Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Iseerphia All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

grizzledgeezer Alfred Hitchcock is arguably the greatest director of the sound era (D W Griffith holding the comparable honor for silent films). It's unlikely this will ever change.Hitchcock famously said "The director's job is to manipulate the audience." This is critical in a thriller or suspense film, but Arthur Penn fails to do it consistently. The story unfolds at a too-leisurely pace, without the fluctuating tension that would keep the audience on the edge of its seat. The audience has to be thoroughly confused as to the motivations of the doctor and his assistant, but not enough is revealed (or even suggested) to create viewer tension that parallels the heroine's.The director isn't obliged to interpret a script literally, but too much of Penn's direction is annoyingly literal. Hitchcock's success in repeatedly confusing the audience throughout "Psycho" owes a much to his working closely with Joseph Stefano to create exactly the right situations and dialog to produce the desired effects."Dead of Winter" isn't a terrible film -- just a disappointing one.

opieandy-1 The movie dragged without creating enough suspense. I don't mind slow- paced movies if there's a point. Hitchcock, for example, was genius at this. In this one, it felt like there has wasn't enough script or plot points, so they slowed it down. That's what happens when you ask a B-list cast to fill in the gaps. I like Roddy McDowell, but after all, he's just a poor man's Vincent Price. And Mary Steenburgen is very average. I did like the storyline enough to give it a 6. However, it had the potential to be much better.My scale: 1-5 decreasing degrees of "terrible", with 5 being "mediocre"6- OK. Generally held my interest OR had reasonable cast and/or cinematography, might watch it again 7 - Good. My default rating for a movie I liked enough to watch again, but didn't rise to the upper echelons 8- Very Good. Would watch again and recommend to others 9- Outstanding. Would watch over and over; top 10% of my ratings10 - A Classic (6 of 430 movies have received this)

Woodyanders Struggling actress Katie McGovern (an excellent and appealing performance by Mary Steenburgen) is summoned to a remote country estate to do a screen test for the crippled Dr. Joseph Lewis (superbly played by Jan Rubes) and his obsequious servant Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall in peak urbane and unctuous form). However, Katie eventually discovers that she's being used as a pawn in an elaborate blackmail scheme. Director Arthur Penn relates the gripping story at a steady pace, makes extremely effective use of the bleak wintry setting, builds a good deal of tension as well as a strong feeling of chilling isolation, helplessness, and claustrophobia, and handles the startling moments of surprisingly brutal violence with admirable taste and restraint. The clever script by Marc Shmuger and Mark Malone keeps the viewer guessing with its crafty twists and turns. The sterling acting by the tip-top cast helps matters a whole lot: Steenburgen does stand-out work in three roles, Rubes and especially McDowall excel as a pair of deeply creepy and devious villains, and William Russ makes a favorable impression as Katie's concerned husband Rob. Jan Weincke's glossy cinematography gives the picture an impressive polished look. Richard Einhorn's elegant score does the subtly spine-tingling trick. A worthwhile movie.

finch6789@aol.com This movie did not scare me. It made me guffaw with the absurdity of it. Maybe this movie would have scared someone in the 1950's, but for the hard-core horror fans, this attempt is laughable. When Mary Steenbergen's character unwrapped her hand to find a perfectly healed stump, I laughed at the look on her face. How long was she asleep anyway? Just a lot of stupid things like that, and Roddy McDowall ws so NOT intimidating or frightening. This character was just SUCH a pushover - she didn't even try really hard to escape her situation. This was just bad, bad, bad, very cheesy.