Cold Comfort (1989) DVD Color Approx. 88 min. Shown in its original aspect ratio. Region 1 - Playable in North America - The US, Canada, Mexico, etc. Optional sub-titles/close captions in English.
Starring: Paul Gross, Maury Chaykin, Margaret Langrick and Jayne Eastwood. Written by Richard Beattie and Elliot L. Sims, based on “Cold Comfort” by Jim Garrard. Directed by Vic Sarin.
Nominated for 5 Genies (the Canadian equivalent of the Oscar), this offbeat thriller is based on James Garrard's stage play. Canadian stalwarts Maury Chaykin (Twins) and Margaret Langrick (American Boyfriends) star as a father and daughter who've taken provincial to its furthest extremes. For her 18th birthday, Floyd (Chaykin) brings Dolores (Langrick) a present: Stephen (Paul Gross), a half-dead travelling salesman who Floyd has rescued with his tow truck during a blizzard. Cut off from civilization, both literally and figuratively, Stephen slowly comes to realize that he's caught in the worst kind of trap - stuck between ignorance (Dolores) and madness (Floyd). Floyd wants to give his "pumpkin" the world on a silver platter (even if it means chaining Stephen to the wall) but is seething with homicidal rage over his repressed incestuous desires. It's a darkly comic cat and mouse game that gets a lot of mileage out of Chaykin's exceptional interpretation of madness and Langrick's smooth transitions from child to vamp…