It was surprising to discover that Ice Cold in Phoenix, is the work of veteran movie director Lindsay Shonteff, a man who has been helming exploitation pics since the 1960’s. With 23 movies to his credit, one would assume he’d be able to muster a larger budget and perhaps a more charismatic leading man. Alas, with a screenplay as tangential and nihilistic as the one the director composed for this Hellish road-trip movie, I’d bet securing money and talent was an uphill battle at best.

Ice Cold in Phoenix is essentially a revenge picture, but the anger it seethes out of its scenes is unrelenting and damn hard to watch at times. Rather than follow an accessory character, we are asked to ride shotgun with the movie’s abused-child-come-psychopath as he snaps and unleashes his anger on a number of unsuspecting victims. While this is an interesting approach, the character is portrayed as, well, ice cold, and thus is impossible to sympathize with. When he ends up as the third wheel in an estranged, shady couple’s desert sojourn, the viewer is at a complete loss about whom to watch or root for. The overall result is an aimless narrative with a bizarre, twist ending that does little other than reinforce the movie’s primarily nihilist tone.

On the upside, there’s a good deal of eye-candy provided by a number of the lead character’s victims (and potential victims.) Most notable is April Shepard who is built like a curvy Amazon and is well cast as a hitchhiking femme fatale. Additionally, the breakout performance of the entire movie comes from Razel Wolf as a house wife who is held hostage in her home by the snapped protagonist. An older actress, she is fearless and tender in her portrayal of a sexually manipulated, frightened and ultimately tragic character. Finally, we’re offered Pamela Campbell in a small role as a prostitute who picks up the wrong John.

• Format: Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
• Studio: Mti Home Video
• DVD Release Date: June 29, 2004
• Run Time: 89 minutes