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If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

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

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Never trust anything that bleeds for a week and still doesn't die."Vice Sergeant detective John Dark(Luke Goss, who seems more worried about how cool he looks on screen)realizes that his new, well dressed partner, "Governor" Morty DC Shade(Kevin Howarth, who grows more and more creepy and menacing as the film continues)was actually killed in a raid on slave runners gone awry, revived by the blood of a foreign girl which gives birth to a creature(..labeled a "grail" by a kooky member of internal affairs, Dr. Elgin portrayed by bald-headed Matt Lucas)inside him. The grail yearns for blood, slowly transforming the host, creating a monster which replaces Shade overtime. Shade begins attacking those behind the slave-running operation which moves underage girls from country to country illegally for prostitution purposes, and Dark stands pat because playing by the rules hasn't brought the "bad guys" to justice. But, when Shade attacks a decoy placed in harm's way by the mastermind behind the entire slave-running operation, Dark convinces himself that the monster must be destroyed before things really get out of control. Albany(Carly Turnbull), a secret agent keeping a member of the slave-running organization safe because of his testimonies against his comrades in exchange for favors, butts heads with Dark when those associated with her client are turning up dead, horribly disfigured by some sort of beast with a nasty overbite. Soon Dark and Shade will have to duke it out or else the monster poses danger to the human race at large, not just those undesirables which break laws and pose a threat to society.Director Andrew Goth presents a flashy neo-noir Gothic horror flick which also works as a variation on the vampire theme and cop drama. The British-speak is on display and the tough-talking detectives ooze machismo. The villains of the film are rather undeveloped, only serving the plot as delicacies for Shade's vampiric monster, which emerges from a hole in his hand(..also, before the monster appears, long nails burst forth from Shade's fingers). Goth's style is ambitious and flamboyant as he uses all types of camera set-ups and movements, attempting visually, it seems, to make up for the paper-thin plot. Without the creature, this is just another Death Wish variant with Shade replacing Bronson's vengeance seeking vigilante, out for his own brand of justice. The heavies in the film are colorful, but they appear, are killed, and disappear..card board characters placed in the film as vermin for extermination. One member of the slave-ring, a woman needing money for her young son, Tommy(Rhys Moosa),who forges passports, is developed a bit because we do need some sort of sympathetic character in this film, other than agent Albany(..who often seems but a mere robot doing her duty to prevent harm towards her voice into a major operation she wishes to demolish)for when you have a story seething with such corrupted sorts and coppers stooping to their level to "clean the streets", it's nice to find someone to care about if even slightly. The attacks are often committed in a way to not show the creature eating inside it's victims perhaps due to budget constraints(..instead we are privy to the pleasured expression on Shade's face as he "feeds"). The creature is also rather shown quickly, never fully visible too long on screen, perhaps because it's created through CGI, which would expose how unrealistic it is. A lot is left to our imagination, that's for sure. Shade looks more and more like a vampire as the film moves along, his eyes absent of humanity, as he carries a ferocious visage. He really looks like a human monster by the film's climax. The film doesn't go out of it's way to explain how this creature came to be and the entire warehouse sequence where people died, including Shade(..the director follows Dark as he attempts to find his partner and the two slave-runners who were party to this particular exchange), occurs away from our eyes. Merely a hanging female corpse whose blood drops gave new life to Shade, combusting into flame, is our reason for the creature's existence.

I downloaded this movie because I had nothing better to do. I kind of expected to see a cool 'who-did-it' slasher flick; generic story, lots of gore, okay cinematography, etc. This movie was almost the exact opposite. The story was actually kind of interesting; a detective who's life was taken away is given a second chance due to a symbiotic parasite, but in exchange, must feed off human bodies to maintain both himself and the parasite. You could tell by watching the movie that the director tried to make it seem 'cool', by moving at a subtle, slow pace in order to deviate from a typical slasher flick. But he fails miserably. The movie is too dreadfully slow, the character development leaves much to be desired (which is almost a good thing sometimes...what was up with that Captain or General person who plays golf?). Also, some of the scenes were just plain weird. Near the end, when the female detective was sitting at the bench with the two guards in the towers, what went on there? Did she walk back to Johns house with a head wound, just in time for it to start bleeding? I found that to be a highly stupid sequence of events.Overall, I thought this movie was fairly bad; I know nothing about the director, but the level that this movie sits at makes me think it's possibly his first, and hopefully his last.I give this movie a 4/10.

After being brought back from the dead by a parasitic creature, detective Shade is back on the street killing…and eating...bad guys. His partner, John Dark, realizes the situation is out-of-hand and tries to stop Shade before he fully transforms into a monster. This well-made by intensely boring British horror offering features good direction from Andrew Goth, who displays a strong visual style and a good eye for interesting camera angles. The entire cast gave very good performances, especially the golf-playing police chief (name of actor escapes me right now). The make-up effects were quite good, and if you like your horror movies gory…well, let's just say this is a VERY bloody flick and horror fans will not be disappointed in this department. Unfortunately, this is where the list of positive aspects ends. The plot is a big confusing mess, the violence is often mean-spirited, the narrative made no sense and the film is very poorly paced. Not unwatchably bad, but unfortunately dumb and dull. Oh, and did those CG shots of the worm-thing that comes out of Shade's hand look like crap or what?3.5/10.

I've been following this film for awhile, waiting for it's release after reading some blurbs on the net, and I was not disappointed. Sure, it's a low budget independent affair, but like previous reviewers here have said, this film certainly shows a lot of promise. "Cold and Dark" is the mainly DARK story of two British cops, one of whom is infected with some sort of creature that allows him to take out bad guys that he and his partner have been trying to get. I really liked the tone of this movie, and certainly the black humor (which it's fairly dripping with), and the pacing is really the kind that you don't see in films anymore these days. The opening introductions to the two main characters (played by ex-Brit pop star Luke Goss and Kevin Howarth) for example plays like a verbal ballet (and is shot and edited as such) leading up to the moment, fairly early in the pic where things really start turning ugly. And they really DO turn ugly (gore fans rejoice). The performances, overall, were good, with special mention going to Matt Lucas (from the UK comedy show "Little Britain") as the sometimes zany / sometimes creepy paranormal investigator, and Kevin Howarth as the bad cop gone worse. The only real disappointment was the way the story is rushed through the last act; you really don't get a breather at all as things wind-up to the slightly open conclusion (sequel?), but all- in-all the direction, writing and make-up really pull you through. Looking forward to the reported next feature from this team, "The Wretched". It's supposed to be a kind of horror western, and I can see from some scenes in "Cold and Dark" that the director (aptly named Andrew Goth) is kinda building up to that: harmonica theme music and one or two long distance show-down scenes. Hopefully with a little more cash behind them, they'll be able to knock this one out of the park.