DEAD OF WINTER

It's early January. Struggling actress Katie (Mary Steenburgen) lives with photographer Rob (William Russ) in a city apartment. When she attends an audition one afternoon, casting director Murray (Roddy McDowall) is instantly struck by her looks and takes her out for dinner.

While dining, Murray alerts Katie to a film shoot that has fallen into a hiatus due to the lead actress having stormed off the set. He suggests that Katie attend an audition out of town, where she may well be the perfect substitute for the absent star. Naturally, Katie goes home and packs her bags in preparation.

The following day, Murray drives Katie out to a remote house owned by the film's producer, wheelchair-bound former psychiatrist Joseph (Jan Rubes). The affable elderly gent welcomes Katie in before explaining that she is a dead ringer for the actress, Julie Rose, who's recently left the film's shoot on account of having a nervous breakdown. The idea, he says, is for Katie to stay at his home where she can remodel herself to look just like Julie, and record an audition on videocassette for the film's director to view. What type of film is it? A thriller, of course.

Katie's keen to get the part. Which is good, because she's not going anywhere: the snow storm outside has made the roads treacherous and even disabled the telephone lines. Apparently.

Still, Joseph and Murray appear to be warm hosts. And the videoed audition seems to go well.

But, guess what? Soon enough, Katie starts to doubt the intentions of her hosts. She discovers her ID cards - driving licence and credit cards - burning on Joseph's log fire, and realises that the telephone lines aren't just down ... their cords have been cut.

Oh dear. What are Murray and Joseph up to? And can Katie survive long enough to answer that question, and escape?

Arthur Penn had some pedigree by the time he came to direct this in 1987. He was already renowned for helming classics such as BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE MISSOURI BREAKS and LITTLE BIG MAN. With a solid cast ably fronted by Steenburgen and McDowall - both stars at the time - it seems baffling as to why this proficient, likeable thriller never made more of a splash.

It perhaps goes without saying that all of the above deliver the goods as expected. Penn knew how to direct intrigue, and does so with aplomb here. Okay, the plot is rather familiar and several scenes do play out predictably - Katie's first attempt at escape, for example - but Penn directs with such skill that you'll enjoy it all immensely anyway. He also ensures that the film is often highly stylised. And, of course, he has the wonderful broad performances from Steenburgen, MacDowall and Rubes to back him up (just wait until the latter gets to his feet - eerie!!).

Richard Einhorn's dramatic piano-heavy score helps with the noirish vibe that Penn has going on, which is appropriate given that Marc Shmuger and Mark Malone's screenplay is loosely based on the 1945 potboiler MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (itself an adaptation of Anthony Gilbert's novel "The Woman in Red"). To this end, Jan Weincke's excellent cinematography successfully evokes the genre too, affording it a colourful modern spin a la the Coen brothers' BLOOD SIMPLE.

Alongside its clear noir leanings, DEAD OF WINTER also has an agreeable feel of an Agatha Christie stage play: the bulk of its action takes place in Joseph's grand old house, and is essentially a battle of wits between the three main characters. Yes, it feels theatrical a lot of the time - but remains enormously entertaining in doing so.

The production design is impressive. Storms rage, snow howls and the nights look ever so bleak as a sense of true isolation engulfs Katie; Joseph's abode is a mix of the modern and the Gothic, a convincingly comfortable prison that can look both welcoming and sinister with considerable ease.

How the film fits into the "Slasher Classics Collection", I don't know. But that hardly matters - what we're concerned with here are the film's merits. It's a great evening's entertainment: taut, surprising, well-acted, superbly written and visually interesting. I highly recommend it.

We were sent a screener disc of 88 Films' blu-ray belatedly, just in case anyone's wondering why we're only reviewing this release now. It hardly matters, so long as we can help publicise the fact that this sleeper gem really does deserve a wider audience.

DEAD OF WINTER is presented as an MPEG4-AVC file with a credible bitrate size. Fully uncut, the film looks very healthy here in a clean, full 1080p HD transfer. The original 1.85:1 aspect ratio is respected, and given the benefit of 16x9 enhancement. From the opening MGM logo onwards, this is a marvellously natural transfer: light grain throughout, a highly filmic texture, natural colours and flesh tones, impressive depth, and deep blacks. Some of the photography is a little soft, but that's more to do with how filters were employed at the time of shooting: this is mighty fine presentation of Penn's film, one that I imagine equals how it must've looked on the big screen.

Audio comes in the form of a keen lossless English stereo track. No gripes here - it's a clear, noise-free proposition throughout.

The disc opens to an animated main menu page. Pop-up menus include a scene selection menu allowing access to the film via 12 chapters.

Extras are restricted to an 82-second stills gallery and a 22-minute trailer reel for other titles from 88 Films' increasingly impressive roster: PUPPET MASTER, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, DEMONIC TOYS, BLOODY BIRTHDAY, TWO MOON JUNCTION, DOLLMAN, BLOODSUCKING FREAKS, PUPPET MASTER 2, PUPPET MASTER 3: TOULON'S REVENGE, TOURIST TRAP and CASTLE FREAK.

Although the packaging wasn't provided for review purposes, I understand this release also comes with reversible cover art and a collectors booklet.

DEAD OF WINTER is a much-overlooked psycho thriller from the late 80s that richly deserves to be seen and appreciated by more. By bringing it to UK blu-ray in this wholly pleasing presentation, hopefully 88 Films can make that happen.

Review by Stuart Willis