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Review: Stefan Ruzowitzky’s Cold Hell

Hit me with your best shot! Stalk away! Cold Hell follows Ozge (Violetta Schurawlow), a young boxer, college student and taxi driver. One night after she finishes work, she’s horrified to witness the end of a brutal murder, and worse, she gets a glimpse at the man behind the attack. This puts her directly into the psycho’s cross-hairs, as he’s willing to do anything to keep his identity safe, and that means making Ozge and everyone she loves his next targets. Despite going to the authorities, no one believes that she’s being stalked, which leading Ozge on a deadly game of cat and mouse that culminates in a violent conclusion that pits predatory against prey. A stone-cold action thriller and psychological horror film, Cold Hell is written by Martin Ambrosch and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. This Shudder Exclusive is now available, and as an incredible mash-up of Fast and the Furious, I Saw What You Did, P2 and Taken, this title from Allegro Films and The Amazing Film Company is a European import you don’t want to miss!

And that’s perhaps what I liked the most about Cold Hell the most. It’s European cinema at its best, and it contains that unique flair that’s so hard to duplicate. It’s literally like stepping into a time machine and watching the early 90’s female thrillers like Barbed Wire and La Femme Nikita. Cold Hell is dark, suspenseful, sensual and totally action packed with thrilling sequences, stunt choreography and enchanting character performances. On the flip side, Cold Hell is spoken in German, so you have to sit through subtitles that I didn’t feel always matched what was going on on screen. More than a handful of times, something happened on screen and I was waiting for the subtitles to get me up to speed on what the characters were saying. This, however, leads me back to praising the lead and supporting cast members again. Despite not being able to understand their dialogue, the emotions behind their words and their facial expressions delivered more of a punch than most American actors. I felt something, even if I didn’t understand what they were saying. Expert acting across the board.

Cold Hell builds its story on a series of “what if” scenarios. What if Ozge ignored the situation, and never called the police to notify them of the murder? What if she was home when the killer struck? What if she didn’t go on the offensive and make herself look like the lunatic? There’s a ton of “what if” scenarios that I can’t mention because of spoilers, but Cold Hell is a deceptive game of chance where the loser ends up – quite literally – burning to death. The torture mixed with the suspense is an effective way of drawing in the horror audience and the viewers looking for an action thriller, and Cold Hell dances delicately between the two genres. Although, I will say the other deaths in the movie and on screen abductions were incredibly predictable. What’s also startling is the killer’s motive, which is religiously based. Again, avoiding spoilers, this movie takes a really dark look at fanaticism and the dark avenues it takes its believers down. Violetta Schurawlow, Tobias Moretti, Sammy Sheik, Friedrich von Thun, Robert Palfrader, Steffen Anton and Verena Altenberger star in a film that’s a mash-up of genres, themes, and old school thematics while remaining, to its core, action as fuck!

Cold Hell was produced by Helmut Grasser, Stefan Arndt and Thomas Peter Friedl with cinematographer Benedict Neuenfels and editor Britta Nahler. Included in this movie you’ll find beautiful architecture and urban settings, a contrasting look inside Germany without all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood movies. You also get a strong dose of another country’s social interaction, politics and culture, which is not always so different from our own. It’s little things like the ones I mentioned above, briefly included yet so important, that makes Cold Hell and incredible thrill ride from pick up to ending destination. It’s well-rounded, produced to the 9’s and completely coherent in its own narrative world. And Ozge could very well become one of the greatest female action heroes in modern cinema. Content and surprised, Cold Hell is a sleeper hit and it has so much to offer psychological horror and action fans. This Shudder Exclusive becomes available TOMORROW, and I highly recommend checking it out this weekend. Final Score: 8 out of 10.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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