Sundance 2014: 'Cold In July' jumps genre onto fest's main stage

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Actress Elisabeth Moss, with the film “The One I Love.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Melissa Benoist, from the film “Whiplash.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Michael Winterbottom, left, and actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, with the film “The Trip to Italy.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Steve Coogan, with the film “The Trip to Italy.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actors and co-directors Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, from the film “What We Do in the Shadows.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Musician Nick Cave, subject of the film “20,000 Days on Earth.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Sara Colangelo, with the film “Little Accidents.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Elizabeth Banks, Jacob Lofland and Boyd Holbrook, with the film “Little Accidents.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Boyd Holbrook, with the film “Little Accidents.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Elizabeth Banks, with the film “Little Accidents.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Jacob Lofland, with the film “Little Accidents.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Amy Carlson, from left, Matt Walsh, Meredith Hagner, Jason Ritter (front, arms open) director David Cross (hiding behind), Erinn Hayes, Jake Cherry and James Adomian, with the film “Hits.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Meredith Hagner, with the film “Hits.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Jason Ritter, with the film “Hits.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Erinn Hayes, with the film “Hits.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Amy Carlson, with the film “Hits.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor James Adomian, with the film “Hits.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Kate Barker-Froyland, actresses Mary Steenburgen and Anne Hathaway and composers Jonathan Price and Jenny Lewis, with the film, “Song One.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Matt Walsh, with the film “Hits.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Mary Steenburgen, with the film “Song One.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor and producer Mark Duplass, with the film “The One I Love.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Kurt Russell, with the documentary “The Battered Bastards of Baseball,” about his father, Neil Oliver “Bing” Russell. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Thomas Balmés, of the documentary “Happiness.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Brit Marling from the film “I Origins.,” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Chaz Ebert, left, and director Steve James with the documentary. “Life Itself,” about the late film critic Roger Ebert. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey from the film “I Origins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Lea Thompson with the film “Ping Pong Summer.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Michael Pitt with the film “I Origins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Bill Hader with the film “Skeleton Twins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Mike Cahill, director of the film “I Origins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Imogene Wolodarksy, left, director Maya Forbes, actress Ashley Aufderheide and actor Mark Ruffalo with the film “Infinitely Polar Bear.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari and actress Meron Getnet with the film “Difret.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Imogene Wolodarksy from the film “Infinitely Polar Bear.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Stephanie Ellis with the film “The Sleepwalker.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Pasquale Rotella of the documentary “Under the Electric Sky.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Catherine Keener with the film “War Story.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Desiree Akavan, left, and actress Rebecca Henderson with the film “Appropriate Behavior.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Steven Yueng with the film “I Origins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey from the film “I Origins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actors David Henry Gerson, left, and Kris Park with the short film “Chapel Perilous.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Halley Feiffer from the film “Appropriate Behavior.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Jenny Slate with the film “Obvious Child.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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John Shook, owner and chef of Los Angeles restaurant “Animal,” who created a pop-up “Animal” in Park City for Sundance. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Christopher Abbott with the film “The Sleepwalker.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Gillian Robespierre, left, and actress Jenny Slate with the film “Obvious Child.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Pasquale Rotella of the documentary “Under the Electric Sky.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Gitte Witt with the film “The Sleepwalker.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Arian Moayed with the film “Appropriate Behavior.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Directors Dan Cutforth and Jane Liptsitz of the documentary “Under the Electric Sky.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Erick Chavarria with the film “I’m A Mitzvah.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Mona Fastvold with the film “The Sleepwalker.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Aaron Paul, left, director Kat Candler and Josh Wiggins from the movie “Hellion.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Aaron Paul from the movie “Hellion.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Josh Wiggins from the movie “Hellion.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Jason Schwartzman, left, director Alex Ross Perry and Elizabeth Moss from the movie “Listen Up Phillip.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Jason Schwartzman from the movie “Listen Up Phillip.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Elizabeth Moss from the movie “Listen Up Phillip.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Josephine de La Baume from the movie “Listen Up Phillip.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Alex Ross Perry with the movie “Listen Up Phillip.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Jonathan Pryce from the movie “Listen Up Philip.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Malik Vitthal, left, John Boyega, Anika Noni Rose and Rotimi Akinosho from the movie “Imperial Dreams.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Jeff Preiss, left, Glenn Close, Elle Fanning, Flea and Amy-Jo Albany from the movie “Low Down.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Noah Silver from the movie “Jamie Marks Is Dead.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Glenn Close from the movie “Low Down.”

