Dead of Winter

Plot synopsis:
On a snowy night, a woman enters a train station on New Year's Eve to retrieve a satchel full of cash, from a coin-operated storage locker. Later that night, she drives into an empty parking lot, and exits the car to place a call. As she anxiously smokes, she makes a phone call, and tells the other party she'll wait only a few more minutes. After she gets back in her car, a man is seen in the rear-view mirror, in the backseat, unbeknownst to her. When she catches sight of hin, she's strangled, and her left ring finger is removed.
In New York, struggling actress Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) lives in a cramped apartment, with her out-of-work photographer husband, Rob Sweeney (William Russ). Her visiting brother, Roland (Mark Malone), makes the small space even more confining. The couple's behind on rent and other bills, so, Katie feels the pinch to get an acting job which will help them, financially.
Looking through a list of casting calls, Katie circles one: a vaguely-worded description for a lead actress, who must be available immediately, and willing to travel. At the open-call audition, in a room full of other women aspiring for the job, Katie's called in to be interviewd by a Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall), who hires her immediately.
The pair drive upstate into the midst of a raging snow storm. When they arrive at the secluded home of Dr. Joseph Lewis (Jan Rubeš), he graciously welcomes her. Dr. Lewis is a parapalegic, confined to a wheelchair. He gives her a cursory tour of the house, which features a number of trophies from his hunting days, including 2 massive, stuffed polar bears. Katie asks to use the phone to call Rob, but finds it has no dial tone. Dr. Lewis surmises the storm must've downed the lines, and Mr. Murray would drive her into town in the morning to make her call, if necessary.
Dr. Lewis explains that Katie's been hired to replace Julie Rose, an actress who had a nervous breakdown during a film shoot, and was picked due to her physical resemblance, as the plan is to still utilise the footage shot by Julie, with new footage of Katie.
When Katie sees pictures of Julie Rose, she's stunned by the resemblance, exclaiming, "I could be her sister!" Dr. Lewis (who's professionally retired from his field, and now is an investor in this independent film), says a test-reel on videotape will be shot tomorrow, which the director will view when he arrives.
The following day, Mr. Murray tries to drive Katie into town to make her phone call, but his car will not start. Mr. Murray cuts and dyes Katie's hair to match the photos of Julie. Asked how they met, Mr. Murray explains that Dr. Lewis was his psychiatrist. The shoot goes well. Katie's lines all seem to eerily describe the attack seen at the film's beginning.
Mr. Murray sneaks out and reconnects the car's ignition. He drives to a house, where a woman, whose face is never shown, watches him from her upstairs window. Mr. Murray slips the videotape through the mail slot. The unseen woman sits down, facing a screen, and watches the video of Katie. After the test footage ends, Dr. Lewis appears on the video to tell the anonymous woman-viewer they need to meet, and he'll contact her soon.
The next morning, Katie finds a notebook with Polaroids of Julie's corpse. Horrified, she confronts Dr. Lewis, who explains that Julie's breakdown ended with her suicide. In the parlour, Katie's startled by a pop in the fireplace, where she sees her driver's license burning. Unable to retrieve it, she rushes to her room and finds all of her ID is missing from her wallet. Katie flees the house without a coat. The weather's so ferocious, she ends up crawling to the top of a hill where, to her horror, she looks up to see Mr. Murray, who tells her Dr. Lewis is worried, and is waiting for her.
Back at the house, Dr. Lewis pretends her imagination is running wild. Katie realizes that Mr. Murray has drugged her hot chocolate. In her room, she barricades the door with furniture before she passes out. As she sleeps, Mr. Murray enters her room from behind a full-length mirror. Katie wakes up in a fresh sleeping gown with a bandaged hand. She peels off the bandages to find her left ring finger has been removed, and screams in horror.
Her barricade undisturbed, Katie quickly finds the secret door and a staircase to the attic, which has a working phone. She calls Rob and explains that they are going to kill her. Rob asks where she is, but Katie can only remember vague landmarks about the drive upstate. Rob orders her to call the police, which she does. As she collapses, she sees the body of Julie Rose. Mr. Murray arrives and rips the handset out of the phone, taking her back downstairs to Dr. Lewis.
