Dead of Winter (1987)

A fledgling actress is lured to a remote mansion for a screen-test, soon discovering she is actually a prisoner in the middle of a blackmail plot.

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers:

Marc Shmuger, Mark Malone

Stars:

Mary Steenburgen, Roddy McDowall, Jan Rubes

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mary Steenburgen	...	Julie Rose / Katie McGovern / Evelyn
Roddy McDowall	...	Mr. Murray
Jan Rubes	...	Dr. Joseph Lewis
William Russ	...	Rob Sweeney
Ken Pogue	...	Officer Mullavy
Wayne Robson	...	Officer Huntley
Mark Malone	...	Roland McGovern
Michael Copeman	...	Highway Patrolman
Sam Malkin	...	Gas Jock
Pamela Moller	...	Woman at Audition
Dwayne McLean	...	Killer
Paul Welsh	...	New Year's Eve Reveler

Storyline

Katie McGovern is a struggling actress living with her husband and her student brother, who is visiting. She attends an audition that she found in the paper and is selected to shoot a short video which will be sent to the director for his approval. Mr. Murray, the man holding the audition, picks Katie up and takes her to a remote mansion where they shoot the video. Katie is selected to replace the previous lead in the film who looks remarkably like her. Soon, however, things begin to look as if they are not what they seem. Katie soon realizes she is in danger and attempts escape.

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Plot Keywords:

actress | mansion | audition | female protagonist | country estate | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Froid comme la mort

Filming Locations:

Beaverton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,413,427

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film reunites Mary Steenburgen, Jan Rubes and Wayne Robson from Disney's One Magic Christmas (1985).

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Gas Jock: Free with every ten-dollar purchase!

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: They'll Do it Every Time: Part One (1989)

User Reviews

Excellent Pennmanship

In terms of camera work, lighting, pace and direction in general, this is a fine piece of film-making. Penn knows all the bells and whistles as usual and Mary Steenburgen is quite amazing in her roles. I'm put off as I am so often by the many critics who look to film for verisimilitude (the "if it couldn't or wouldn't ordinarily happen in real life" brigade) that sets us so far behind our European counterparts. The film has a remarkable sense of entrapment and claustrophobia in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere. As far as whether the events really could happen like that, I suppose I was more interested in the style, craftsmanship and general concept than of probabilities or even possibilities. The camera work and rhythm at the end of the film are magnificent. As for the "damsel in distress" nonsense, how many thousands of movies fall into that genre anyway? Are they all uniformly bad because they use a successful formula? This is the kind of movie where it's fun to sit back and enjoy the fireworks without bothering about split infinitives and the like.

Curtis Stotlar