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Flea from the movie “Low Down.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Elle Fanning from the movie “Low Down.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Tim Daly from the movie “Low Down.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Greg Barker, left, Maryam Alkhawaja and John Battsek from the movie “We Are Giant.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Noah Silver, left, Madisen Beaty, director Carter Smith and Morgan Saylor from the movie “Jamie Marks is Dead.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Morgan Saylor from the movie “Jamie Marks is Dead.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Madisen Beaty from the movie “Jamie Marks is Dead.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Molly Shannon from the movie “Life After Beth.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Paul Reiser from the movie “Life After Beth.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Matthew Gray Gobler from the movie “Life After Beth.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Cheryl Hines from the movie “Life After Beth.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Dane DeHaan from the movie “Life After Beth.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Aubrey Plaza from the movie “Life After Beth.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Chris O’Dowd and Kelly Reilly from the movie “Calvary.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Chris O’Dowd from the movie “Calvary.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Kelly Reilly from the movie “Calvary.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Pierre Boulanger, left, Emily Browning, Hannah Murray and Olly Alexander from the movie “God Help the Girl.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Olly Alexander from the movie “God Help the Girl.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Emily Browning from the movie “God Help the Girl.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Pierre Boulanger from the movie “God Help the Girl.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Hannah Murray from the movie “God Help the Girl.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Paul Eenhoorn, left, Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens and Earl Lynn Nelson from the movie “Land Ho!” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Earl Lynn Nelson from the movie “Land Ho!” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Paul Eenhoorn from the movie “Land Ho!” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Rory Kennedy from the movie “Last Days in Vietnam.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Laurie David, left, Katie Couric and Stephanie Soechtig from the movie “Fed Up.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Brad Takei, left, and George Takei from the movie “To Be Takei.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Bill Hader, with “The Skeleton Twins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Craig Johnson, director of “The Skeleton Twins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Cast members and the director of “A Most Wanted Man” include, from left, Philip Seymour Hoffman, director Anton Corbijn, Rachel McAdams and Willem Dafoe. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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From left, Jeremiah Bitsui, Sydney Freeland, Morningstar Angeline, and Carmen Moore with “Drunktown’s Finest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Zeresenay Bermane Mehari and Meron Getnet, with the film “Difret.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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From left: Fred Abahams, Ole Solvang holding baby Ari Anna Neistat-Solvang, Anna Neistat and directors Ross Dauffman and Katy Chevigny with “E-Team.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Marcello Conte, with “Ping Pong Summer.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Emmi Shockley, with “Ping Pong Summer.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Michael Tully, director of “Ping Pong Summer.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Andrew Rossi, director of “Ivory Tower.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Cast members and the director of “Love is Strange” include, from left, director Ira Sachs, John Lithgow, Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina and Darren Burrows. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Mike Cahill, director of “I Origins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Brit Marling, with “I Origins.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Luis Moreno Ocampo, director Edet Belzberg and Amelia Green-Dove, with “Watchers of the Sky.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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From left, Kris Perry, Sandy Stier, Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami, with “The Case Against 8.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Maika Monroe, with the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Joey King, with the film “Wish I Was Here.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Pierce Gagnon, with the film “Wish I Was Here.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Josh Gad, with the film “Wish I Was Here.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Directors Maxim Pozdorovkin, left, and Tony Gerber, with the documentary “The Notorious Mr. Bout.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Cast members of the film “Wish I Was Here”, including, from left, Joey King, Zach Braff, Pierce Gagnon, Kate Hudson and Josh Gad. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Zach Braff and Kate Hudson, with the film “Wish I Was Here.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Eddy Moretti, chief creative officer of Vice and executive producer of “Fishing Without Nets” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Cast members of the film “Cold in July,” including from left, Don Johnson, Wyatt Russell, director Jim Mickle, Vinessa Shaw, Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Nick Damici. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Chloe Grace Moretz, from the film “Laggies.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Kaitlyn Dever, with the film “Laggies.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Sam Rockwell, with the film “Laggies.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Alex Gibney, director of the documentary “Finding Fela.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Lynn Shelton, director of the film “Laggies.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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From the film “Laggies” are, from left, cast members Sam Rockwell, Kaitlyn Dever amd Chloe Grace Moretz and director Lynn Shelton. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Dan Stevens, with the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Chase Williamson, with the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Adam Wingard, with the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Lance Reddick, with the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Sheila Kelley, of the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Lenny Abrahamson and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, from the film “Frank.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Writer Simon Barrett, of the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Brendan Meyer, with the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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From the film “The Guest” are, from left, Lance Reddick, Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, director Adam Wingard, Maika Monroe, Chase Williamson, Brendan Meyer and writer Simon Barrett. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Maika Monroe, with the film “The Guest.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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From the film “Frank” are, from left, actor Scoot McNairy, director Lenny Abrahamson and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Cutter Hodierne, center, with actors Abdikani Muktar, left, in white and Abubakr Mire, of the film “Fishing Without Nets.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Ashley Greene, with the film “Wish I Was Here.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, with the film “Frank.”

