Cold in July

An excellent 80s neo-retro-noir (the music!) that somewhat suffers from the strict and slavish "Cape Fear - 8mm - Peckinpah" division into thirds, which results in the loss of that initial consistent play on atmosphere, psychology and believable behaviour in the second half. (08.12.2014)

A bit of a retro flick, licked with the civility of Jack Reacher with music that sounds like Atticus Ross was bored at night and he recorded something so people wouldn’t complain. I didn't get much of a whiff of revenge, but I did get a whiff of a scripted, oddly conceived B-movie with an even odder plot twist in the middle, and quite predictable at that. There are a few well-crafted scenes, but otherwise it's a bland mess. The motivations of the characters are strange, the direction the story takes is hard to understand, and it is shifted by too many coincidences. (30.12.2015)

So I have to say that this is a movie that really got me from Jim Mickle. His previous ones are interesting, but the way he built the atmosphere here, the characters he wrote and let the excellent actors play, plus the quite original use of the camera in some shots, and the perfectly gritty ending, this is simply something that deserves attention. An excellently dark film where there is still somehow some hope. (30.07.2014)

A redneck thriller about family. A psychological study of a transformation of an average guy into a killer and also about an unusual relationship. Slow dosage of information and the not altogether straightforward story keeps the viewer in the dark and thrilled. It’s not easy to guess which direction this will head in. Excellent acting, great directing. Amazing soundtrack. (18.09.2014)

It’s nicely shot and atmospheric, but after that “twist” I couldn’t believe anything. (11.08.2014)