Reviews & Ratings for
In the Cold of the Night More at IMDbPro »

10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Cheesy Skinemax fare, but it doesn't bog down, 2 March 2006

Author: Steve Smith (sp.smith@lycos.com) from Kansas City, Missouri

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I've seen much, much worse. Scott, a photographer, starts seeing "himself" killing a woman he's never met in terrible nightmares...he even wakes up while strangling his bedmate (Shannon Tweed). Coincidences ensue, including his seeing the Mystery Girl on an airbrushed t-shirt. Finally, said girl (Adrienne Sachs) shows up at his door demanding that he stop stalking her. Naturally, they wind up at her place, which is identical with his dreams. They have sex (of course) and start generally acting like they're falling in love, though she's acting mighty mysterious. Finally, she leaves for work, leaving him alone to scour the house; he finds a videodisc (yes, video disc...in 1991) which precisely matches his nightmares. Finally he confronts the Evil Scientist/Businessman (played by Marc Singer) who had, months before, implanted a "Brain TV" receiver into his teeth and manipulated what Scott saw from time to time. It turns out that this was all a big experiment to provide proof-of-concept to some Japanese investors. Scott declares that he's going to take the discs AND the Mystery Girl and announce it all to the press. He would've gotten away with it, if it weren't for...Mystery Girl, and her hypodermic sedative! But, naturally, it's not REALLY a betrayal, because she'd made a deal with Spiky-haired Businessman to leave him alone if she returned to him (of course they have a sexual history, don't all good business partners?) and brought the discs with him. No explanation about the four tooth-mounted TV receivers, of course, nor what happens if he gets too close to a microwave oven, but overall it's an interesting...if convoluted and badly written...plot. The actors obviously don't take themselves too seriously, and the plot is kind of interesting. Shannon Tweed, playing the sexually-oriented character she always does, after flailing about on "Scott's" bed trying to remove his hands from around her throat, and after he wakes from his nightmare, concludes that she couldn't breathe, that she was about to pass out...and that she was about to cum. There are a few good lines, generally B-movie acting, lots of skin, and a half-baked romance. It ain't Shakespeare, but the story is kind of interesting. Good background if you're cleaning up around the house.

7 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Not bad., 14 December 2002

Author: gridoon

This is a slick erotic thriller with an interesting plot, lengthy sex scenes that will appeal to both men and women, and a few amusing references to Brian De Palma and Hitchcock's "The Birds". Although it bogs down a little in the middle, and has some atrocious dialogue, it is still one of Mastorakis' best efforts (out of the handful I've seen). And it would perhaps be even better if the two main actresses had switched roles, with Shannon Tweed being the mysterious femme fatale instead, and Adrienne Sachs getting the thankless supporting part. (**1/2)

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A treat for fans who appreciate technique and style in filmmaking, 1 March 2011
Author: adriannesachs from los angeles

Full Synopsis Cast & Crew Related Movies In the Cold of the Night is an above-average psychological thriller, directed with superb visual style by Nico Mastorakis, but plagued by an uneven, derivative plot. Photographer Scott Bruin (Jeff Lester) is very successful but begins to have frightening visions of himself murdering a beautiful woman. When he meets the woman in those dreams, Kimberly (Adrienne Sachs), they begin a highly charged romance. When Scott becomes suspicious, he finds out information which leads to a "surprise" ending. In the Cold of the Night generated a great deal of controversy when it was originally released. Despite the weak plot, the extraordinary visual style of Mastorakis, and the haunting cinematography make In the Cold of the Night a treat for fans of psychological thrillers or anyone who appreciates technique and style in filmmaking. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

1 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
If Christopher Nolan had watched this movie as a young man, he would have pursued a career in accounting., 19 August 2010

Author: MBunge from Waterloo, Iowa

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This gobstoppingly stupid film is a monument to the awful business that is filmmaking. It is vulgar, pretentious, preposterous, leaden, ridiculous and makes you wonder why anyone would want to get into the movies.

