by Jason Daniel Baker

Created on: March 13, 2007   Last Updated: September 24, 2011

Cold Comfort (1989) Starring Maury Chaykin, Paul Gross, Margret Langrick, Jayne Eastwood, Ted Follows, Richard Fitch, Grant Roll, Joseph Griffin, Ilana Frank, Nick Rotundo, Ray Sager, Lucinda Sill, Linda Muir.

Directed by Vic Sarin.

Running time: 111 minutes.

Rating: R

"Don't you be playin the hero, son"

Slick travelling salesman from the big city Steven Miller (Gross) has his car give out on him on a prairie highway in the dead of a particularly harsh winter, passes out behind the wheel (Happens pretty frequently) and is exposed to the bitter cold. He finds refuge in the home (Lair behind a run-down service station) of an eccentric tow-truck driver Floyd Lucas (Chaykin) and his teen daughter Dolores (Langrick).

After forced claustrophobic introspection (a phenomenon known in Canada as "Ice-olation") due to the harsh elementsfollowing his recovery, Steven then reacts to a changing environment. Initially he feels lucky and grateful to have been saved. But he begins getting frightening vibes from his rescuer/host Floyd.

The towtruck driver, on the road without a permit, turns out to be a psychotic modern day highway pirate who finds vehicles trapped in the snow and relieves them of anything of value. He has sinister plans for Steven - the salesman is a gift for his daughter. After awhile Floyd, who has a bizarre incestuous relationship with his daughter begins to get jealous of the gift he brought her. Steven could quite easily end up a human popsicle, dumped in the snow undiscovered until spring thaw.

Steven, under strict guard by Floyd can't leave. Even if he tried to escape Floyd's garage is far from town and the weather is literally life-threatening. Most of us in Canada live near the border with the United States. The further North you go the colder it can get and sometimes the change won't even be gradual. You can get a blizzard in the blink of an eye particularly on the prairies where I partly grew up.

The weather here can be lethal if you don't take precautions and if you happen to be in one of those hicksploitation type films - which I classify this as, the elements add an extra layer of suspense and a helping of context.

Bad Canadian films have a tendency of featuring either very insular narratives (Catering to Canadian content demands from government culture grants) or very generic ones (Designed for export to American markets). Good ones like this one only suggest Canadian identity by depicting the things in life which actually do suggest Canadian

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