Ozge, witnesses the brutal murder of a female neighbour. However, the killer sees her, even though she can't see his face. With no help or protection from the police, Ozge is forced to protect herself and the young daughter of another victim and turns to one detective who reluctantly gives her shelter...
In some quarters, Cold Hell is being billed as the serial killer film of the year. Considering that this year also saw the release of the brilliant but disturbing Hounds Of Love, to be honest, I thought it was some claim to make. And while Cold Hell isn't quite as good as that film, it was still one of the highlights of FrightFest.
The main reason for that, is that the director, Stefan Ruzowitzky and writer Martin Ambrosch are actually less interested, to a degree, on who the killer is and more on Ozge, as her life falls apart while trying to hide from the killer who is hunting her.
With a stunning central performance from Violetta Schurawlow at its heart, Cold Hell follows her as Ozge, who physically can look after herself (she has terrific fighting skills), but mentally and emotionally is in some ways falling apart. She can't trust anyone to help her, especially her own family, in a subplot there is a suggestion of abuse there. The police won't help protect her, even the detective who eventually does, is doing it reluctantly. In the end, Ozge realises she does need to open up and help if the killer is to be found.
When he is identified, we then truly find out how formidable Ozge's fighting skills are, in a terrific scene in an underground train, where she chases him, beating him up and fighting of other commuters who try and stop her. In some ways, this is a mirror of an earlier scene when the killer gets into her cab, and we get a fantastic sequence as she fights him off while tearing through the streets in the cab. In both these sequences director Ruzowitzky shoots the action brilliantly.
But even when there is no action on screen, the film is still gripping, even if the hunt for the killer does fall a bit into the background as we follow Ozge trying to find somewhere to hide out, and also, in her own way, try and come to terms with her own past. Her father, despite being frail, still haunts and terrifies her. The story too doesn't have the usual 'man rushing in to save heroine' ending a lot of films of this kind usually have. When the final, brutal confrontation comes, Ozge confronts the killer on her own.
The supporting cast including Tobias Moretti as the cop, Steiner who helps her, Sammy Sheik as the killer (in a rare change, both the heroine and killer are Muslim here) and Friedrich von Thun as Steiner's father are all first rate, but this film really belongs to Violetta Schurawlow.
While this film has the look and feel of a film from the 80's or 90's, both in terms of its look and story, this is still one of the best thrillers of recent times. It's a film that should make both its lead actress and director highly sought after.
Cold Hell might not be the best serial killer film of the year, but it is one of the best thrillers of the year so far. It's a terrific film one that when it gets a general release, should be checked out.
You won't regret it.
Rating - 5/5
(Trailer in German couldn't find a subtitled version)
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