It starts as a super-economical thriller focused on its one story with authenticity & specificity. However, as the story unfolds, questions begin to arise that make it harder & harder to fully engage. Why are these three guys such fast friends? How do certain characters become such hardened killers so easily? Why do some of these guys act super naturalistic while others are awkwardly acting like d-level Coen characters (I'm looking at you, Johnson)?

Having a cold in July is pretty rough, but these cowboys have it worse.Man. Do I LOVE Neo-Western films. Or, I like to call them "Modern Westerns," in which the setting is (mostly) modern times but with all the old Western tropes. Films in this sub-sub-genre include No Country for Old Men and Hell or High Water. This one is set in 1984, but it's closer to modern than 1885.While this wasn't perfect, it kept the interest, twists and tough guyness alive through to the end. With such turns in the story and characters we cared about, aside from one dud, it was worth the ride.Said dud kills an intruder one night to protect his family, either on purpose or accident, he still pulled the trigger. In comes "the father" to terrorize his family in vengeance. But, wait, there's more to the story as all I described takes place in the first 15% or so of the movie. Let the rest reveal itself, I say…The motivations of Dexter, er, the father dud and the end superhero powers kinda took away from the realism, but it's still overall worth your time. Just suspend your disbelief, know it's not equal to mentioned other neo-westerns and enjoy the time they put into this. Besides, once you find out their motivations, you'll be behind them 100%. Just wish they were showing another movie other than Night of the Living Dead for the 1,998,827th time in a feature film. Really. You can come up with another movie within a movie. This was just lazy screenplay writing by this point.***Final thoughts: Sad to see Sam Shepard go recently. What a fine and tough-man actor he was and he will be missed. Me seeing this, however, was a mere coincidence as I just happened to stumble upon this movie having never hearing about it in its 3-year existence. Still, it was a nice send-off to one of cinema's greatest.

From an Indie-Director to Keep Watching, Jim Mickle, this Neo-Noir has Found its Place in the Pulp Fiction World that is Forever Fascinating and Continues to add to the Legacy.It's a Film that Manages all the Ingredients that make these Type of Things Thrilling Entertainment. It's a Cold and Dark World out there and it has a way of Influencing Folks in Bizarre Ways and it is Nature's Evil in Full Display.Stylish, Foreboding, and Unsettling the Noir World has Intruded into the Life of an Unassuming Nice-Guy whose World View is Spiraling Out of its Orbit and Michael C. Hall is going Along for the Ride and seems Fascinated Although Frightened by it all. It doesn't get anymore Vile than the Things that these Dixie Mafia Types are doing and that Justifies the Protagonists Taking Action. Don Johnson makes His Mark as a Private Detective with Style to Burn and Sam Shepard is a Career Criminal with a Haunting and Cold-Blooded Psychology that's a Scare to Behold.Reminds Somewhat of John Dahl's Red-Rock West (1993), but its Familiar Homages Don't Stop there. It's Fun Finding Them out if You are a Fan of Neo-Noir, B- Movies, and Off-Beat Crime Thrillers.

Director Jim Mickle and writer Nick Damici have seemingly taken the genre throwback corner of cinema by storm, churning out a trio of pulpy thrillers steeped in the atmospheric charm of 70's and 80's films. They proudly wear the influence of everyone from Dario Argento, to John Carpenter, to Walter Hill. Cold In July, my favourite of their three outings thus far, is a pulse pounding example of how to orchestrate a thriller that holds you in suspense without overdoing it. It's got just the right portions of violence, intrigue, menace and pathos needed to turn it's slightly complex story into a visceral winner. Dexter himself, Michael C. Hall plays Richard Dane, a meek family man who accidentally shoots a home invader dead one night. He's rattled, but the slick Sheriff (Nick Damici boldly displays that his knack for writing isn't the only talent under his belt, giving a low key but compelling turn) assures him he did the right thing. Then, the burglar's recently paroled father Ben Sullivan (Sam Shepherd) blows into town with malicious intent towards Dane. He's eventually captured by the Sheriff and suddenly the plot whips out from under you like a rug and heads in a direction you never saw coming, assuring you this won't be another weak entry in the potboiler books. The Sheriff, it turns out, is just south of honest and has played both Dane and Sullivan for nefarious ends. The two are forced to team up along with silver tongued private investigator Jim Bob Luke (Don Johnson) to get to the bottom of things, clear Ben's name and escape from the southern fried pickle they find themselves in. I won't say more plot - wise except to gush over what a thought out, deliberate story Damici weaves, a true pulp neo noir that ducks clichés and hits hard. Shepherd is an expert of the craft, and his Ben is quiet and stubborn, with flashes of youthful sharpness that have calcified into a hardened nobility in his old age. Best work from the guy in years. Hall displays a subtle shift from trauma to toughness, never losing the vulnerability he entered the story with, but infusing it with the stoicism he adopts simply because he has no choice but to see the ordeal to the end. Johnson is the one comic side of things, showing up in a cherry red Cadillac convertible called the Red Bitch, and splashing his natural charisma all over the place like hot sauce on chicken wings. I don't know why Don doesn't work all that much these days but he's an asset to anything he shows up in. He plays Luke with bushels of swagger, hysterical exasperation at Ben's belligerance and just the right touches of humanity which make his character the highlight for me. The three of them together share a thoroughly amusing dynamic, forced together by chance from different walks of life, each bringing their own qualities to the table in character arcs that satisfy greatly. The film also has a terrific synth style score that jangles and thumps along to the story beats in perfect synergy. I'd like to think that each artist that Mickle and Damici have paid homage to would be proud, as Cold In July hums along with that perfectly crafted, intangible atmosphere that all the great thrillers possess.