Dead of Winter

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Arthur Penn directs. Jan Weincke behind the camera. Rick Shaine cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 139 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Directed by Arthur Penn, shot by Jan Weincke. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Editor Rick Shaine shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 4Mary Steenburgen and Roddy McDowall and Jan Rubeš carry the top of the cast.
• 5Marketing tagline: "Katie McGovern will do anything to become an actress. Even if it kills her… tonight it might.".
• 6IMDB entry: tt0092842 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 7Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Jan Weincke

Editing

Rick Shaine

Production design

Bill Brodie

Makeup / hair

Donna Bis

Sound

Lee Dichter

Stunt coordinator

Dwayne McLean

Runtime

100 min · 1h 40m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$2,413,427

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Dead of Winter (1987) ↗

Also by

Arthur Penn

• 
  Portrait of a Murderer

  1958 · ★ 9.0
• 
  100 Centre Street

  2001 · ★ 8.2
• 
  The Miracle Worker

  1962 · ★ 7.9
• 
  Bonnie and Clyde

  1967 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Little Big Man

  1970 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Visions of Eight

  1973 · ★ 7.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Dead of Winter 1987 TV trailer

  Teaser

Community reviews

What people are saying

• slayrrr6662017-03-12
  ★ 2/10

  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 large size that offers up hidden passageways, alternate rooms and more to the decorations that adorn the walls and layout, there's plenty to enjoy about the setting to this one. There's also the film's somewhat engaging mystery when it first starts throwing them out there. 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. The only other good part of this one is the final chase in here, which is really good from the first instances where the escape plan is put into motion, the different confrontations throughout the house are very good as well, and once it moves into the attic where it gets really fun. From the kills to the suspense and the action all combine to make this the only section of the film where something is happening. These here are all that work for this one as it has a couple flaws that severely hold it back. One of the main ones is the fact that the film just doesn't have any kind of action or horror-related scenes for a near eternity. 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. That just makes the film go so long that it's really almost impossible to get into the film with any kind of intimacy, due to the fact that the time when it should be making us interested in the film it spends them showcasing these boring aspects instead, and that is really off- putting and extremely uninteresting. The other big problem with this one is the fact that the twist, when it occurs late in the film, not only doesn't change matters much but seemingly re-writes the film to the point of utter confusion. This would take forever to fully get all the way out, and instead, it just doesn't do much at all to the film as a whole. It's quite a lame twist and doesn't help the film at all. There are a couple other minor flaws, but none of them are as detrimental as these. Rated R: Violence and Language.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

  US

Key crew

• NovelAnthony Gilbert
• ProducerJohn Bloomgarden
• Art DirectionAlicia Keywan
• Third Assistant DirectorDavid Vaughan
• Production Sound MixerBruce Carwardine
• StuntsLeslie Munro
• Sound Re-Recording MixerLee Dichter
• ADR EditorMichael Jacobi
• StuntsAnton Tyukodi
• First Assistant DirectorTony Thatcher
• Apprentice Sound EditorJay Rabinowitz
• Second Assistant DirectorDavid Till
• Stunt CoordinatorDwayne McLean
• StuntsRick Forsayeth
• CastingRoss Clydesdale
• Hair DesignerDonna Bis
• Second Unit DirectorMichael MacDonald
• Sound EditorHal Levinsohn
• Set DecorationMark S. Freeborn
• Supervising Sound EditorStan Bochner
• Production Sound MixerGlen Gauthier
• Sound EditorBitty O'Sullivan-Smith
• CastingMaria Armstrong
• Special Effects SupervisorDavid Neil Trifunovich

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1987-02-06R

Also known as

International titles

• Froid comme la mortFR
• Morte no InvernoBR
• Muerte en el inviernoES
• Muerte en inviernoPE
• Omicidio allo specchioIT
• Smiertelnie mrozna zimaPL
• Froid comme la mortCA
• Η Αιχμάλωτη του ΠύργουGR
• Παγωμένη σαν τον ΘάνατοGR
• Смертельная зимаRU
• В зимнюю стужуRU