As Dr. Lewis redresses her finger, he explains that Julie was involved in a vicious family feud with her sister, Evelyn. As a radical therapy, Dr. Lewis had convinced her to blackmail her sister, theorizing that it would help her achieve a catharsis. He was pleased with Julie's progress, but did not expect Evelyn to kill her, ordering the hit man to take her finger as proof.
During his explanation, the police arrive. Katie is confused from a sedative and Dr. Lewis claims that she is his patient, so the police leave without much of an investigation. Meanwhile, Rob and Roland have begun to drive upstate, using the handful of clues they have to try to locate Katie.
Katie wakes to find Evelyn standing over her. Dr. Lewis offers her as proof that Julie is still alive, to continue the blackmail. Katie fakes an escape attempt, luring Dr. Lewis and Mr. Murray out of the house. She pleads with Evelyn to help her escape, but Evelyn is convinced she is really Julie and attacks her. Katie kills Evelyn and poses as her to try to escape.
Mr. Murray realizes the ruse, but Katie stabs him in the neck. Dr. Lewis is also not fooled by the disguise and lunges at Katie from his wheelchair. Using a fire poker as a crutch, he follows her upstairs and eventually into the attic, where Katie manages to kill him. Rob and Roland arrive with the police, having convinced them to revisit the house.

Tags: insanity, suspenseful, gothic, murder

Review:
The plot centers on a naive actress, played well by Mary Steenburgen, who accepts a job on a rather hush-hush production.
Mary does everything Rubes and his assistant, Roddy McDowell, ask of her because she views this as her big break.But things aren't what they seem in the mansion.
Mary makes a few shocking discoveries while she wastes time in the mansion, locating photographs of a dead woman that Rubes claims to be the actress she is to replace.
This Arthur Penn-directed remake of My Name Is Julia Ross represents yet another attempt to revive an old Hollywood formula, in this case the lady-in-distress thriller.
Mary Steenburgen makes an attractive and sympathetic heroine as a woman trapped in a snowbound mansion by two very strange men.
It caused quite a stir even though it played the lower half of double bills and lasted a mere 65 minutes.DEAD OF WINTER is rather transparent in borrowing from MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (the heroine's name is Julie Rose, for example), and it has taken the original material, expanded it with some clever additional plot lines, taken the Cornwall atmosphere and transported it to wintry New England for a weather-beaten effect, and turned out a smart little thriller that will give you plenty of winter chills no matter what the temperature is outside.It's another one of those tales where nothing is what it seems.
A pretty young actress (MARY STEENBURGEN) is a down on her luck gal who accepts the offer of a film test from a producer (RODDY McDOWALL) who invites her to his secluded mansion where the test will take place.
Nothing is to be taken too seriously from this point on.When a series of rather unpleasant incidents take place, the woman realizes she is in a trap, but neither she nor the audience understands why she is there and what the purpose is of keeping her prisoner.STEENBURGEN is excellent as the frightened woman (who should have had more common sense than accepting such an offer), and McDOWALL's polite cat-and-mouse game with her is fascinating as it unfolds.
It's a creepy film, filled with authentically wintry atmosphere and it builds toward a surprising and violent climax.Under Arthur Penn's direction, this expanded version of the B-film is every bit as cleverly plotted and written, no matter what some of the other commentators here have said.
Mary Steenburgen, (Julie Ross) plays the role of a struggling actress and tries out for an audition and secures the acting position and is required to stay in the producers home.
Jan Rubes, (Dr. Joseph Lewis) plays the so called doctor and producer who simply adores Julie Ross and simply does not want her to leave and go home to her husband.
Mary Steenburgen gave an outstanding performance along with the great former actor, Roddy McDowell.
I didn't know what to except, reviews didn't give a clue what I'm going to watch.Well first of all, big minus for the beginning, somewhere in 10 minutes or so you get the idea of whole movie.
Don't get me wrong, this was very interesting and very well acted and all, nicely put together, and the ending was little twist that saved a lot.Few parts doesn't make any sense in the movie but that didn't bother me.
