Cold in July Dvd

Cold in July is a 2014 American independent crime drama film directed by Jim Mickle, written by Mickle and Nick Damici, and starring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson. The film takes place in 1980s Texas and is based on the novel Cold in July by author Joe R. Lansdale. Hall plays a man who kills a burglar, whose father (Shepard) subsequently seeks revenge. The plot is further complicated when a private investigator (Johnson) shows up.

Plot

Ann Dane, startled by the sound of a door window breaking, wakes her husband, Richard. He accidentally shoots the intruder, identified as Freddy Russell, a wanted felon. Richard is shaken by the experience. Richard visits the cemetery on the day of Freddy’s burial where Freddy’s father, Ben—a paroled convict—accosts Richard in his car, making a veiled reference to Richard’s son, Jordan. Alarmed, Richard picks up Jordan from school and arranges for Ann to meet them at the police station. Though Ben follows him to his son’s school, the police decline Richard’s request for help. However, when the Danes arrive home to find their front door broken in, the family is put under police protection.

Police are posted around the house, including one guard inside, hoping to catch Ben when he returns. It turns out that Ben never left and has been hiding in the house’s crawlspace since the initial break-in. He emerges and knocks out the guard, goes into Jordan’s room, and locks the door. When Richard is alerted to Ben’s presence inside the house by the sound of water dripping from the open crawlspace hatch, he alerts the observing police and breaks down Jordan’s bedroom door. Ben has already escaped out the window and to a nearby river, however, and is tracked to Mexico—where he is apprehended. The police invite Richard to the station to close the case, and, while there, Richard notices a wanted poster for “Frederick Russell”, who looks different from the man he shot. Richard repeatedly attempts to point out the contradiction to officer Ray Price, but Ray dismisses this as a trick of memory due to shock and refuses to discuss the issue.

Richard sees Ben taken away in an unmarked police car, which he follows. He sees the police forcibly remove Ben from the car, and inject him with an unknown substance, splash him with alcohol, and leave him on train tracks to die. Richard saves Ben from an approaching train. Ben at first does not believe Richard’s claims that the man he shot was not Freddy. The two exhume Freddy’s grave and Ben confirms that the body In the coffin is not his son. Ben notes that the man’s finger tips have been cut off to prevent identification.

Ray Price visits Richard at work and claims that Freddy changed his appearance to avoid capture, explaining the discrepancy in the wanted poster. Richard is visited by Jim Bob Luke—a private investigator known by Ben—who says the name Fred Russell is tied to several widely circulated news stories about the killing of a burglar. Jim theorizes that after Freddy became involved with the Dixie Mafia, he was caught by Federal investigators, who faked Freddy’s death and placed him in Witness Protection in exchange for information.

Jim, Richard, and Ben learn that Freddy might be living in Houston under the name “Frank Miller”. When they attempt to meet him at his new home, they instead find a number of home videos which turn out to be snuff films, one of which features Freddy Russell beating a woman to death with a baseball bat. Richard wants to take the tape to the police. Jim believes the police already know about the videos but are unconcerned because Freddy is far more valuable as an informant against the Dixie Mafia while the victims are illegal immigrants whom few will miss. Ben is so enraged by his son’s actions that he is resolved to kill him at any cost.

They track Freddy to a remote mansion where he and his associates are making another snuff film. They infiltrate the mansion and begin killing everyone they encounter. When Freddy is the last survivor, Ben hesitates to kill him, and Jim is shot. Freddy shoots both Richard and Ben before Ben finally wounds him. Ben declares himself as Freddy’s father, shoots his son in the head, and dies from his own wounds shortly after. Jim and Richard set the mansion ablaze and escape with the hostage. The next morning Richard returns home to his family.

Cast

Michael C. Hall as Richard Dane
Sam Shepard as Ben Russell
Don Johnson as Jim Bob Luke
Vinessa Shaw as Ann Dane
Nick Damici as Ray Price
Wyatt Russell as Freddy Russell
Lanny Flaherty as Jack Crow
Rachel Zeiger-Haag as Valerie
Brogan Hall as Jordan Dane