Cold Meat review.
A hard movie to review…but an easy one to recommend. Cold Meat makes an unexpected move early…and then forces you to sit with it.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Cold Meat
Directed by Sébastien Drouin
Written by Sébastien Drouin, James Kermack and Andrew Desmond
Starring Allen Leech, Nina Bergman, Yan Tual, Riley Banzer, James Barton-Steel, Gil Botelho, Kater Fullerton and William Kuklis
Cold Meat Review
This is going to be a difficult review to write. We want to keep new movie reviews as spoiler free as possible. You can usually talk around twists and turns and easily focus on themes and cover the plot in an overview sort of way. Cold Meat makes that impossible. Yes…it is a survival horror movie set during a blizzard. That’s what the plot summary says, after all. But there’s a specific aspect to it that happens early in the story. Something we can’t talk about…that makes Cold Meat more than it appears. My advice is to go watch the movie. Don’t watch the trailer at the bottom of the page. Don’t even read the review below. It’s worth it.
If you’re still here…well…thank you. You didn’t listen…but thank you. So, let’s dive into as much of Cold Meat as we can. David (Allen Leech) stops for a bite to eat at a late-night diner. While there he observes Ana (Nina Bergman) being verbally abused by her ex, Vincent (Yan Tual). He steps in to diffuse the situation and ends up with a target on his back. By the end of the night, he will find himself stuck in the snow…off road and in the middle of a blizzard. And something worse than Vincent might be out there.
Cole Meat is, definitively, a snow horror movie. There is a surviving the elements aspect to the story. It’s only part of the story…but it is the most pressing issue we can openly discuss. With a car not going anywhere and a finite number of resources…David is in trouble. When he attempts to brave the storm in search of help…he injures his leg. He’s not going anywhere. And neither are we. Most of Cold Meat takes place locked inside the car. A car that David may not be alone in.
You may read that and figure out what the thing we can’t talk about is. You may watch the trailer and think the same thing. Remember…I did say that you shouldn’t do those things. Even if you think that you’re onto what Cold Meat is doing…I recommend watching it anyway. You’ll know early on if you were right. I had seen the trailer and made assumptions that quickly proved to be incorrect. But don’t watch the trailer. It planted ideas in my head that confused me until…something…happens in the story. You won’t have to wait long, I promise.
Once it happens…Cold Meat becomes something more than a survival horror movie. It opens the story up to new possibilities. Survival horror combined with [redacted] and carried by some excellent performances. Oh…and maybe a horned monster creature of some kind. You know…that old story.
Vincent spots David at a gas station after their altercation. He pursues him down the icy roads. David’s car gets stuck attempting to escape him. Vincent has some crazy Michael Rooker energy. When I tell you that there might be something worse out there…take it to mean that there is and that something must be really bad. That’s all I can say without defeating the purpose.
Cold Meat is a surprising, suspenseful tale of survival (and more). If that had been the extent of things…we’d have a good movie. The script, performances and direction keep things much livelier than expected for a locked car story. Obviously, this review had to dance around major topics that would have helped sell the movie to you…but the point is the same. Watch Cold Meat.
Scare Value
Cold Meat both is and isn’t the movie you are expecting it to be. It’s well worth your time. We can’t explain why that is…you’ll have to take our word for it. Survival horror combined with something unexpected. An exciting story locks you inside of a car with danger all around. Both from the elements…and from some surprising places.
3.5/5
Cold Meat Links
Rent/Buy on VOD from VUDU and Amazon