However, there are hints that the rough unedited cut possibly had the answers to some glaring holes in the plot (like: Why does our heroine go outside at one point to hike for a long distance WITHOUT PUTTING ON A COAT?) There are also a few other instances where she could have saved herself from her predicament had she just used some common sense.By the way, if anyone knows why this movie was rated "R", I'd appreciate hearing the explanation.
It's unlikely this will ever change.Hitchcock famously said "The director's job is to manipulate the audience." This is critical in a thriller or suspense film, but Arthur Penn fails to do it consistently.
Hitchcock's success in repeatedly confusing the audience throughout "Psycho" owes a much to his working closely with Joseph Stefano to create exactly the right situations and dialog to produce the desired effects."Dead of Winter" isn't a terrible film -- just a disappointing one..
Actress Mary Steenburgen, desperate for work, accepts a job "acting" for a couple of old coots living in an isolated manor; turns out they need her to complete an outlandish blackmail plot (which of course will leave their hired victim expendable).
Engrossing, sometimes gruesome thriller with an atmospheric music score and exceptional performances (McDowall's nervous acting style reminded me a lot of Anthony Perkins).
A cross between Anthony Shaffer's "sleuth" (adapted by JL Mankiewicz)and Alfred Hitchcock,this movie took Penn's enthusiasts by surprise.What?It's not the misfit pit against the whole world,as in "the left-handed gun""the chase "Bonnie and Clyde" "The miracle worker" "little big man" "Alice's restaurant" ?Well,you've got to forget all you know about Arthur Penn and then you can enjoy this Grand Guignol!It's all blood and thunder!Hitchcock's countless fans will relish with the numerous quotations:"suspicion" (the glass of milk!),"rear window"( the leg in plaster!) and "psycho" and "vertigo" here there and everywhere;besides the cat and mouse play and Mary Steenburgen's three(you read well!)parts reminds me of "sleuth".The cinematography recalls Roman Polanski's style sometimes ,which seems appropriate,since the heroin experiments claustrophobia.Hats off to the actress,it was not an easy task and she pulled it off with maestria.The supporting cast,featuring an unctuous Roddy MacDowall and a good-natured Jan Rubes ,is up to par.
Forget any plausibility,and you will admire the marvelous snowbound house ,you will get some scares when MCGovern finds they cut one of her fingers during the night!This is the kind of thriller we desperately need nowadays when all we have got is routine serial killer,drug affairs , endless trials,and supercops(do you think that "die hard" is realist?You're pretty naive if you do).Penn's next movie "target",although it did feature his favorite actor Gene Hackman was another offbeat work in his canon and definitely less entertaining than "dead of winter" ,this frenzied extravaganza..
Then the scene shifts to an apartment of an out-of-work actress Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) and her husband.Katie answers an ad for an actress and eventually passes the audition held by creepy-looking Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall).
Incidentally, why can't the two investigating cops possess at least one brain between them?PLOT EXPLANATION: The two men only hired Katie because she happens to be an exact double of the dead woman in the first scene.
The ending will not be disclosed here.The movie does have several surprising and tense moments, such as when Katie discovers a body on more than one occasion.
Before that, our protagonist never even noticed the city name on the sleeve patches of the cops.Mary Steenburgen plays all three female roles: Julie Rose, Evelyn, and Katie.
It has few nice little twists and turns and never gets boring, but it's also not terribly memorable.One thing that it suffers from, in my opinion, is the same problem I had with the first Friday The 13th movie, an old crippled man who can barely walk just isn't all that menacing.
"Dead of Winter" follows an aspiring actress who leaves New York City for a purported acting job at a rural mansion upstate.
Little does she know, a doctor and his casting director have different plans.Loosely based on the 1940s thriller "My Name is Julia Ross," this Arthur Penn-directed thriller is campy, but not necessarily in a good way.
Atmospherically, there is a lot of potential here, but Penn unfortunately does not even wring the wintry setting for what it's worth.Narratively speaking, the film poses situation after situation that feels wholly unrealistic, while Steenburgen's character in and of herself registers as intuitive to an extent, but wholly unaware of herself.
