Cold Comfort

Very good, very creepy movie. I went into it thinking about Stephen King's Misery (although I've only read the book, not seen the film), but I forgot about it right away. The performances of the three leads are excellent; I've yet to be disappointed in anything Maury Chaykin has done, and here he's fantastic as the psychopathic, insecure Floyd Lucas. Paul Gross, early in his career (I believe this was his first feature film), is already demonstrating the talent that will help him become one of the most popular actors in Canada. I've never seen Margaret Langrick in any other film, but she was very good in her role as Floyd's damaged and conflicted daughter.

The setting is dark and bleak; the small glimpses of comic relief emphasize the creepiness of the story and the desperateness of Stephen's situation. I'm a fan of psychological thrillers; this was a good one. If you don't like claustrophobic and dark, don't see it, but I recommend it to anyone who does and wants to see the genre done right.

Also, as a response to the reviewer before me: the film is set in Alberta, not Alaska, and Stephen Miller is a travelling salesman, not an escaped convict.

Remember the old joke about a traveling salesman and the farmer's daughter? Well, this Canadian movie kind of takes the basic premise of that joke and manages to somehow combine it with Stephen King's "Misery" (this movie came out after the novel, but before the official film adaptation). Amazingly though, the whole thing kind of works because it is well-filmed and well-acted, especially by journeyman Canadian character actor Maury Chaykin.

A traveling salesman (Paul Gross) goes off the road in a storm. He is rescued by a weird tow-truck driver (i.e. not actually a farmer) played by Maury Chaykin. The tow-truck driver takes him to his isolated snowbound home where he strangely wants him to be a "birthday present" for his 18-year-old daughter (Margaret Langrick, who had previously appeared as the daughter in the family bigfoot comedy "Harry and the Hendersons"). This, of course, is every traveling salesman's worst nightmare! But the movie ultimately doesn't try for out-and-out horror (which would have immediately turned to camp), but neither is this some "erotic thriller" sex fantasy. Instead it's something more unusual--a very eccentric three character drama. Chaykin is a pretty scary and a very unpredictable character, so it's completely believable that the salesman would have no idea what to do when the daughter starts doing a striptease for him at her birthday party while her drunken father hoots and shines a bright flashlight alternately on her and on him as he watches!

This movie may sound like a sex fantasy turned nightmare (kind of like the 70's exploitation film "Death Game"), but that's not quite accurate. It's more like a sex fantasy suddenly turned real in such a strange, unexpected way that the whole fantasy element is lost and the beleaguered protagonist really has NO IDEA how to react. There is a kind of nightmare element in that the protagonist is injured and held prisoner, but it's not the usual psycho thing. It's a pretty interesting movie actually. Gross is pretty good. Langrick is also good (and has nude scenes). But the best thing here is Chaykin who went on to do some interesting stuff, mostly in Canada, for directors like Atom Egoyan ("The Adjustor", "The Sweet Hereafter"). See this if you have the opportunity.

As the snow gets deeper and the night draws in, local outcast Floyd finds a stranded motorist on the edge of town. Taking the man home to his dilapidated house-cum-farm, Floyd offers the unconscious traveller to his teenage daughter Dolores.

The relief which the waking motorist Stephen feels at being rescued, is quickly replaced by one of growing discomfort and then fear as he realises he is at the mercy of an unbalanced and indeed psychotic man. Starting as it means to go on, the film turns the screw ever tighter on Stephen.

The most fascinating aspect of the film however is not the plight of Stephen, but the peculiar and even bizarre relationship between Floyd and his daughter.

After watching the film I did begin to wonder Is Dolores really Floyd's daughter at all? By taking stranded stranger Stephen back to his house, the suggestion is Floyd is a decent soul. But by then remarking casually to his daughter that, if she doesn't like him, they can 'feed him to the dogs' it is clear Floyd has lost almost any empathy with the outside world.

Dolores, by contrast, is an engaging and attractive girl. Touchingly played by Margaret Langrick, the girl is both excited by the arrival of Stephen, and intrigued by the glimpse of the outer world he offers, a life of hotels, restaurants, women and work.

As the two form a tentative bond, provoking the first stirrings of dangerous jealousy in Floyd, it grows increasingly clear Dolores will try any trick she can to engineer herself away from the rundown house and the isolated existence she lives with her father.

This brings me back to my original question: Is the girl really Floyd's daughter or the victim of an abduction? I did wonder whether Dolores may have arrived at the house in similar circumstances to Stephen; perhaps clutched as a baby from a tourist's car, or snatched from an unsuspecting mother.

The stark backdrop of the icy wilderness and a haunting score, add to the growing unease which director Vac Sarin creates from the opening moments. Few films have ever managed to convey in such compelling fashion the need for human contact.

As threatening and deranged as Floyd is, he is also deeply lonely and lacking in both physical good looks and social graces. He holes himself up in a house miles from anywhere presumably because it is (i) cheap, and (ii) the one place where no-one judges him.

Yet above that loneliness and insecurity simmers a psychotic temper, and a raging jealousy which is determined to keep Dolores by his side and stop Stephen at any cost from reaching outside help.

You want Stephen to escape what quickly becomes a nightmare, and even more for Dolores to somehow find a happy place in life, yet over them both towers the increasingly unstable Floyd.

Adapted by Richard Beattie from the play by James Garrard, the film maintains its tension right to the final moments. A claustrophobic and unsettling psycho-thriller, with winning performances, and an ending of haunting and poetic poignancy.

Winter cold in rural Manitoba and a cluttered and claustrophobic living space behind a disused service station set the scene for this unnerving Canadian psychological drama. Maury Chaykin is an under-employed independent tow truck driver without a permit and without means to pay his bills. Everyone in town is creeped out by his disconcerting presence. Driving home in a blizzard Chaykin discovers handsome traveling salesman Paul Gross unconscious in a snowy ditch. What at first looks like a misfit playing good Samaritan turns into a twisted tale when the wounded Gross is presented as a gift to 18-year-old Dolores, played with sweet naivete by Margaret Langrick. Gross, at first grateful for his rescue quickly becomes wary of his odd circumstance, never knowing who, if anyone, he can trust. The neglected and immature Langrick tries to turn on a charm trying to woo the captive Gross. Chaykin is never far away - always menacing - and Gross is always on edge trying not to do the wrong thing to set off his demented host. The turning point, as Gross regains his health, is a birthday party for Dolores in the dreary garage, fueled by flirtatious banter and longing looks from Langrick and too much alcohol. When Langrick suddenly appears to perform an impromptu stage show for the two men Gross is confused, wondering about the daughter's innocence and end up reading the father's enthusiasm entirely wrong. Desperation and divided loyalties drive the taut conclusion. This film sticks with you like a winter chill.

First of all, this film is set in Alberta near Medicine Hat, not Manitoba or Alaska.

I first saw this film in 1990, before "Misery", before "Due South", and I thought it was great. The suspense builds in a natural way as you see Steven get deeper and deeper into trouble and come to realize the kind of person Floyd is.

Great drama, excellent acting. The scene where Steven freaks out on Floyd is some of the most believable anger I've ever seen in a flick.