Cold Skin Review: After The Shape of Water, and with Aquaman out later in the year, it would seem that 2018 is the year of the amphibious people, Cold Skin being the latest entry.
Cold Skin review by Kat Hughes.
Cold Skin Review
Director Xavier Gen caught the attention of this writer back in 2011 with his bold apocalypse thriller, The Divide. Set within the confines of an apartment building, and starring Milo Ventlimiglia and Michael Biehn, The Divide was a dark study into the treacherousness of man and the need for self-preservation no matter the costs. Both themes are explored again, in a different context, in his latest film – Cold Skin.
Set at the turn of the 20th Century, 1914, the film joins a nameless man (David Oakes) as he arrives on a desolate island to begin his stint as the Weather Official. Upon arrival he finds his predecessor is dead and that the man working alongside him, Gruner (Ray Stevenson), is less that welcoming. Our protagonist soon realises that this is the least of his troubles however, as after dark their camp is besieged by amphibious humanoid monsters. The pair must join together in order to survive, but is Gruner to be trusted?
Cold Skin Review
As previously suggested, Cold Skin is a fairly intellectual film that explores various issues. At the forefront is a commentary on man’s need to destroy. Gruner is obsessed with eradicating the creatures on the island and has potentially caused a needless war with his callousness. Then there’s a strong message of young-versus-old and man’s inability to handle being ‘replaced’ and facing irrelevance. Gruner’s jealousy and rage at his younger counterpart’s arrival forms the brunt of the film’s tension. Also explored is the debate between kindness and cruelty; and there’s also the rather grim matter of bestiality.
Despite all its grand ideas and themes, Cold Skin sadly falls a little flat. Maybe it’s the lack of characters, or maybe it’s the setting, but it’s difficult to truly connect. The film is further hindered by never revealing the name for our lead, he’s referred to as Friend in the credits, but he’s never given a name within the context of the narrative. At times it also feels a little too much like a P. W. Anderson movie, an odd juxtaposition given some of the subject matter.
With a Lovecraftian slant, Cold Skin is a must-watch for fans of Xavier Gens films. This is yet another bleak film where the horror comes, not from the ‘monsters’, but from man himself.
Cold Skin review by Kat Hughes, March 2018.
Cold Skin was reviewed at the 2018 Horror Channel Frightfest event which formed part of the 2018 Glasgow Film Festival.