Roddy McDowall and Jan Rubes are decent enough here, though their roles as the film's antagonists also come across as non-threatening, which further detracts from the proceedings.The film's last act is comparatively better than everything before it, but it again feels hokey and dull where it could have at least been hokey and amusing.
Out of work actress Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) takes a job that takes her from NYC to Canada.
She is to replace an actress named Julie Rose who walked off the set of her movie.
She finds herself in an isolated mansion with Dr. Joseph Lewis (Jan Rubes) and sinister butler Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowell).
There are plot holes galore (the reaction of the two policemen was incredibly dumb) and the ending is truly laughable.Steenburgen, McDowell and Rubes are all good--but even their considerable acting talents can't save this.
Steenburgen, a fine actress in numerous other films, can be forgiven for accepting this showy 'triple' role; suffice to say, she's not responsible for the resulting blandness.
Roddy McDowall tries hard to enliven the supposedly creepy plot shenanigans, but his efforts are undermined by the fact that his compatriot, Jan Rubes, had just played Santa Claus in ONE MAGIC Christmas, far more convincingly in that than as a villainous mastermind here.Esteemed veteran Arthur Penn took over directing after first-timer (and co-screenwriter) Marc Shmuger was fired.
The lovely and talented Mary Steenburgen's career was in the doldrums when she accepted the lead in this pathetic, unnecessarily ugly,  would-be thriller, which also marks the nadir of director Arthur Penn's career.
Heading for an audition, an actress drives out to a large mansion to prepare for the role only to find that a strange conspiracy appears to involve one of his former patients trying to kill her, and she soon learns of deeper ties to their plot and must put a stop to them before it's too late.There were a few good parts to this one.
One of the better parts to this is the house's look, which actually works to the film's advantage in creating a dark, chilling atmosphere due to several key factors.
From the burning license in the fire and the lies about the phones to when it starts in with the hidden rooms and passageways, along with their behavior towards her, it makes this part of the film really entertaining and enjoyable, which is a good thing and is definitely very appreciated.
It's close to fifty minutes in before any kind of danger is detected, and it's still not anything that would move the film along with any kind of speed or momentum at all, and usually resort to being quickly written off at the time to get back to the slow, snail-like pace that has been going on until then.
My default rating for a movie I liked enough to watch again, but didn't rise to the upper echelons 8- Very Good.
Mary Steenburgen plays Katie, a down on her luck actress who is told that she is being considered to take over a film role that was being played by someone else who greatly resembles her.
She is taken to a snowbound country house in remote upstate New York to film an audition tape for the elderly, wheelchair bound producer (Jan Rubes.) After she arrives, things begin to look as if they are not what they seem.
Like most bad thrillers, the most entertaining portions of the film occur in the last twenty minutes, after the damsel in distress finally pieces things together and has to fight for her life.
But the majority of the movie is just tedious set-up and scenes of Katie acting like an idiot as she uncovers what her hosts are really up to.Is she so desperate for a job that she'd go to a remote house out in the country with a complete stranger, just to shoot an audition tape?
Unfortunately for the film, but not for me, their final confrontation is so absurdly shot and choreographed, the scene intended to be tense turns out to be hilarious camp straight out of a Joan Crawford or Bette Davis thriller from the twilight of their careers.To sum things up the movie isn't a complete disaster, it's just too derivative of films of the past, and doesn't add anything new to the 'woman in distress' thriller sub-genre.
Steenburgen is pretty good, even if her character can be a complete idiot at times, and Roddy McDowell has some demented fun when the poop finally hits the fan during the climax..
A Great Suspense in One of the Best Performances of Mary Steenburgen.
In New York, the unemployed actress Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) is invited to an audition to replace the actress Julie Rose that had a nervous breakdown in the middle of a filmmaking.
She gets the job and travels with Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowell) to a remote manor upstate to meet the producer Dr. Joseph Lewis (Jan Rubes) that prepares footage with a test to be sent to the director.
"Dead of Winter" is a great suspense in one of the best performances of Mary Steenburgen in a triple role.
Yes, there are plenty of holes in the story and scenes where you say to yourself "Why are you doing this?" or "Why don't you do the sensible thing and do ---(whatever)?" It can be a tad frustrating as our Damsel In Distress, "Katie," can't seem to figure things out for a long time.No matter, I enjoy looking at young Steenburgen's face.
