‘Cold Light Of Day’ Blu-ray Review: The Lurid Crimes of Serial Killer Dennis Nilsen
Anthony Arrigo
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Just as horror films have their “marquee” murderers so, too, in a sick way, does the world of serial killers. Nearly everyone is familiar with the infamous Jack the Ripper, but the U.K. birthed many more men who operated in a similarly sadistic fashion.
One such example is Scotsman Dennis Nilsen. This serial killer allegedly killed as many as a dozen young men and boys between 1978 and 1983. Nilsen’s crimes are truly ghoulish and profane. But capturing that essence on film is difficult. These are delicate matters, after all; the victims had families. Forcing those left behind to watch their loved ones faithfully butchered on-screen sounds crass and insensitive at best.
The feature birthed from (“inspired by” here) Nilsen’s crimes is 1989’s Cold Light of Day, a movie as distant and frigid as its title implies. It’s been compared to John McNaughton’s Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) but I would only agree in terms of the aesthetics. Unlike Henry, Cold Light Of Day is a slow film that holds faint interest and often feels shallow.
Related: Two New Films Tell the Untold Stories of Notorious Serial Killers Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos
Jordan March (a surrogate for Nilsen, played by Bob Flag) is an alcoholic recluse brought in for questioning by the police after body parts are discovered in his flat. March regales his crimes to Inspector Simmons (Geoffrey Greenhill), who listens in anger as March shares the sordid details of the deaths of young men. March’s M.O. is to meet homeless, reckless youth on the streets, invite them over to his flat for a place to stay, maybe a few drinks. Then he strangles them to death; sometimes he has additional “fun” with the corpses. But as the bodies begin to pile up March realizes he’s got to dispose of them, thus hatching an insouciant plan that lands him in the clink.
The most interesting thing about Cold Light of Day is the director. Then-21-year-old Fhiona-Louise was, if the internet is telling the truth, the youngest female director in the U.K. at the time. Also of note: she never directed another film. Shame because Louise does show promise in her debut, even if the film isn’t a success.
The 16mm photography and day-in-the-life look at Nilsen, er, March certainly feels in line with what McNaughton did on Henry. Unlike Henry, however, March isn’t presented as a terribly interesting character and precious little time is devoted to understanding his madness. In fact, the guy almost seems more embarrassed than sadistic every time he kills. Louise does offer up some flashbacks to suggest March was introduced to death at a young age. Repetition is the real enemy here; after March’s first kill it’s just a series of the same events until he’s apprehended.
Related: First Look: David Tennant as Serial Killer Dennis Nilsen
March’s murders are horrific and occasionally messy – and often unconvincing – but Louise doesn’t dwell on them much at all. Sure, we see them occur and the bodies are piled up around March’s place. But little FX work is done to punch up the kills and/or aftermath. Rotting bodies looking simply like pale blue corpses. Louise seems most interested in presenting March’s daily life, with murder being a “necessary” evil. This kind of restraint suggests some level of compassion for the victims by not fully exploiting the deaths on screen.
In addition to the look of Cold Light of Day, I did enjoy how Louise presented Marsh as a man who is unable to control his own actions, killing young men almost out of loneliness because they wouldn’t stay otherwise. That aspect feels reminiscent of Jeffrey Dahmer’s desires. Flag delivers a good performance, presenting a man who cares for those around him (like the old man he assists) and is repulsed by murder, shuttling him down a pit of self-loathing that is continually exacerbated.
Even though I didn’t exactly love the film I do love the 16mm cinematography. The 1.33:1 1080p picture is heavy with grain and slightly soft, giving Cold Light of Day the appearance more like that of an old home movie rather than a cinematic feature. Arrow has scanned the original negative at 2K, yielding what is likely the best possible presentation. Color is used sparingly and the picture is often drab and drained. The clean-up job on the print is impressive, with nearly no signs of dirt or debris within the image. Also included is an English LPCM 2.0 mono mix. It sounds a bit muddy and flat, likely both inherent to the source. Subtitles are available in English SDH and given the British accents used here, I’d suggest turning them on.
Special Features:
- NEW 2K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL 16MM CAMERA NEGATIVE approved by director Fhiona-Louise
- Original uncompressed mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary with writer/director Fhiona-Louise
- Brand new audio commentary with film historians/writers Dean Brandum and Andrew Nette
- Newly-filmed interview with actor Martin Byrne-Quinn
- Newly-filmed interview with actor Steve Munroe
- Original Cold Light of Day promo film made to raise financing for the feature
- Re-Release Trailer
- Two short films starring Cold Light of Day director Fhiona-Louise and photographed by Star Wars DP David Tattershall, newly restored in HD: Metropolis Apocalypse (1988, 11 mins) and Sleepwalker (1993, 2 mins)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
- Limited Edition Die-cut O-card
- Limited Edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jo Botting and a look at how the press reported Dennis Nilsen’s real-life crimes by Jeff Billington
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Cold Light of Day
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Special Features
Summary
What 21-year-old Fhiona-Louise pulls off here is impressive for her age and experience but as a film Cold Light of Day never fully satisfies because it spends too much time spinning its wheels, getting stuck in a rut of monotony as Marsh continues his actions. Arrow’s release is solid as always, though, and fans of the film will certainly want this in their collection.
