Tags:
Film: A Cold Night’s Death
Year: 1973
Director: Jerrold Freedman
Writer: Christopher Knopf
Starring: Robert Culp, Eli Wallach and Michael C. Gwynne
Review:
This was a movie that I didn’t know about until searching for winter horror films. It is a fun theme that I like to do during December as the temperatures drop. Other than knowing that, I came into this one blind. I did find this on YouTube and it was fun to see that this was an Aaron Spelling production.
Synopsis: two scientists suspect that there is someone other than their research primates inhabiting their polar station.
We start this with the credits as we see a helicopter moving over a snowy landscape. There is a research center that is on a mountain. I believe this is called Tower Mountain or at least the name of the center. Val Adams (Michael C. Gwynne) was doing an experiment with chimpanzees. Due to the thin air, they’re using this for advances for space exploration. Val stopped sending updates so Frank Enari (Eli Wallach) and Robert Jones (Robert Culp) are sent to take over for him as well as to check on him.
What they find though is that Val is dead. He froze to death in a room with an open window. It is thought to be suicide as Val was considered to have gone mad due to isolation. I believe they said that in his last communication that he was chatting with the great conquerors. The team doesn’t know what that means. Our duo also comes with a new chimp as a control, having not been evaluated or experimented on.
It is from here that we get a tense, isolated story. Robert thinks something attacked Val, but he isn’t sure what. Frank believes that the deceased man just went crazy. Odd things start to happen around him, like with what happened to Val. Tension and distrust grows between these two as things get revealed.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Now there isn’t a lot to the story here. We have a simple enough premise to get our two characters isolated in a location where they can’t easily leave. It is freezing here. It is also on a mountain so going on foot isn’t an option. When the winds rise, visibility goes away so that prevents a helicopter from coming. Having this built in tension was good for the story.
Then to go from there, this is interesting to only having two characters interact from there. We also have the chimps that they’re doing tests on, but they can’t talk. I’ll bring in the acting because I thought Culp and Wallach play well off each other. When odd things happen, they blame each other. Robert makes Frank tense, because the former thinks there could be something outside that is coming for them. Frank doesn’t believe, but there is that fear of the unknown that causes distrust. Then you also have Adams in a limited role. He is there to make you wonder what happened to him. That also adds tension.
Now I’m not going to spoil what happens here, but I loved the ending. There is a line early in the movie that feels like a throwaway. I noticed something with names, but it didn’t click until the reveal. This story is basic and feels like it is borrowing from The Thing from Another World by having scientists in a remote location and trapped due to the elements. The reveal was good writing and I liked how it explains what is happening here. What I’ll give is that it is a combination of what Robert and Frank think.
All that is left then is filmmaking. The copy I watched wasn’t in great shape. I would like to see a cleaned-up copy. The cinematography does well in conveying how cold and isolated this location is. That is a big thing you need there. It also contained inside this building, with characters just briefly going outside. That worked for me. There is limited effects, but it doesn’t necessarily need them. Other than that, I’d say the soundtrack fit what was needed in building the atmosphere.
In conclusion, this is a solid, contained and atmospheric that was made for TV. The story is basic to stranding our characters. It is from there that I think the acting is what carries this. I love that these two have a rocky relationship. They also have this fear of what happened to their predecessor. This is made well enough. None of the filmmaking aspects stick out, but it’s not bad either. They weren’t working a large budget, I’m sure. This is a quick watch in my opinion. Doesn’t necessarily do anything new. The reveal and the writing to set it up was solid for sure. If you like movies like this, especially from the 1970s, then I’d recommend it.
My Rating: 6 out of 10