Scott Bruin (Jeff Lester) is a fashion photographer who is plagued by horrible dreams of killing the same woman every night. Then that woman shows up at his door and they fall in lust. They have a lot of sex and after watching this film for about an hour and a half, you suddenly discover it's really a science-fiction story. I usually go more into depth on the plot of a movie, to give you a real sense of what it's like. In this case, however, it would just be a waste of my time and yours.

In that spirit, let me just briefly touch on what's wrong with The Cold of the Night.

1. Jeff Lester is a fairly good looking guy, but the minute he opens his mouth he becomes completely unappealing. He's supposed to be the hero, but he comes off like the dick that the hero is supposed to overcome at the end of the movie. Adrianne Sachs, who plays the woman from Scott's dreams, is not at all attractive. She has a couple of nice fake breasts and we do get to see a lot of them, but Shannon Tweed outshines her by a mile in a much smaller role. Tweed even gets naked for a sex scene, though we only get to see one of her boobs. How did Lester and Sachs ever get these lead roles? Were they both having sex with the producer? How could they not tell after the first day of shooting that Marc Singer or David Soul or almost any other guy in the cast would have been better than Lester? How can you have Shannon Tweed on the set and not notice how much prettier she is than Sachs? Heck, even middle-aged Tipi Hedren would have been a better choice.

2. The script is something a middle schooler would have come up with after huffing glue during recess. It starts out trying to be a psychological thriller, but succeeds only in eliciting laughter. Then it morphs into a softcore romance but while the nudity is plentiful, it has all the arousal of a National Geographic video on yaks humping. It finally tries to finish off as an action flick, yet Old Order Amish would consider these action scenes boring. I didn't even try and keep track of all the inconsistencies and illogic in the story because I was afraid I'd start bleeding out of my eyes.

3. This movie is filled with things that are just head-turningly odd. A glowing water bed! The use of marbles as a sex toy! Scott's preoccupation with pizza! An Oedipal reference! The clapper! The world's most inappropriate lunch with a girl's mother! David Soul drinking coffee! Women who don't mind being involuntarily choked during sex! And whatever the hell Marc Singer's doing in this piece of crap! He was the Beastmaster, for pity's sake!

Shannon Tweed and Marc Singer have made this exact sort of film many times in their careers. Some of them were even pretty good for trashy sex and violence tales. They only have bit roles in The Cold of the Night and this film is pretty bad, even by the low standards of the trashy sex and violence genre.

You have been warned.

4 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
sinister plot? maybe he just needs a new decorator, 18 July 2002
Author: zyzzyva23

I only have one thing to say about this movie, and that is that the guy sleeps on a water bed with a fluorescent light *inside* the mattress!

Say what you will about the rest of the film, that alone is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. No wonder the guy has nightmares.

4 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Run screaming into the night is more like it, 17 January 2001

Author: matoolz2 from North Carolina, USA

This was in the horror section of my local rental establishment, so since I`d already seen everything else in this limited section I fell into the trap and rented this bomb. The acting was the only thing about this movie that was horrible. One of the major problems is that this movie can`t decide what genre it belongs in, so it tries to be almost all of them at once (sci-fi, thriller, drama, etc). But, if you are looking for a good horror movie this is not it.

3 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Don't bother renting this movie, 4 March 1999
Author: Hal-59 from Los Angeles, CA

Probably one of the worst films I have seen. The lead actor is a joke. He should be ashamed that this piece of "work" is in circulation. Not to mention a waste of money.

3 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Nico Mastorakis....The Name Says It All, 31 October 2006

Author: rajanxxx from Greenland

I had just watched "Stella" by Michael Cacoyannis and was quite fascinated with everything Greek.So when I found this movie directed by Zorba the Greek lunatic at my local video shop, I bought it.Needless to say I haven't watched anything Greek or even remotely related to a Greek ever since. The movie is awful beyond imagination.Nico Mastorakis is an embarrassment to Greek cinema and should be forced to put disclaimers on his movie covers.The one rule I have followed in recent times is that never buy a foreign language film without checking about it from reliable sources. A lot of exotic movies like this are poor cousins of B-grade movies.

However if you did LIKE this movie,there is another director I would recommend to you Klaus Menzel. Adios

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