Thankfully, though, this is only a small part of it, so just when I thought it might possibly be about to derail itself, it quickly gets back on track (ooh, two train references in one sentence!)
There’s more to discover, however, as events take a turn I wasn’t expecting and from that point on it’s best not to say any more about the film, for fear of giving away too much, other than it’s a must-see and utterly fascinating.
Don Johnson plays private detective Jim Bob Luke, and sadly doesn’t turn up until halfway through the film, but already what we’ve had is absolutely solid and what follows after is also just as solid.
The three leads all bring their A-game to the table in Cold In July. Sam Shepard feels like he’s been in the acting world since time began, Don Johnson is the epitome of cool ever since the days of Miami Vice – whilst also having a successful music career, his Heartbeat album being one of my all-time favourites, and with Michael C Hall having come to the fore in two of the most outstanding US dramas in recent times, Six Feet Under followed by Dexter, despite the latter ending last year, I was very much looking forward to seeing him in something new and I wasn’t let down.
There’s tension and atmosphere delivered in spades and also a great electro music soundtrack, even though electro music had rather died out by 1989 – but that last point is rather a nit-pick when this is so damn good.
Like Blue Ruin, which is a great film to double-bill this one, I was really looking forward to this as it’s one of a number of indie films released this year which have been criminally ignored by my local Odeon in favour of unbelievable dross like Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie! They should be compelled to give such fare a chance. By doing so, more people would get to see them.
Go to page 2 for the presentation and the extras.
The film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and in 1080p high definition and it looks absolutely stunning, perfectly showing off the gritty world Dane inhabits, and those parts which he is forced to inhabit. A number of well-composed shots also show that Jim Mickle knows what to do with the camera, such as those where you have a front and background point of focus in the same shot, but both are *in* focus, meaning it’s two separate shots blended together. It’s very well done, as seen in the lower picture on the first page.
The sound is in DTS HD 5.1 and while it’s not a special FX film, there’s some neat directional shots including split-surround, plus a score which sets the brooding mood perfectly.
The extras are as follows and they’re all in HD, but unfortunately, a wonderful film does not have a wonderful amount of extras:
- Deleted and alternate scenes (16:54): Eight of them here, and there’s both a ‘select’ and ‘play all’ option for them. I usually go with the latter, as it saves going back to the menu each time.
There’s nothing particularly that needs to be put back into the main film, although the third one – and the longest of them – has a neat self-referential line which I won’t spoil here. Overall, these are best served as extras and well worth a watch.
- Trailer (1:56): In the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio. It gives away the parts that I won’t, so I suggest you watch this AFTER the film.
There are subtitles in English only, the number of chapters is a low and perfunctory 12, while the menu has the incidental music set to some clips from the film.
Sadly, Icon have included an unrelated trailer BEFORE the main menu. I wish they wouldn’t do that. It just takes me back to the age-old days of rental video.
Cold in July is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
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| OVERALL | 7 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 110 minutes
Studio: Icon Entertainment
Cat.no.: ICON70249R0
Year: 2014
Released: October 20th 2014
Chapters: 12
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Red Epic)
Disc Format: BD50
Director: Jim Mickle
Producers: Rene Bastian, Adam Folk, Linda Moran and Marie Savare
Screenplay: Jim Mickle and Nick Damici (based on the novel by Joe R Lansdale)
Music: Jeff Grace
Cast :
Richard Dane: Michael C Hall
Ben Russel: Sam Shepard
Jim Bob: Don Johnson
Freddy: Wyatt Russell
Ray Price: Nick Damici
Ann Dane: Vinessa Shaw
Burglar: Ken Holmes
Mex: Tim Lajcik
Yappy Dog: Bitsy
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.
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