COLD IN JULY – The Review

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

They say the stars shine bright during a clear Texas night sky. But aside from the occasional neon glow in Jim Mickle’s new film COLD IN JULY, there’s not much light in this southern-fried revenge-thriller about fathers, sons, and the violence that awaits them in the night.

When a Texas family man (Michael C. Hall) accidentally shoots an intruder breaking into his home one night, a series of sinister events are triggered involving the dead boy’s father (Sam Shepard), a local sheriff (Nick Damici), and a flashy private investigator (Don Johnson). One boy’s death takes everyone on a twisted path of murder, regret, and heartache.

COLD IN JULY, adapted by Jim Mickle and Nick Damici from a novel by Joe R. Lansdale, is one of those classic thrillers that starts in one place and takes viewers on a dark journey you will never see coming. During its 109 minutes rarely does the audience get to catch their breath, yet alone expect what’s lurking around the corner. In this seedy and occasionally sleazy western-noir, Mickle keeps you guessing without ever making the outcomes ever feel cheap or staged.

This is in no small part thanks to an impressive cast who seem to live, breathe, and sweat in this slice of small-town Americana. Michael C. Hall plays the shaken and easily startled “framer” – due to his day job as a picture framer – with a guilt-ridden and somber-eyed expression. You feel in every scene that he wishes he could change what he did in the opening scene just so that he can go back to his normal, square life. He’s a family man and the importance of family and how fathers cope with providing for their loved ones is an important theme that is carried through until the bloody finale. In many ways COLD IN JULY feels like a classic western, complete with a final showdown at the O.K. Corral. But in the hands of this horror-centric director, the film comes across as an extremely dark and forbidding western tale with thriller elements and a 1980s pulse.

Mickle sets the grim proceedings to a synth score that would have John Carpenter nodding in approval. Ambient sounds and low-tonal beats are mixed with crickets chirping and other natural sounds. Of course there’s the obligatory hair-metal track due to the 1989 setting, but the score by Jeff Grace – who has collaborated with Mickle twice before – causes the tension in some scenes to almost completely boil over. Other times Mickle knows when to refrain from over-styling. When we first see Sam Shepard appear on screen, his threatening presence is seen and felt without a menacing music cue. He comes across like Robert Mitchum in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER; an evil spirit that is always lurking even when he’s not on-screen. In just 8 years, Jim Mickle has set himself up to be one of the most talented young directors working in genre films and should definitely be a name that you will want to continue to watch-out for. STAKELAND was an impressive follow-up after his 2006 film MULBERRY ST, and his vastly superior remake of the film WE ARE WHAT WE ARE from last year solidified his name in the horror community. Mickle continues to grow with each genre offering and COLD IN JULY is his most accomplished film yet.

It’s right about when Don Johnson shows up in his cherry red, zebra-lined convertible that the film takes a sharp turn into dark comedy territory (I say this with massive approval). Johnson’s energetic performance and salty tone completely works, making the third act more fun than expected. However, with his inclusion the character and storyline of Nick Damici’s Texas lawman is completely thrown out the window without a hint of clear resolution. His departure isn’t entirely missed but feels a little odd when thinking about the film as a whole.

COLD IN JULY shows that violence is always lurking around the corner. Right from the start of the film, Hall’s character is confronted with violence and wrestles with the consequences of these actions until the bitter end. Violence can certainly change a person. In a tragic twist of fate, it’s the feeling of being complacent with one’s own violent deeds that will haunt the characters and the audience long after the film fires its last round.

4 out of 5

COLD IN JULY is now playing nationwide and exclusively at The Tivoli in St. Louis