By Geno McGahee
What makes a horror film effective is the helplessness of the characters. You put yourself in their situation and it becomes terrifying as you realize that there is no way out. That is where the drama is and the greatest films of all time feature the characters stuck in a location without much chance of escape. Movies like THE SHINING and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD really used this to rattle the audience and so too did the 1987 DEAD OF WINTER.
Katie (Mary Steenburgen) is a struggling actress, desperately trying to make it in the field. She and her husband are having a rough go of it and her career is the only ray of hope. A great role falls into her lap and she eagerly goes to audition in a remote mansion. Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall) escorts her to Dr. Lewis (Jan Rubes) for the audition, but things aren’t adding up. When Katie auditions, she has to lead the director, Lewis. He has no clue what he’s doing, but this is a job and she forges ahead.
The next morning, the phones are out and the car won’t start. The snow is falling and Katie is now stuck in this mansion, but her instincts are beginning to kick in that something is wrong. When she sees her driver’s license burning in the fireplace, she panics, and challenges Lewis, but he laughs it off. Things go from bad to worse and she starts to realize that these two are not movie producers and are not going to allow her out of there alive.
She wakes up and is missing a finger. She screams and the Murray and Lewis chuckle as they hear her. Roddy McDowall is such a likable actor, but not in this. He is sinister and at one point, he starts talking about how he wants Katie killed and does it with a level of absolute joy, but Katie is a smart girl and finds a way into the attic where there is a working phone…and a dead body.
After speaking to her husband, she is caught, and it’s now a race against time and the mystery of the situation begins to unravel, leading to a great conclusion. DEAD OF WINTER is a fantastic film. It’s very nicely paced, mysterious, and the atmosphere is great. I was on the edge of my seat and was rooting for Katie to make it out of there in one piece. This is rightfully classified as a “thriller,” with my only complaint being that the reasoning of Murray and Lewis wasn’t as sinister as I had hoped for. I very highly recommend this.
Rating: 8.5/10
