Cold in July is a Texas neo-noir set in 1989. A man called Richard Dane kills an intruder in his home one night. The victim's dad subsequently turns up and starts hassling Dane and his family. The police get involved but things begin to take a turn for the unpredictable when it soon becomes apparent that the dead man isn't who he appears to be. This leads to a spiral of very dark secrets.

What makes this one work so well is a combination of a great trio of performances and the 80's retro styling. Of the former we have Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson as a motley crew of sleuths bent on discovering the truth and ultimately meting out violent retribution. The three actors work well together in portraying their uneasy alliance. While the aforementioned 80's setting is great too. The soundtrack is a combination of some choice 80's hard rock and some neo-electro 80's styling synth music to score the film and build atmosphere. It works highly in the movie's favour and gives it a cool sheen while seeming entirely appropriate given the era depicted.

The story-line is a mixture of fairly familiar things you probably have encountered in these types of movies before and I'm not going to reveal too much of what lies ahead as it's best to go into these types of films with as little foreknowledge as possible. But it is the way that these standard elements have been presented on screen that makes them work so well, as well as the aforementioned acting and 80's setting. There are a few loose ends in the story and some aspects that you will require to suspend your disbelief at a little. But this is hardly a new thing when it comes to pulpy thrillers. The important thing is that Cold in July is a superior example of this kind of thing. It's very involving throughout and makes its generic material seem fresh, which is easier said than done.

In 1989, in the east of Texas, Ann Dane (Vinessa Shaw) overhears a noise during the night and awakes her husband Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall). He picks up his gun and stumbles with a burglar in the living room and accidentally shoots and kills the intruder. He is identified by the police as the wanted criminal Freddy Russell, but Richard is affected by the incident. Richard goes to the cemetery to see Freddy's burial and his father Ben Russell (Sam Shepard),who is also a criminal on parole, talks to Richard and asks for his son. Richard brings his son from the school and meets his wife at the police station, but the police inspector Ray Price (Nick Damici) cannot do anything to help him. Soon Richard finds that someone has broken in his house and the police officers stake out the place. However Ben breaks in the house but escapes. Ray calls Richard to tell him that Ben was arrested in Mexico and the case is closed. While leaving the station, he sees a picture of Freddy Russell and he realizes that he is not the burglar. Richard unsuccessfully calls Ray and he decides to go to the station during the night. He witnesses Ray and other officers taken Ben away in a car and leaving him on the train tracks after hitting him. Richard saves Ben and brings him to an isolated cabin that belonged to his father. After proving that the buried corpse is not Freddy, Richard teams up with Ben and his friend, the private investigator Jim Bob (Don Johnson),to seek out Freddy and find who has been killed, and the trio is involved with a gang that makes pornographic snuff movies.

"Cold in July" is a surprisingly good thriller, with a violent story in the style of Quentin Tarantino, where police officers are dirty and felon may be good-hearted. The amazing cast has three great actors: Michael C. Hall, from Dexter, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson and the dark and tense story has a well-written screenplay and good plot points. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Julho Sangrento" ("Bloody July")

Cold in July is flawed southern noir seedy thriller set in the late 1980s. Dane (Michael C Hall) shoots an intruder in his home. He becomes a local hero but the dead man's father Russel (Sam Shepard) comes looking for him and threatens Dane's family.

The police take Russel away but Dane discovers that dirty cops want to kill Russel. Now Russel and Dane team up and find out that the dead intruder was not Russel's son.

To get answers, Russel brings in an old friend, a private detective Jim Bob (Don Johnson) who thinks Russel's son was involved in the Dixie mafia and now might be in witness protection. All three enter the dark world of snuff videos and vengeance.

The film is full of plot holes, I never figured why the police wanted Russel dead and created such an elaborate scheme or why they were protecting his no good son. What begins as a cat and mouse game between Dane and Russel becomes a buddy thriller with Jim Bob providing comic relief.