Stars:
Robert Floyd, Marisa Ryan, Amy Jo Johnson, Christopher Wiehl, Christian
Campbell, and Fred Norris
Writer:
Robert A. Masciantonio
Director:
Robert A. Masciantonio
Feature
length: 88 minutes
Extras:
Filmmaker’s Commentary, Promotional Trailer, “Jerks” – An Original Short
Film, Animated
Still Gallery, and Original Cast
Audition Tapes
Languages:
English Stereo
Subtitles:
N/A
Packaging:
Alpha Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 18
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1999/DVD Release: 2002
Home
Video Distributor: Synapse Films
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Robert
A. Masciantonio’s “Cold Hearts” is a young twenty-something vampire flick
set on the Jersey shore with various nods to Kevin Smith, who appears to have
been an inspiration to the director, as well as something akin to a low budget
homage to “The Lost Boys” regardless of whether it was consciously or
unconsciously intended to be so. What makes the vampires of “Cold Hearts”
interesting is that they are neither the brooding “oh it sucks to be an
immortal” type and they are not vicious killers. Vampirism is treated more
like a lifestyle choice where a bunch of people choose to live as the undead and
then just deal with the plusses and minuses of being a vampire. If they can
score fresh blood from the blood bank dealers they’ll use it, but if they have
to kill, they choose their victims wisely. By wisely I mean in the case of the
protagonists, they go after people they judge to be deserving of being prey
while on the other side of the coin the antagonistic vampires go after the
gullible and the weak not unlike some predators. They can even walk around
outside in the day though prolonged exposure to the sun will kill them. The
story is not so much about moral judgment regarding these creatures as it is
about relationships. Our lead vampire played by Marisa Ryan (Wet hot American
Summer) was brought into this nightlife by her uncle, played by Fred Norris (The
Howard Stern Show.) Amy Jo Johnson (Felicity) is Marissa’s sickly vampire
friend. Tom Savini, Ltd., did the makeup effects, but this is not a gory flick.
For a first feature, the film is an above average novice effort. “Cold
Hearts” was awarded the Best Feature Film Award at the 1999 Atlantic City Film
Festival.
Synapse
Films DVD “Special Edition” presents “Cold Hearts” in a (1.66:1) aspect
ratio, but it might has well be (1.33:1) because the bars above and below are
almost not existent. The picture quality looks a bit washed out with some
noticeable grain that appears to be from the source print and not a result of
the digital compression and mastering. It is pretty easy to excuse this since
this is a low budget film. The English Stereo Soundtrack is clear with some
great songs mixed in that I have not heard since I was in high school. I’d be
curious to know how much it cost to get the clearance to use “Close To Me”
by The Cure in the film? There are no captions or subtitles encoded on to the
DVD. As an aside, don’t shut your player off when the credits roll because
there is an extra scene that appears sandwiched between the closing credits.
Director
Robert A. Masciantonio delivers a feature length audio commentary with a bunch
of his buddies goofing off in the background. The commentary is more anecdotal
than technical in nature. The promotional trailer (1:06) is also included along
with cast audition tapes (20:27), an animated still gallery (5:58), and a
(1.78:1) black and white short called “Jerks,” which seems rather out of
place with the rest of the content on this disc. The short has a running length
of 9 minutes and 57 seconds.
The
DVD features animated interactive menus with full motion scene selections and
all are easy to navigate. “Cold Hearts” is a good vampire flick worth
checking out and the DVD is not bad either. “Cold Hearts: Special Edition”
will debut on DVD-Video from Synapse Films on Tuesday, October 8, 2002.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All
Rights Reserved.