Dead of Winter

Dead of Winter. 2007. Reviewed by Brian Kirst

As winter continues its stranglehold (even on states that are normally immune – Hello, GA! Hello, Florida!) a film that takes place in an icy forest may be the last thing on any warm blooded horror fan’s mind. But if you’re in a state of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’, Dead of Winter has a few modest surprises.

After leaving a party, Kevin (Al Santos) and Tiffany (Sandra McCoy) find themselves forced off a winding country road and into a thickly wooded area. Their calls to 911 continuously interrupted, the two seemingly are attacked (by a snow plow, at one imaginative point) by a random nutcase intent on killing them – or is it possible the drugs that they previously consumed are sending them on a bit of a haywire adventure?

Director Brian McNamara – a frequent performer on television (gay dad on the O.C, anyone?) – uses his previous experience to nicely combine a bit of CW drama, twisty thriller, moral examination and horror film here. While not entirely bone crackling successful, Dead of Winter still ends up being a bit of something different in the horror field – and for those with modest expectations, this is a pretty good thing.

Meanwhile, as Kevin sinks deeper into frozen psychosis, Santos gives us a bit of junior Nicholson, nicely complemented by the frozen Shining-esque tundra of the film and Anne Marie Howard registers nicely as Sandra’s privileged yet truly concerned mother.

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