Roddy McDowell and Jan Rubes co-star as "Mr. Murray" and "Dr. Lewis," respectively, the men who imprison her, and there is a weirdo named "Eveyln," but this is Steenburgen's movie.There is a nice twist at the end, a clever way our heroine discovers to escape her lunatic kidnapper.
Mary Steenburgen gives 3 good performances.
The requirement, according to Mr. Murray (Roddy MacDowall), would be for her to come to a house (during the dead of winter) to meet Dr. Lewis (Jan Rubes).
Dr. Lewis and Mr. Murray, however, know the truth: Julie Rose is actually dead, murdered by her sister Evelyn, whom she had been blackmailing.
She also realizes that Evelyn will kill her because she thinks that Julie is still alive.This was a very interesting movie.
There were some weak areas in the film, but a lot of creepy parts (Especially the part where Steenburgen wakes up with a "surprise")..
Struggling actress Katie McGovern (an excellent and appealing performance by Mary Steenburgen) is summoned to a remote country estate to do a screen test for the crippled Dr. Joseph Lewis (superbly played by Jan Rubes) and his obsequious servant Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall in peak urbane and unctuous form).
Director Arthur Penn relates the gripping story at a steady pace, makes extremely effective use of the bleak wintry setting, builds a good deal of tension as well as a strong feeling of chilling isolation, helplessness, and claustrophobia, and handles the startling moments of surprisingly brutal violence with admirable taste and restraint.
The sterling acting by the tip-top cast helps matters a whole lot: Steenburgen does stand-out work in three roles, Rubes and especially McDowall excel as a pair of deeply creepy and devious villains, and William Russ makes a favorable impression as Katie's concerned husband Rob. Jan Weincke's glossy cinematography gives the picture an impressive polished look.
(Some Spoilers)We see right away that there's a lot more to the movie "Dead of Winter" then just an out of work actress looking for a part in a new film.
Things start to jell later when we see actress Katie McGovern, Mary Steenburgen, going to audition a part for a movie and the theatrical agent Mr. Murray, Roddy McDowell, whom she's auditioning the part for just goes completely overboard with her both looks and acting ability.
Getting the part on the spot Murray tells a very happily surprised Katie that she'll have to travel with him upstate to see the movie's director a doctor Lewis, Jan Rubes, whom Murray works for as a manservant.
Murray & Dr. Lewis are trying to fool Evelyn the sister of the murdered Julia Rose the woman killed at the start of the movie*****SPOILER*****, both parts Evelyn & Julia also played played by Miss Steenburgen, into thinking that Julia is still alive!There's also something that has to do with a suite-case filled with hundred dollars bills that we saw Julia take out of a locker and is later taken from her by her unknown murderer but it just disappears and is never seen or heard from again as if it never was there in the first place!It's when Katie starts to ask too many questions about the part that both Murray and Dr.Lewis have for her in their new movie that she realizes that the part she's to play is that of the murdered Julia Rose!
The remainder of the movie "Dead of Winter" has Katie running and fighting for her life in an effort to save herself from these three murderous lunatics, Murray Dr. Lewis & Evelyn.
The cops in the area, who aren't that interested in doing their job, aren't much help either as the desperate and injured, by having her ring finger chopped off, Katie runs for her life from both Murray & Dr. Lewis.The ending really saved the movie from being a total disaster by having a "Wait until Dark" like ending in reverse with the crippled would-be psycho-killer Dr. Lewis, stumbling and bobbling all over the place, trying to get his hands on and murdering Katie.
A great thriller, but not one of the best Arthur Penn's movie..
The movie is based on the 1945 film "My Name Is Julia Ross" by director Joseph H.
As if to prove that not all the most intriguing of Hollywood's flirtations with noir and mystery lie in the past, "Dead of Winter" (1987) presents a most convincing Mary Steenburgen in three brilliantly contrasted roles, plus Roddy McDowall in his most involving part since "Kidnapped" (made way back in 1948).
I like to be challenged mentally when I watch a movie and more often than not the challenge is to figure out why plot is ridiculous.