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Dead of Winter
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - 88 Films Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (10th February 2016). |
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The Film
 "Dead of Winter" (1987) Katy McGovern (played by Mary Steenburgen) is an aspiring actress living with her photographer husband Rob (played by William Russ) in a loft in New York. Katy finds an ad for an audition in the paper and so she heads to the audition location. As soon as the casting director Mr. Murray (played by Roddy McDowall) looks at her, he is completely in awe, immediately knowing that she is the exact person he is looking for. Mr. Murray later tells her that a production in Canada is currently under hiatus since the lead actress has left the set and they are looking to find a replacement immediately, especially a person who has similar features to be able to match the shot footage. Katy accepts the job and so Murray drives her through the January snow to Canada to the isolated home of the producer Dr. Joseph Lewis (played by Jan Rubes). Frail and in a wheelchair, Dr. Lewis is also in awe with her uncanny looks to Julie Rose, the woman that Murray said had fled the production. Dr. Lewis confides in Katy that it wasn’t only that Rose fled the production, but that the real reason was that she had a nervous breakdown. Katy has her hair cut and dyed like Julie Rose and is given a chance to do an audition reel on video in character and in costume, which both Murray and Dr. Lewis are extremely pleased with the results. Though Katy starts to feel some suspicion over their intentions… She finds pictures of Julie Rose which look like she had died. She has been told the phones don’t work because of the snowstorm, but she finds that the cords have been severed. All of her IDs from her wallet have been removed without her knowledge. Her husband tries to call her with the number she had left him, but is told by the operator that the phone number’s area code is not a valid number. Then Katy wakes up one day to find her left ring finger severed off, as part of Murray and Dr. Lewis’ plan… “Dead of Winter” is closer to a stage play, with its enclosed nearly solitary environment in the large house with a cast of very few characters. Although the first scene of the escape of the Julie Rose character (also played by Mary Steenburgen) is reminiscent to a 1940’s film noir opening, in which a mysterious woman is driving on the highway late at night with a mysterious bag of cash, it then shifts gears into an seemingly normal storyline of an actress looking for a job. With the creepy and mysterious opening scene, it gives a hint to the audience that there is a storm of terror coming, and not all the characters will be safe. Besides being a loose remake of the 1945 film “My Name Is Julia Ross”, the film has some similar aspects to films such as “Suspicion” (1941) (directed by Alfred Hitchcock), “Tusk” (2015) (directed by Kevin Smith), “Straw Dogs” (1971) (directed by Sam Peckinpah), and especially “Misery” (1990) (directed by Rob Reiner). “Suspicion” has a woman questioning about her newlywed husband who she suspects might kill her. The famous scene of the milk being served to her before bed is blatantly referenced in “Dead of Winter”, so audiences who knew of Hitchcock’s film would have had a clue about his character being questionable. In “Dead of Winter” Katy has her finger severed while drugged by the man in the wheelchair while in “Tusk”, the man has both of his legs severed off while drugged by the man in the wheelchair, and also happens to take place in creepy Canada. The infamous bear-trap gag from “Straw Dogs” is also repeated in “Dead of Winter”, though the way it was used was not as gruesome or disturbing as “Straw Dogs”. “Misery” had the similar setting of the isolated house blocked off by snow, though instead of the protagonist in a wheelchair, “Dead of Winter” has the antagonist as the cripple. As with many films that came before and after “Dead of Winter” with similarities in plot and structure, it is not one that is entirely original so it falls into the category of “predictable”, though it is a great exercise in filmmaking techniques. There are some excellent work with the framing and camera movements, from using 360 degree Steadicam shots to reveal the inside of the house, angled shots to mess with perspective, and the use of glass for reflection shots. And one thing that could only be done in film and not on stage - multiple characters played by the same actress at the same time. Mary Steenburgen played not one, not two, but three roles in the film - Katy the kidnapped actress, Julie Rose the woman she replaced, and Julie’s sister Evelyn. For an actress, this is a dream role to be able to play multiple characters within one film, but of course this means it causes sometimes awkward blocking and dialogue scenes when the same characters are in the scene together. The fight scene between Katy and Evelyn could have looked more natural and smoother with two differing actresses playing the part, or if it were done today, CGi face replacement could have been done, as was the case in the Tom Cruise vs Tom Cruise fight scene in the underrated “Oblivion”. Though unconvincing was the dead body of the Julie Rose character - it looked like a mannequin. Even the mannequin of Elaine in the Seinfeld episode “The Pie” looked more lifelike than the fake Mary Steenburgen doll. Why they didn’t just use the actress to lie there still is a mystery. The first time I saw the film I thought it was supposed to be a mannequin which freaked her out (and why wouldn’t it?). Maybe Steenburgen wasn’t a good enough actress to just stay still? I can’t imagine so, as she does a fine job portraying the different characters, making the audience know clearly who is who, although there is a twist to it toward the end… For the supporting characters, Roddy McDowall playing Mr. Murray was quite an interesting choice as he does have a very innocent face and voice yet plays a character closer to a Fritz or Igor character in the “Frankenstein” movie series but without the insane theatrics. Jan Rubes is also a very trusting as Dr. Lewis at first though it turns sinister later on, without going overboard until he really loses it. Hard to believe Rubes was only 8 years older than McDowall, as he looks about 20 