Cold Light

In Rogelio Rodriguez’s short film Cold Light, a woman, Lucy (Aria DeMaris), finds herself tied to a chair in the back of a pick-up truck while Mike (Derek K. Milton) is heard in the distance digging a hole…more a grave. As he drags her out of the truck, Mike rambles to Lucy about how she and her kind do not belong here, “You think you can come here with your charms? Taking over and grabbing what is not yours.”

Before Mike can go through with the final death blow to Lucy, he is shot from a distance by a local hunter, Gabe (Kareem Malcolm). As he quickly comes to Lucy’s aid, Gabe learns too late that no good deed goes unpunished.

“Mike rambles to Lucy about how she and her kind do not belong here…”

Cold Light tells an interesting story with spoilery details. Let’s just say that as a film, writer/director Rogelio Rodriguez has a good knack for the creepy while bringing an artistic flair to the proceedings. It’s one thing to tell a story in the dark to heighten the horror, but his use of colored lights offers an odd sense of beauty and elevates the tension.

Like a good horror short, there is a twist that quickly transforms his horrific tale into one of fantasy and is held together by a perfectly understated performance by his cast. There is much to appreciate in Cold Light.