PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Cold Blows the Wind, written and directed by Eric Williford, had me torn. On one hand, I loved it; on the other, I was totally confused—not that it’s bad. It works well for the movie. This isn’t normally my type of movie, but I enjoyed it. I love movies that can get into chaos, and this movie did it just right. Of course, some points bugged me, but I sucked it up and did my best to roll into it.
I didn’t know what to expect here. At first, it seems very slow and uneventful, but then the pieces start going in a different direction. Though the story is drawn out, it kept my interest, leaving me with a pleasant level of content.
Let’s get to the review!
Sypnosis
After fleeing the scene of an accident. Dean (Danell Leyva, Lexi 2022) and Tasha (Victoria Vertuga, DisGraced 2020) decide to hide the jogger they hit in a trunk after believing he was dead. When they find out he is still alive it turns into a deadly situation when they are visited by Briar (Jamie Bernadette, Tall Dark and Dangerous 2024), who knows their whole issue. Against their will. the couple is thrown into a world of murder, where no one knows when it will end.
Cold Blows the Wind isn’t quite a horror to me. It was a thriller, for sure. My first thought was that I wasn’t going to enjoy this at all. I will now clean the egg off my face. In the spirit of Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, it creeps up slowly and drops a bomb. It sure dropped a bomb on me.
Sure, there are horror elements, but they often use reality horror. I am not normally fond of movies that use reality horror because I watch horror to escape reality. However, this was the type of movie I had never seen. From Creepshow to the movie Stuck, I had seen the premise differently.
“Cold Blows the Wind comes from a black writer/director, a female producer, and a queer-inclusive cast and crew. Your support of this small film helps raise the voices of many marginalized artists.”
This isn’t your average thriller movie with some horror elements; it will keep you on the edge of your seat when the movie picks up. I soon learned that this movie is a happy medium between both genres. The setting is also very dark, with dim lighting in the home. I hate jump scares because I see them as lazy with no build-up, but they worked here. When you are expecting something to begin, it never happens. There are some pretty jumpy parts, for sure.
My other compliment is that they made something real, with a bit of horror. That side of the movie only happens in about the last 20 minutes. It has kill scenes that I thought were tasteful. The rest just falls into a great but somewhat confusing story; the acting was on point, with each person giving it their all out of enjoyment.
I would watch this movie again any time at all. To me, it’s more than just a once-and-done idea. It may have its moments, but it’s mostly good than bad; a few parts really had me lost. Trying to figure out what was happening seemed like a chore.
I personally think there could have been a bit more to the after-story. That’s what really got me wondering why it happened and what would happen next. I would have loved to see more from the ending of the movie. Just when it got good, they cut out. I do like, however, that they left us with just a little bit of gore, and it’s pretty hard to watch Also, the fact that they started to enjoy it as more went on was unnerving. I guess I should be happy with what we got, though. Because what we got wasn’t a common idea that’s been played out repeatedly.
Final Thoughts
I have been watching horror movies for 35 years, and not one has actually made me jump for the first time ever. Again, it has its points, and I am very impressed with the story, even the slow points, to understand what is happening. I wasn’t left wanting more here. In all honesty, I have watched it quite a few times to write this. With every watch, I learned to like it a lot.
I guess you could say it won me over. My main gripe is that they bring you halfway into a situation without any clarity, and that’s one of the pivotal moments. Like the movie Thinner, we saw the entire scene unfold, so I don’t understand why they thought bringing you halfway into a story was a good idea.
Cold Blows The Wind will be available on demand starting July 2nd.
