Cold Light of Day Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Cold Light of Day Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 12, 2020

Wisconsin has had more than its fair share of notorious killers, as this slideshow from Milwaukee’s WTMJ* may indicate. Probably the most notorious of the lot are Ed Gein, who of course provided the inspiration for Psycho (note the link points to an older version, since I reviewed that release), and Jeffrey Dahmer, whose exploits have dotted my review queue with both My Friend Dahmer and the relatively recently reviewed Dahmer. Someone somewhere may be trying to tell me something, because another “true life” serial killer has now appeared in film form in my review queue, albeit in an at least somewhat fictionalized and/or dramatized form. Dennis Andrew Nilsen was a Scottish man who became infamous as the somewhat misnamed “English Jeffrey Dahmer” after he was arrested for murdering and dessicating a slew of young men he had picked up in London over the course of several years. Nilsen and Dahmer shared certain characteristics which probably made comparisons inevitable, but for one reason or another, Nilsen’s story is probably not that widely known beyond the borders of the United Kingdom. Cold Light of Day is probably even lesser known than Nilsen itself, but it attempts to give an overview of Nilsen’s murderous spree, with the same sort of flashback structure that Dahmer offered, one that echoes that film probably unsurprisingly in the shared content of a gay boy being forced to tamp down his sexuality, supposedly leading to disastrous consequences (the psychological “explanations” of both Dahmer and Cold Light of Day may not entirely meet muster with mental health experts).

*For those of you who are in the small but august set of people who are interested in the history of call letters, my wife was a longtime anchor and reporter on the radio side of WTMJ many years ago, and it was she who alerted me to the fact that the call letters reflect the acronym of its original owner, The Milwaukee Journal, and that in fact some older folks used to talk about "listening to The Journal."

The film begins with a kind of odd disclaimer that while it’s based in fact it isn’t based on any one account, and then goes on to potentially confuse things further by calling the main murderer Jorden March (Bob Flag, who actually resembles the real life Nilsen). This seems like a kind of odd decision in a way. It’s certainly understandable when victim names are changed, as they were in Dahmer, but in attempting to tell a supposed “real life” story ripped from the production era’s headlines, fictionalizing Nilsen’s name just seems a bit distancing for no good reason. The story actually more or less begins with Nilsen’s and/or March’s arrest, and then various murders and even older biographical tidbits are delivered via flashbacks, with recurrent interstitials back to the police station where March’s confession is in process.

The film has certain unavoidable lurid elements, since Nilsen liked to strangle his victims and then drown them just for good measure, which was often followed by keeping the corpses in his bed so that he had something to snuggle with. As with Dahmer, he was rather skilled in dissection and there are some pretty graphic images scattered throughout the film in that regard. It's a horrifying tale, to be sure, and Cold Light of Day, courtesy of its 16mm source and quasi-vérité stylings, does tend to come off as a docudrama at times, but that in and of itself may not meld completely organically with the film's attempts to at least partially humanize Nilsen and provide some psychological context for his murderous activities.

Note: For those of you who are packaging fans, the slipcover on this release comes with a die cut window exposing the leg of a victim that is part of the keepcase insert cover image. I guess that's appropriate, given the fact that the victim both died and was cut.

Cold Light of Day Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cold Light of Day is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

Cold Light of Day has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with mono audio.

All restoration work was carried out at R3Store Studios in London. The original 16mm AB negative was scanned in 2K resolution on a Scanity and the film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master. Picture restoration was completed using Digital Phoenix and PF Clean software and the original mono mix was remastered from the original mag reels.

This restoration has been approved by director Fhiona Louise.

The smaller format source for this transfer presents certain inherent limitations which any amount of "restoration" can't completely overcome, and as such there are some noticeably rough looking moments throughout this presentation. Some of them, like what appears to be time lapse photography opening the film, offer at times extremely gritty and even noisy looking grain (see screenshots 18 and 19). Kind of interestingly, there are some moments here very akin to some in Dahmer, where suddenly the grain field becomes pixellated, splotchy and yellow and fine detail decreases pretty drastically (compare, for example, screenshot 17 in this review with screenshot 19 in the Dahmer Blu-ray review, ironically both scenes of the murderer luring in a potential victim). In brighter lit moments, the grain, while still appropriately heavy, resolves more organically. The palette is rather drab throughout, even in some outdoor moments (notice the greens in screenshot 5 for some indication of what I'm talking about). There's a bit of wobble in the opening credits and disclaimer text card. With an understanding of the lo-fi ambience of the film, this is certainly a commendable effort which nonetheless simply can't overcome all of the "baked in" deficiencies.

Cold Light of Day Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cold Light of Day features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track which provides capable support for what is by and large a dialogue driven film. Some ambient environmental noises intrude at times as March is out and about in various urban locations or at bars stalking his next potential victim, and those elements are delivered without any issues whatsoever. Optional English subtitles are available.

Cold Light of Day Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Playing the Victim (1080p; 15:49) is an interview with actor Martin Byrne-Quinn.


• Risky Business (1080p; 5:25) is an interview with actor Steve Munroe. This includes a very brief clip from The Comic, which has also been released recently by Arrow.


• Scenes of the Crime (1080p; 12:38) is an interesting piece featuring Ewan Cant of Arrow Films escorting Fhiona Louise around various locations where the film was shot. The once seedy area has undergone some pretty substantial gentrification.


• Original Promotional Film (480i; 4:39) is a short made to help raise funds for the feature.


• Re-Release Trailer (1080p; 1:04)


• Short Films feature a duo by filmmaker Jon Jacobs which offer on screen appearances by Cold Light of Day writer and director Fhiona Louise.

  Metropolis Apocalypse (480i; 9:16)

  
  

  Sleepwalker (1080p; 3:29)

• Audio Commentaries

  Audio Commentary with Dean Brandum and Andrew Nette offers a duo who establish their analytical bona fides by stating where they received their doctorates, which is then followed by their discussion of the "enduring mystery" of Fhiona Louise, which is otherwise "solved" on this Blu-ray in various fashions. That's said with tongue in cheek, of course, but the two do get into some of the history of the real life Nilsen as well as some other background information.

  
  

  Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Fhiona Louise is moderated by Arrow Films' Ewan Cant and addresses the "mystery" , more or less, while providing biographical and production data. Ms. Louise is often very soft spoken.

Additionally, Arrow has supplied a typically well appointed insert booklet.

Cold Light of Day Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cold Light of Day might have arguably seemed a bit more of a "true crime" film if it had at least stuck with Dennis Nilsen's real name. This is an interesting effort which has some good performances and a gritty urban ambience which nicely captures the seedier side of London. The 16mm source means video has some deficits in detail and an at times erratic looking grain field, but audio is fine and the supplements are very interesting, as is Arrow's custom, for those who are considering a purchase.