IN A COLD VEIN
***
Directed by Eric Owen.
Starring Evan Gamble, Brian Villalobos, Mor Cohen.
Thriller, US, 90 minutes.
Reviewed as part of FrightFest 2025 - World Premiere
Eric Owen's lean and mean thriller kicks off in the back of a van, gradually pulling back to reveal two heavies pummeling their kidnapped victim. Gradually we come to realise that this poor victim may not be so innocent and that he will do anything to get back to his young son who may now also be in danger.
Making the switch from horror to thriller after his 2022 feature THIRST, Owen proves his skills here as a visual storyteller to go along with his music skills, as well as composing the score here he is a member of rock band Black Pistol Fire. His script gradually fills in the details of our protagonist's backstory so that by the end of the film we have been filled in on everything we need to know about this close knit world of criminals and its hierarchy. What we also learn is how far our "hero" is willing to take things to get what he wants, leaving our feelings far more conflicted than we did at the film's start.
Owen evokes a neo-noir spirit that is sometimes reminiscent of the Coen Brothers BLOOD SIMPLE with its dark Texan landscapes and scenes of quiet that erupt with quick flashes of bloody violence. Even with its brief running time there are some scenes that could do with a quick trim to speed things along but crime fiction connoisseurs with a taste for hard edged anti-heroes will recognise that Owen knows exactly what he's doing with his plot and characters and could do so much more with a proper budget.
Iain MacLeod
