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 esides
being one of the rare British horror films to incorporate a plot that is
as "out there" as some of its American independent brethrens,
Andrew Goth's "Cold and Dark" is of interest to another group
of fans, namely followers of Chow Yun Fat. Goth is also the director of
the upcoming "The Wretched", a supernatural Western film to
star Fat as a bountyhunter of the undead, i.e. zombies. As such,
"Cold and Dark" is an introduction to Goth, whose style is
distinctive enough to warrant keeping an eye on. Which doesn't mean Goth
(who has either chosen a really obvious pen name or was born into the
right family tree, considering his preoccupation with horror filmmaking)
is the "next big thing", since although "Cold and
Dark" shows bursts of promise, it's nowhere near as good as it
could, and should have been.
"Cold and Dark" opens with intentions of
being your standard cop movie, complete with a loose cannon cop named
Dark (Luke Goss, "Blade
2") and his older, more experienced partner Shade (Kevin
Howarth). After the law is unable to bring despicable human slaver
Einstein to justice, Dark and Shade (Gotta love those names!) decide to
take matters into their own hands. Or hand, actually -- as in Shade's
possessed hand, specifically. You see, early in the film Shade and Dark
found themselves trapped inside a giant warehouse that doubles as a
freezer, where Shade was killed, and then infected by some sort of
ancient evil creature that thirsts for blood.
Although the creature inside Shade (which looks
very much like the chest burster aliens from "Alien")
doesn't care whose blood it consumes, Shade uses it, and the super
strength and speed it imbues him with, to dish out some justice. At
first Dark goes along for the ride, reasoning that they're still the
good guys, even though Shade is technically dead, has an ancient
parasitic creature inside him, and gets this insane, evil look whenever
he lets the creature out to feed. But of course all good things must
end, and soon Dark realizes he has to take down Shade, because the
Guv'ner, as Dark likes to call him, is getting a bit antsy around Tommy
(Rhys Moosa), a young boy who Dark has taken upon himself to protect.
Clocking in at a brisk 90 minutes, "Cold and
Dark" might just be too breezy and fast-paced for its own good. The
film jams a ton of subplots into its 90 minutes, which wouldn't be so
bad if the film wasn't so clichéd and predictable to begin with. As
such, the fractured mess that is the film's narrative comes across more
like an attempt by Goth and company to confuse and confound the
audience, believing that the simplicity of their story would be too
apparent if shown with clarity. Speaking as someone who has seen enough
of these movies that I could predict "Cold and Dark's" every
major plot point, the film should have trusted the audience to be
entertained by what's there, and not attempt to engender complexity by
making the movie as muddled as possible.
The script does do a smart thing by providing some
lighthearted moments that help to shed humor into an otherwise bleak,
visually oppressing film. There is a running gag about how Goss' Dark
always seeming to end up on the wrong end of a fight. For much of the
film, Dark is constantly getting thrown around and knocked on his butt,
which is all the more funny because Dark carries himself like a
streetwise brawler, complete with facial hair, dark clothes, and skull
cap. In short, the guy looks like a tough guy, but proves ill equipped
in a fight. In fact, it's not until the very end that Dark actually
shows some physical prowess, and, unbelievably, actually fires a shot
from his oft-drawn weapon.
Surprisingly, there's really not a lot of visceral
action in "Cold and Dark". Most of the attacks by Shade take
place offscreen, with the after effects shown in sometimes gruesome
detail. There is one excellent attack inside a filthy public bathroom
that plays out from the perspective of a male hooker who becomes witness
to the mauling taking place in the stall next to him. Dark himself never
actually gets into any real physical tussle. Not surprisingly, the
final, climactic action scene is very low-key and has all the pop of a
wet firecracker. But that's the British for you, so the fact that
"Cold and Dark" ends with a whimper is no real shock.
Visually, Goth has elected to coat "Cold and
Dark" in a somber mood, with much of the film seen through darkly
tinted blue lens. Although Goth relies on handheld cameras to get that
immediacy during some of the attack sequences, for the most part
"Cold and Dark" insinuates more violence than it actually
shows, which is actually not a bad idea, as the more we see of the
parasite, the more unrealistic the whole situation seems.
Of the
cast, Goss is the only big name, and he plays the tough guy who keeps
getting knocked on his butt well enough. If nothing else, Goss certainly
looks the part of a loose cannon cop. But the real meaty role belongs to
Kevin Howarth, who does sinister very well, and it's too bad there isn't
a real fight between the two ex-partners to cap off the film. Special
mention goes to newcomer Carly Turnbull, who is impossibly gorgeous as
an icy special agent who falls in bed with Dark. It's too bad that her
character, like much of the film, is sometimes indecipherable for
reasons unknown.
There's a lot of promise in "Cold and Dark",
and director Andrew Goth certainly seems to show an affinity for the
genre, something that bodes well for the upcoming film "The
Wretched". The film's nihilistic atmosphere is appropriately
brooding and cold, and much of the film really does look quite good.
Alas, the film's biggest handicap might be its pacing, as well as a
script that is entirely too convoluted for no discernible reason.
There's nothing overly complicated about "Cold and Dark's"
plot, which makes the messy nature of the narrative doubly unnecessary.
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