Cold Skin is a 2017 French-Spanish science fiction horror film directed by Xavier Gens. It stars Ray Stevenson as Gruner, David Oakes as Friend, and Aura Garrido as Aneris. The movie is about a lighthouse guard who arrives on a remote island that is inhabited by creatures. Cold Skin (2017) movie review
When we are introduced to the two main characters, Gruber is gruff figure who has seen it all. Friend is the inexperienced guard who learns pretty fast to defend himself and find shelter before nightfall. Aneris (sirena, Spanish for siren, spelled backwards) is introduced not long after and she is one of the friendlier versions of the creatures that attack at night. While constantly being covered in practical effects, she manages to portray a lot of emotions. She whimpers and acts curious as well as being scared, all without saying a single word throughout the entire movie. Aura Garrido does a great job in bringing the creature to life, considering she was in full makeup the entire movie. Can’t see that as being very comfortable.
One thing that sticks out is the repetitiveness of the attacks at night. This is very similar to the book by the same name written by Albert Sánchez Piñol. The screenplay follow the book very closely and does contain some elements such as similar night attacks and weird sex scene that oddly seem not to belong in the movie. The attacks are fine but they are very similar and the ending attack was very disappointing. It seems like the movie was building up to something big but it fizzles out by the end. It leaves us wanting more.
While the main story is wrapped up in a good way, the origin of the species is not explored much. We don’t know much about them and since Aneris doesn’t talk, we don’t get to hear anything about how they came to be or why they attack the lighthouse on random nights.
Another thing is that we don’t get to know how dangerous the creatures really are. They attack the lighthouse a lot. However, there are no secondary characters that get killed so you don’t get to experience the scale of their attack. You need to experience a sense of loss to ramp up the tension. If they keep attacking, losing and retreating then there is not much tension built. On top of this, the two main characters also go through the same repetitive actions. They kill the creatures and fix up stuff for the next attack. Rinse and repeat. On top of this you have some tension between them. It is a combination of constant creature attack, the loneliness of the island, and the fact that Aneris picks the side of the guy who abuses her. She doesn’t seem to know how to get away.
The cinematography always has this light blue tint to it to show the cold atmosphere. They’re surrounded by huge waves and unforgiving ocean. The acting overall is good and the special effects were good. However, the larger scenes of creatures attacking certainly showed the budget restrictions. Not that they were bad, but they do look CGI’d to death, almost unpolished, but the bones are certainly there. The movie never looked cheap and the constant ocean waves slamming the coast as well as the loneliness/size of the lighthouse certainly makes the movie feel a bit claustrophobic. There were some plot holes/unanswered questions but the book goes into more detail that could potentially help explain these holes, if one is inclined to read it. Overall a good movie and quite impressive on how well it looks considering the small budget they had to work on.
Thanks for reading my Cold Skin (2017) movie review