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Actor Scoot McNairy with the film “Frank.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Abdikani Muktar, from the film “Fishing Without Nets.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Vinessa Shaw of “Cold in July.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Sam Shepard and Vinessa Shaw appear in the thriller “Cold in July.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Don Johnson, part of the “Cold in July” cast. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Nick Damici, an actor in the thriller “Cold in July.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Greg Whiteley, director of “Mitt,” documenting Mitt Romney’s run for the presidency. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Michael C. Hall, a lead actor in “Cold in July.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Wyatt Russell, an actor in “Cold in July.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Jim Mickle, director of “Cold in July.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Cast of the movie “Camp X-Ray,” from left, Peter Sattler, Payman Maadi, Kristen Stewart and Lane Garrison. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Kristen Stewart from “Camp X-Ray.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Payman Maadi from the movie “Camp X-Ray.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Lane Garrison from the movie “Camp X-Ray.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Peter Sattler from the movie “Camp X-Ray.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Tom Bernard, left, and Michael Barker, co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Rose McGowan, with the film “Dawn.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actors Richard Ayoade, left, and Jesse Eisenberg, from the film “The Double.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Jesse Eisenberg, from the film “The Double.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Richard Ayoade, from the film “The Double.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actors Miles Teller, left, and Damien Chazelle, from the film “Whiplash.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Austin Stowell, from the film “Whiplash.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Cast of the film “Blue Ruin,” including Devin Ratray, left, Amy Hargreaves, Macon Blair and Eve Plumb. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Devin Ratray, from the film “Blue Ruin.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Amy Hargreaves, from the film “Blue Ruin.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actor Macon Blair, from the film “Blue Ruin.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Hong Khao, left, and actress Pei Pei Cheng, from the movie “Lilting.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Eve Plumb, from the film “Blue Ruin.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier, from the film “Blue Ruin.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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The cast of “Whiplash,” including Miles Teller, left, Melissa Benoist, Austin Stowell and Damien Chazelle. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Actress Kate Flannery, from the film “Cooties.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Director Todd Miller, left, and sales agent Josh Braun, with the film “Dinosaur 13.” (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

By Mark Olsen

Jan. 18, 2014 11:29 AM PT

Referring to a movie or filmmaker as “genre” is often a subtle way to undermine them, placing them in a specific, confined box and leaving them there. This, of course, overlooks the ways in which many of the greatest filmmakers, from Howard Hawks to John Carpenter, have specifically grappled with genre-based storytelling to render something surprising from the seemingly familiar.

When filmmaker Jim Mickle’s new “Cold In July” premieres Saturday evening as part of the dramatic competition category at Sundance it will mark an unusual move, as just last year Mickle was in Sundance’s midnight section with his cannibal horror/family drama hybrid “We Are What We Are.” It is a rare leap for a filmmaker from the confines of the midnight section to the prestige of the festival’s competition.

