FrightFest review – In a Cold Vein
Like Hellcat, this is a wake-up-in-the-back-of-a-moving-vehicle road/suspense movie. It’s also a Richard Stark-style revenge drama about a tough, aggrieved crook who will go to any lengths to get out of a bad situation.
Two hit men in coveralls (P. Michael Hayes II, Brian Villalobos) chat about shit as they drive a wounded captive (Evan Gamble) out into the countryside for execution (and burial) but circumstances conspire to scotch their plans … and their improvising skills leave a lot to be desired, an an angry not-dead victim determined to find out who wants him dead and what’s happened to his wife (Mor Cohen) and young son. That his brother is a big-time fixer means that there’s also a possible gang war in the offing, though this realtime film is aptly micro-focused on its protagonist’s survival and family mission.
Directed by muso Eric Owen, who also provides a spare score, In a Cold Vein isn’t especially original but is gripping, physical and gritty. Gamble, who’s had a scattering of good supporting bits, works hard in a rare leading man role … he plays human enough to be bloodied, battered and injured but also so determined that it’s plain he won’t be anyone’s easy kill.
Here’s the FrightFest listing.
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