Cold in July

Director Jim Mickle and writing partner Nick Damici made a big splash on the horror scene back in 2007 with fierce debut Mulberry St. Since then they have impressed with low-key apocalyptic vampire flick, Stake Land, and a reimagining of the well-regarded Mexican cannibal horror, We Are What We Are, which they turned into a story of female empowerment and a slight on organised religion.

Cold in July may not be what their ever increasing fan base expected them to do next but that’s exactly what makes it so satisfying. Mickle and Damici’s daring attitude, passion and knowledge of genre, and ability to put their own stamp on this adaptation of Joe R Lansdale’s slice of seedy, sweaty southern-fried revenge, marks them out as an exciting duo to watch.

When family man Richard Dane (Michael C Hall) shoots an intruder at his home, his world comes crashing down around him as he attempts to deal with the guilt and the father of the victim, who just happens to be a hardened criminal out to avenge his son. But, just as you think you know what’s coming next, this home invasion switches gears with Dane working out and revealing to Russel (Sam Shepard) that the man he killed was not his son. They buddy up and hit the road with the coolest private investigator in the Deep South, Jim Bob Luke (played by the ever-charismatic Don Johnson - pictured below right - who is given the most debonair of entrances) in search of Russel’s son.

This tale of crooked cops (Nick Damici channelling Robert Duvall as a sheriff who sets Dane up for a fall), fathers and sons, the Dixie Mafia and the taking down of a snuff porn ring is an edgy and atmospheric thrill ride that bubbles with a blistering energy. Mickle and Damici have both been vocal about their loathing of the saturation of found footage and torture porn in horror films, and in a clever spin involving a VHS tape and a nasty film called Batting Practice they manage to incorporate their disdain with an involving and gruesome shootout where they quite literally shoot it in the face.  

Mickle embraces the '80s aesthetic in a big way with a pounding synth soundtrack which exquisitely builds dread and creates a moody, tense ambience. Cold in July is also drenched in style and buzzing with a woozy, gritty air thanks to the textured cinematography from Ryan Samul, who uses the menacing glow of car headlights as signifier of murky moral waters. Mickle has cannily assembled a perfect trio of actors in Hall, Shepard and Johnson, who inhabit their roles entirely and bounce off one another with joyful abandon. Johnson is clearly having a lot of fun as a cowboy with smarts and Shepard’s brooding, wild-eyed masculinity plays wonderfully off Hall’s vulnerable, mulleted everyman as they find themselves in the stickiest of situations.

Cold in July is a complete blast from start to finish. Its blend of western, horror and neo-noir brings to mind John Flynn’s tale of violent retribution Rolling Thunder (which was scripted by Paul Schrader) and the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, but it’s all harnessed with a knowing sense of humour more in line with John Carpenter’s Escape From films.

Overleaf: watch the trailer for Cold in July