Movie review: COLD IN JULY

I had been a Joe Lansdale fan for a few years prior to the publication of COLD IN JULY. I greatly enjoyed the novels that came before it. Especially THE MAGIC WAGON. I enjoyed the short stories, too. The nonfiction as well, for that matter. I was already calling him my favorite writer.

However, COLD IN JULY was a revelation. I was amazed at how good it was. For me, with this one novel, Joe went from a highly enjoyable cult favorite to the equal of any suspense writer in the world. COLD IN JULY is a tight, scary novel that is somehow both restrained and shocking.

I had high hopes when I heard it was to be a movie. Lansdale has had some success with adaptations of his work in the past. Many know him best as the author of BUBBA HO-TEP, which was made into a good movie by Don (PHANTASM) Coscarelli. His nail-biting story, INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD, was made into an episode of MASTERS OF HORROR. DRIVE-IN DATE is one of Joe's most disturbing pieces of fiction, and a decent, if very low budget, short movie was made from it.

My favorite adaptation had been another short subject. THE JOB is a professionally shot short movie based on the story of the same name. I felt that it captured the feel of Lansdale's work more than any of the others. But then none were an embarrassment to their source materials.

Now we have COLD IN JULY. It was made by the same individual who directed the vampire feature, STAKELAND. So far, so good.

I made an extremely rare DVD purchase in the case of COLD IN JULY. I am very happy that I did so.

First off, I am grateful that the producers resisted the temptation to update the story to the present. I feel that this is done too often, and it sometimes takes away critical atmosphere to a production. COLD IN JULY, the movie, is set in the late 1980's, as is the novel.

I'm not going to run down the plot of COLD IN JULY here. If you are visiting this site, chances are very good that you have read it. If you haven't done so, you should. As soon as possible.

I was excited to see Don Johnson portray Jim Bob Luke, who is a larger-than-life character in COLD IN JULY and other Lansdale works. I pictured the character as being more flamboyant than Johnson played him, but I was not disappointed. It would be very easy to take such a character over the top and in turn take the viewer out of the story. Better to reign it in than overdo it..

Part of me wishes that it had been a bigger production, and I almost said to myself that director Jim Mickle is no Tarantino or Scorsese, but you know what? Having the means to hire the world's greatest cinematographers, stunt coordinators, effects crews, etc, go a very long way toward making a director look good.

Jim Mickle and his cast and crew deserve applause and gratitude for bringing this important novel in Lansdale's career to the screen. It is a success in every way.