Cold in July (2014)

[Winston T. Boogie]

Title: Cold in July (2014)

Tagline: How many men can one bullet kill?

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Director: Jim Mickle

Release: 2014-05-23

Runtime: 109

Plot: While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

So, watched this recently on blu-ray and I have to say I was impressed with this one. A well made thriller featuring some excellent acting, a very nice story that twists and turns and wonderful direction from Jim Mickle. I have not seen Mickle's other films but apparently he was very influenced by John Carpenter and maybe a bit by Dario Argento. In terms of how he uses music and lighting it would seem he has studied these directors and that is not a bad thing.

Don Johnson gives probably one of his best performances here as a private detective and pig farmer...yes, you read that correctly...and Sam Shepard is excellent as usual as the father of the man that Michael C. Hall's (TV's Dexter the serial killer) character accidentally shoots and kills at the start of the film. Hall plays a family man that finds himself caught up in something bizarre and awful that he neither can fathom nor stomach but can't help following down an ever more dangerous and horrific path.

If you like a good thriller with stylish direction that involves some strange twists and things becoming weirder as you get deeper into the story...well, this is one not to miss. It is sort of a mystery, crossed with a modern day western, that has a rather nasty streak.

The blu-ray has a nice array of special features that increased my interest in seeing other work from director Jim Mickle (including not one but two commentaries). He also talks about David Lynch being one of his influences which is reflected in the idea that some very bizarre and dark things are often occur in small town America.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

This is a nice little piece about a scene early in the picture that you can watch without any spoilers...

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

This has been out on blu-ray for a while but I only recently caught up with it.

Currently can be had for $12.98 on Amazon. This is a great package for a film that I don't think got much play in cinemas.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

To whichever Moderator moved this thread...

This should probably be in the blu-ray forum because it is a film from 2014 that has been out on blu-ray for a while and though I did not work that in I did just recently see it on blu-ray.

Or if you think it is better in the movie section that's fine but it is long gone from cinemas.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, I was wondering if anybody else has this on blu-ray or has seen the picture and has any thoughts. I think this film would appeal to anybody that likes period thrillers (this is set in the 1980s) or films like Sicario or Blood Simple or even 1970s revenge films like Rolling Thunder...it has that kind of vibe.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

If you are into neo-noir then I would highly recommend picking up this blu-ray. As neo-noirs go this is a really good one.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Mickle's next picture comes out in the fall of this year, Netflix this time of course as that's where these sort of adult high quality films go now, but if you missed this one...and I would guess almost everybody did as not a single comment on it here...here's another reminder to check it out.