or 30 years senior in the film. As for the character of Rob played by William Russ seemed like a bit of a waste. Clearly a reference to the James Stewart character from “Rear Window”, as a photographer with a broken leg in a cast, his character doesn’t necessarily have too much trouble with the broken leg aspect. He can hop around on one foot, and also has the help of Katy’s brother Roland played by Mark Malone who also was one of the co-writers of the film’s screenplay. Roland has even less to do than the Rob character, so it seems if they had either just kept it as Rob only and given more scenes of trouble with his broken leg like not being able to reach the phone at all or trouble driving, it may have helped the drama and tension. “Dead of Winter” was directed by Arthur Penn who had previously directed the acclaimed films “The Miracle Worker” (1962), “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) and “Little Big Man” (1970), though in the 1980s had lost the critical and commercial momentum. Co-writer Marc Shmuger was the original director, but production troubled led to Penn replacing him, though nothing sinister as the replacement of the Julie Rose character in the film. “Dead of Winter” does not necessarily feel like “a film directed by Arthur Penn” but more like “a film that happened to be directed by Arthur Penn”. But regardless of that, it is an intense thriller that is very well edited and well shot as well as having a sinister score by Richard Einhorn who previously had scored for horror films such as “The Prowler” (1981) and “Don’t Go in the House” (1979). The good points seem to outweigh the convoluted coincidence of how the men happened to find a doppelganger so easily and so quickly for their evil plan… “Dead of Winter” was released in the end of winter in February 1987 in the United States and barely made a blip at the box office. Even though the film had some known actors and a known director, it did not find an audience, and the mixed critical reaction did not help. Note this is a region B Blu-ray which can be played back on region B or region ALL Blu-ray players.
Video
88 Films presents the film in 1080p in the original theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio in the AVC MPEG-4 codec. This Blu-ray marks the high definition debut of “The Dead of Winter” worldwide and the results are great. The HD transfer is free of scratches and dirt looking very clean with visible film grain. Colors are sharp, skin tones look natural, and the white of the snow scenes are fully white while the dark night scenes in the opening show pitch black levels. There is no shakiness in the frame and always looks stable. The MGM-provided HD master looked wonderful and 88 Films did an excellent job with the transfer on the Blu-ray. The disc is also a dual layer BD-50 with very few extras (sadly) so the film gets a lot of breathing room with no compression problems. The film’s runtime on the disc is (100:39). Note: There is a point in the film which I am not sure is part of the original film or is an error on the disc itself. After Katy is knocks over the lamp in the bedroom at 53:18, the frame freezes completely until 53:27, for almost 10 seconds with no music or movement. As the Blu-ray was my first viewing of the film, I am not sure if this is intentional or not. If anyone has any information about this, please let us know via email, the Rewind forum, Facebook, or Twitter! Update The above 10 second freezeframe is a special effect, part of the original film. Thank you to 88 Films for the confirmation!
Audio
English LPCM 2.0 stereo The stereo track is center based for all dialogue while music and sound effects are used for stereo effects on the left and right. The music comes in very well defined and dialogue is always easy to hear. There are no errors in the soundtrack to speak of such as hisses or pops. Another great job with the audio transfer from 88 Films. There are no subtitles provided for the film.
Extras
The series of titles in the 88 Films "Slasher Classics Collection" usually get a good amount of bonus materials, but not this one. This is all that is included on disc: Stills Gallery (1:22) Production photos, stills, and posters are presented in an automatic slideshow in high definition with the music score playing through. in 1080p, in 1.78:1, in LPCM 2.0 stereo Trailer Reel (21:55) Trailers for various films in the 88 Films catalog, remastered in high definition. These are not selectable one by one but are presented in one continuous title, though are able to be selected forward by chapter button. “The Puppet Master”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “Demonic Toys”, “Bloody Birthday”, “Two Moon Junction”, “Doll Man”, “Blood Sucking Freaks”, “Puppet Master II”, “Puppet Master III”, “Tourist Trap”, “Castle Freak” in 1080p, in various ratios, in English LPCM 2.0 stereo The rear cover lists a “Theatrical Trailer” but unfortunately is not on the disc. If you have seen it, it does ruin some of the suspense and even shows scenes from the climactic ending. So that’s all there is. No interviews, no commentaries, no featurettes . It would have been great to hear from Steenburgen playing 3 roles in a single movie, about the production, or the differences between the film and “My Name Is Julia Ross” or the book “The Woman in Red” by Anthony Gilbert which that film was adapted from. The US MGM DVD from years back did not have any extras sans the trailer.
Packaging
This is the 8th release in the “Slasher Classics Collection” by 88 Films. The case is a red Blu-ray keep case and the artwork is reversible. The original poster artwork is the alternate artwork. It’s strange to have this title in the “Slasher Classics Collection” since it doesn’t necessarily fit the tag of being a “slasher film”. People looking for a silly 80’s slasher film with badly written dialogue and blood galore will be a bit disappointed. There is also a booklet included with writing by Calum Waddell, but unfortunately was not provided for the review copy.
Overall
“Dead of Winter” is an overlooked and underseen thriller from the 1980s that is creepy and enjoyable but a bit on the predictable side. 88 Films gives it a top notch presentation on Blu-ray but unfortunately gets very little on the extras side, and strangely places this thriller movie in its “Slasher Classics Collection”.
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