“I love it. It keeps pushing, encouraging us to explore new territory,” Mickle said in a phone call from his home in New York ahead of the festival. “This movie was really hard to get made for a very long time, it wasn’t straight-up horror, and it was difficult to jump into something that was a little different. It’s great encouragement to know that people will respond.”

PHOTOS: Sundance Film Festival 2014 | The Scene

The film is an adaptation of the 1989 crime novel by noted author Joe R. Lansdale. In the story a man, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall), shoots and kills a burglar in his home. The burglar’s ex-con father, Ben Russell (Sam Shepard), comes after Dane until they both realize they are being deceived about what is really going on. The film also features a freewheeling turn by Don Johnson as a flaky investigator, Vinessa Shaw as Dane’s wife and Wyatt Russell as a sleazy heavy.

Mickle first read the book after making his first feature, 2006’s “Mulberry Street.” He gave the book to both producer Linda Moran and his screenwriting partner, Nick Damici. It would then take them seven years to get the film made, and in the meantime the trio collaborated on the post-apocalyptic vampire western “Stake Land” and last year’s “We Are What We Are.”

The three previous films directed by Mickle could all be reasonably placed as horror films, though part of what made them so notable was the uncanny ability of Mickle and Damici to cross-pollinate ideas from different genres. In “Cold In July” the pair meld the paranoid revenge thriller with father-son psychodrama against a backdrop of shifting allegiances in which enemies become allies. It is storytelling that goes off the map.

“I see movies as movies, they’re either good or they’re bad,” Damici in a phone call from New York ahead of the festival.

MORE: Complete list of Sundance film festival selections

“We tend to cross genres, and I love cross-genre stuff,” said Damici. “Lonsdale does that like nobody else, which is right up our alley. When I read it I said, this is crazy, it starts out as ‘Cape Fear’ and somewhere along the way turns into ‘Taxi Driver.’ ”

The references used by Mickle and Damici also extended beyond typical genre fare. Mickle refers to both the ‘80s Patrick Swayze film “Road House” and the Korean thrillers “Memories of Murder” and “The Chaser” in discussing the film, while Damici mentions the Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica and Michelangelo Antonioni’s Jack Nicholson-starring “The Passenger.”

Damici began his writing process by simply transcribing Lonsdale’s book, including all the dialogue, resulting in a 220-page script. From there he and Mickle painstakingly whittled it down to something less directly faithful but more reasonably shootable.

Mickle noted, “Even though the finished script was probably furthest from the book, in my mind it was the most spiritually akin to the book and I felt best captured what we loved about it.

PHOTOS: Sundance through the years

It was while at Sundance last year that Mickle first met Hall. The actor ended up coming pretty much straight from shooting the final episode of the television show “Dexter” to the set of “Cold In July” in upstate New York last summer. Hall even had the delightfully unsightly mullet wig he wears in the film made by the hair and makeup team from the show. (Mickle noted Hall took to referring to the wig itself by his character’s name, “Richard Dane.”)

Moving from the festival’s midnight section to Sundance’s dramatic competition simply underscores the way Mickle and Damici are driven by an interest in storytelling and characters rather than strictly gore for the sake of gore or the whirligig fright machines of many recent horror films.

“I think it’s good to jump around and do something different,” said Damici. “Horror’s always going to be there. We can always go back to it. It’s not going to go away.”

Even the length of time it took them to get “Cold In July” going in the face of concerns that they were just horror filmmakers and not ready for something like a twisting crime drama ultimately worked to their benefit.

“In a way I think the long process let it simmer,” said Mickle. “I don’t think stylistically we would have gone as far, we wouldn’t have pushed the period as much or done a lot of the things that give the movie a lot of personality. It would have been a lot more straightforward it its storytelling had we done it before. So in a way it was worth the wait, it became a richer movie.”

ALSO:

Sundance 2014: Men of a certain age travel, party in ‘Land Ho!’¿

Sundance 2014: first look at Lithgow & Molina in ‘Love Is Strange’

Oscars 2014: foreign language nominees include ‘The Hunt’, ‘Omar’

Follow Mark Olsen on Twitter: @IndieFocus