Cold Comfort (1989)

Three lonely people depend on each other when they get stranded at a deserted gas station in a blizzard. Floyd is a truck driver balancing on the edge of lunacy. He is the caring father of ... See full summary »

Director:

Vic Sarin

Writers:

Richard Beattie, James Garrard (play),

Stars:

Maury Chaykin, Margaret Langrick, Paul Gross

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maury Chaykin	...	Floyd Lucas
Margaret Langrick	...	Dolores Lucas
Paul Gross	...	Stephen Miller
Jayne Eastwood	...	Mrs. Brockel
Ted Follows	...	Roy
Richard Fitch	...	C.I.L. Truck Driver
Grant Roll	...	Mechanic

Storyline

Three lonely people depend on each other when they get stranded at a deserted gas station in a blizzard. Floyd is a truck driver balancing on the edge of lunacy. He is the caring father of 16-year old Dolores, but is also torn up by sexual feelings for his daughter. Sales rep. Steven also ends up in the blizzard with his car in a ditch. Floyd rescued Steven and brings him along as a birthday present for Dolores. In all the confusion Steven doesn't realize at first how he has become a prisoner. He is the pawn in a chess game between father and daughter which evolves in a matter of life and death.

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Plot Keywords:

father daughter incest | hostage | incest overtones | actress breaking typecast | escape | 

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Taglines:

It's not always safe to come in from the cold.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Freda soledat

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ontario Film Development Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Directorial debut for Vic Sarin.

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Quotes

Stephen Miller: This is the very latest in ersatz Italian leather!

User Reviews

A strange kind of "Misery"

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.