Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

shoobe01-1 Richard Crenna and Paul Williams are excellent, a few supporting actors are also outstanding. The photography is occasionally too gimmicky, but is mostly good to exceptional. The music is great, even when it's not music I love it fits. It establishes a mood, time and place (It's Very, Very Toronto, not NYC or LA...) nicely. There's some lovely editing, lighting and the sound design and recording is vastly above par for the era, and pretty good for today's technology and sensibility. A lot of it is filmed in real locations, and it's a lovely slice of 70's TO. Sets stick out like a sore thumb, and the occasional covering of a brand with gaffer tape is too obvious also. The snowstorm seems like a mistake as well they had to go with for budget/schedule, and there are a few radio VOs to explain things that are just very oddly/badly done. Some key supporting actors are just awful and similarly stick out, which is all too bad. But most disappointingly, for much of the film there's no plot to speak of, and the story rambles for no good reason. The serial killer plot is poorly done, unlikely, and while the ending is somewhat interestingly done, in the final analysis I think unnecessary and too clever by half. I feel instead that this film would have worked much better with Richard Crenna going after a single murder in the same awful place full of crime and the immorality that eats at him, and trying to pin it on Paul Williams much as he does already.

thinker1691 Within the dark wet streets of any city, there lurks the criminal thoughts of any of it's equally dark inhabitants. Some are good, others bad and still others are downright lethal and often lead to murder. This black 1970's murder, mystery was originally written by Hugh Garner and directed for the screen by George Mendeluk. It's the story of Decective Sgt Boyd (Richard Crenna) who despite his years of police service to the Dept. cannot fathom the endless violence which continues night after night. In this latest crime spree, there seems to be a night-time sniper who is killing ladies of the night or prostitutes for no apparent reason. In addition, there are suspicious characters like a local drug lord named Julius Kurtz (Paul Williams) who also has a stable of Whores and secret ties to the police. Personal involvements to several women in the stable makes the case difficult for Boyd as he is interested in helping them. The movie is slow to develop and the audience is thrown more than it needs when it comes to trying to pinpointing the killer. Still with Williams and Crenna playing off one another the film makes for interesting viewing. Recommended to mystery buffs and fans of both stars. ****

Cujo108 A crazed sniper is killing prostitutes in Toronto. Using a camera mounted on the rifle, the victims are photographed as they're gunned down. Boyd (Richard Crenna) is a police sergeant who suspects high-level (but physically diminutive) pimp, Julius Kurtz (Paul Williams), of being behind the slayings. Harboring an intense distaste for Kurtz, Boyd would like nothing more than to lock him up and throw away the key, but are these cases ever that easy?"Stone Cold Dead" is a grimy amalgamation of giallo, crime drama and exploitation archetypes. The sniper's appearance and M.O. are straight out of a giallo, as is the terrific music that pops up whenever they're in action. I also loved the scenes in the culprit's darkroom, whispering voices running rampantly through a damaged psyche. The addition of the camera mount to shoot pictures and bullets at the same time is certainly an inspired touch. Psychological aspect aside, it ensures that the various murder scenes lack a feeling of repetition.The atmosphere of the film is one of grunge and decay. Lensed in a cold, distant style suiting the material, there's an ample amount of sleaze on display as we're treated to the underbelly of Toronto. Kurtz dealing with his girls and Boyd's quest to bring him down get as much screen time as the hunt for the killer.Paul Williams gives a standout performance as Kurtz, a classy type who actually shows a level of compassion and respect for those under his employ. His character is supposed to be scum, yet I actually found him more likable than Crenna's hard-ass sergeant. Boyd isn't all bad, however, as he makes sure that his pet fish are taken care of when he's too busy to come home. How? By rigging up a contraption that feeds them when he calls his house. Genre favorite Michael Ironside shows up in one of the briefest roles ever as an ill-fated cop. Tease. I was going back and forth between two characters when it came to determining the sniper's identity. I managed to get it right about 15 minutes before the reveal. The revelation scene itself is a winner, as the individual playing the guilty party gives an impressive performance.While it isn't perfect, this seldom-seen little cheapie has a lot going for it, especially if you're into gialli. It's also quite similar in overall feel to another seedy Canadian flick from the period, "American Nightmare", only this one's actually worth watching!

sol1218 Contains Spoiler!!! Just to see Paul Williams, Julius Kurtz, playing a big time city pimp should make "Stone Cold Dead" worth watching. With the always reliable Richard Crenna, Sgt. Boyd as the Toronto cop with an obsession for putting Kurtz away and off the streets to make the city safe. Some deranged sniper has been offing prostitutes and at the same time photographing them and sending the photos to the police to taunt them and make them feel helpless in catching him. Sgt. Boyd thinks that it's Kurtz that's the killer and is out to get the goods on him. You would wonder why Kurtz would kill his own employees and hurt his prostitution business? Does Boyd know something? Fairly good whodunit with a surprising performance on the part of Paul Williams as the cool pimp with a heart of gold when it comes to taking good care of his "ladies" even though he can be rough some times but as everyone watching the movie knows Julie doesn't really mean it. A very effective and sympathetic scene in the film is when Kurtz is at a funeral of one of his murdered "ladies" and Sgt. Boyd arrives uninvited hassling him. Kurtz then quietly tell him "Can't you see that I'm here to pay my respects". It just made me wonder who was the good guy and who was the bad guy in the movie. Sgt. Boyd gets really involved in the murder case when one of the hookers murdered by the sniper turns out to be a woman undercover detective who's also a good friend of his and it all becomes very personal with him. The ending of the movie is made to shock and surprise and it does very convincingly with the audience not seeing it coming. "Stone Cold Dead" has that rough and gritty look to it more because of it's small budget then it's filmmakers artistic talents in movie realism with better then average acting from it's supporting cast of Linda Sorenson, Monica Page, and Alberta Watson, Olivia Page, then you would usually see in a B-Movie.