Lovecraftian horror or pomp and schlock? COLD SKIN (2018) Full review

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When I watched my first french horror film, Frontier(s) I was giddy with horror goodness. Regardless of the subtitles and culture shock I was riveted, transfixed at the TCM-like proceedings of a group beset upon by a crazed family of Nazi cannibals. I thought to myself, here is a director to watch out for. I was right. The story itself comes from a Lovecraft inspired book written by Albert Sanchez Pinol.

Xavier Gens has taken a huge leap in horror film-making from a technical standpoint. His trademark stop and linger at all the right times and attention to detail are here in full regalia but he has upped the ante with great actors and intoxicating cinematography. Cold Skin looks good but also feels like a live painting of a long lost time.

Aneris. Is she as innocent as she seems?

In 1914, a young man named Friend (David Oakes) arrives at a remote island near the Antarctic Circle to take the post of weather observer only to find himself trapped in a watchtower with a crazy hermit (Ray Stevenson), besieged by deadly creatures which come from the ocean at nightfall. A doozy of a premise as is but Gens creates an at once beautiful and ugly situation surrounding the two leads. Friend and Gruner are different but alike enough at times, their banter droll and obsequious. To complicate matters, Aneris (Aura Garrido) a she-creature captured by Gruner and kept as a pet becomes a centerpoint to Friend's yin and Gruner's yang.

The tale is quietly almost languidly told and every aspect comes into light. The men, the lighthouse, the Island, the sea, the creatures, and Aneris a constant everchanging swirling canvas. Production is high without being "glossy" and the actors are in top form. The Conjuring this is not.

While scenes of the amphibious creatures attacking and swarming the lighthouse are intense we are never dissuaded from the fact that sometimes MEN in all their guises can be the real monsters. This point is hammered home in one of my favorite scenes. Gruner is trying to get Friend to help him shoot the creatures but our hero backs away watching in abject horror as the lighthouse keeper massacres the beasts in numbers. There is much to digest here.

Gruner. A complicated man.

I've heard complaints about everything from the outlandish nature of the story to it not being scary but I must say if you want something fresh, different and though provoking you should really take a look.

4/5