Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Dead of Winter

Play trailer Poster for Dead of Winter R 1986 1h 40m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
77% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 48% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Struggling actress Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) is approached by the mysterious Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall) and invited to an upstate New York mansion to film a screen test. There she meets Dr. Joseph Lewis (Jan Rubes), who is eager to hire Katie as a replacement for an actress who's suffered a nervous breakdown. But the film shoot takes a sordid turn as Katie begins to understand that her role is simply a pawn in Lewis' twisted blackmail games.

Where to Watch

Dead of Winter

Critics Reviews

View More
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
2.5/4
The movie itself is finally just an exercise in silliness -- great effort to little avail -- but the actors have fun with it, the sets work and there are one or two moments with perfect surprises. Go to Full Review
Paul Attanasio Washington Post 01/01/2000
An hour's worth of exposition is a long wait, and if the payoff isn't quite worth it, it is fun. Go to Full Review
Ángel Fernández-Santos El Pais (Spain) 06/03/2020
The film is a monstrosity. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Neil Cohen Echo Magazine 07/29/2007
4/5
A chilly, creepy throwback to classic thrillers. Go to Full Review
Michael A. Smith Nolan's Pop Culture Review 12/14/2006
4/5
An outstanding thriller. Penn at the top of his game. Go to Full Review
Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily 10/09/2005
3/5
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Rui P. Oct 21 Decent movie to watch on a Rainy 🌧 or definitely on a snowy day when you're tired of shoveling See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 14 Failure in 1 hour and 40 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more 02/06/2022 What does it take to be a movie star? Well even in the dead of winter you might actually end up dead Mary Steenburgen and the late Roddy McDowell star in a seasonal thriller Katie McGovern wants to be an actress and leave her medial life in the city behind, she's then approached by Mr. Murray to stay at a mansion in upstate NY They are looking for a young woman for a particular role She's hired as a replacement after the last person suffered a nervous breakdown But as time goes on they start to make Katie feel more paranoid as her belongings go missing and some shady behavior by the owner and Murray starts to show itself She's caught in a big web of lies and blackmail Can she escape their mind games? The movie takes time to unfold it's darker nature but the suspense is very well composed Some intense music to go with An outstanding performance by Steenburgen and McDowell The wintery setting gives it that isolated 'Misery'-like quality Director Arthur Penn has some good set pieces with this mansion and despite the amount of exposition it's a good pay off The actors are enjoying the material which acts as a throwback to classic thrillers See more 07/21/2020 I watched this ages ago as a teenager and recently again. I still really like this movie. Dated for sure but pretty good thriller. See more 01/22/2020 An actress accepts a mysterious job from a peculiar group of strangers that have her go up to a desolate house in the "dead of winter" and audition. Before she knows it she finds herself in the middle of a nightmare where dark secrets are unveiled and horrible things begin to happen to her. The movie is packed with twists and the more complex it gets the less scary it is. Not to say it's not creepy because there are some really dark chilling moments. And the performances from Mary Steenburgen and Roddy McDowell are both solid. The pacing is a bit slow but it's a solid film even if they try just a bit too much with the culmination. See more 01/01/2020 It's a decent mystery/suspense, but it all ends up being rather run-of-the-mill. Though the actors are pretty great, as is the isolation and atmosphere. See more Read all reviews
Dead of Winter

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Psycho III 60% 34% Psycho III Watchlist April Fool's Day 60% 48% April Fool's Day Watchlist Misery 91% 90% Misery Watchlist Angel Heart 82% 81% Angel Heart Watchlist Psycho II 67% 62% Psycho II Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Struggling actress Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) is approached by the mysterious Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowall) and invited to an upstate New York mansion to film a screen test. There she meets Dr. Joseph Lewis (Jan Rubes), who is eager to hire Katie as a replacement for an actress who's suffered a nervous breakdown. But the film shoot takes a sordid turn as Katie begins to understand that her role is simply a pawn in Lewis' twisted blackmail games.
Director
Arthur Penn
Producer
John Bloomgarden, Marc Shmuger
Screenwriter
Marc Shmuger, Mark Malone
Production Co
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating
R
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.2M
Runtime
1h 40m
Sound Mix
Surround
Most Popular at Home Now