THE COLD

Director, Gregory Bayne, screenplay, B. Russell Friedenberg, Producer, Heather Rae

The Cold is currently set for winter 2006 production. The cast includes B. Russell Friedenberg, Christian Campbell, Billy Wirth, Mark Margolis, Cody Lightning, Morgan Margolis and Travis Swartz.

FILM SYNOPSIS

The Cold is the story of seven best friends who escape into the Idaho wilderness for their annual hunting trip only to realize that the only thing being hunted is themselves.

Steve, Sonny and Tom are soldiers serving in Iraq. Home on leave, they come together with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, despite the recent disappearance of Matty, their fellow brother-in-arms. Steve, the most senior and seasoned officer is especially pained and finds solace in the wisdom and words of Neelis, a Vietnam Vet who is taking his son Jake on his first hunting trip. The others on the trip are two locals, Kelly, who is constantly at odds with everyone and his brother Kim, who resides in the world of his own imagination. After an uncomfortable holiday, they bid farewell to wives, mothers and children, and start their fateful journey into the deep mountains of Central Idaho, where history and legend settle into the landscape like a low riding mist.

Before they can unpack their rifles they discover their cabin demolished and a silent forest devoid of life. Lacking proper provisions they burrow in as an early winter storm buries them, sealing them into a prison of white. The men make the best of a bad situation, settling in with their liquor and Neelis's ghost stories of the mysterious Wedingo beast that roams the woods taking over the souls of madmen.

When morning arrives, the youngest member of the group, Jake, has mysteriously disappeared, lost to a trail of blood. Neelis quickly succumbs to paranoia at the disappearance of his son, and soon, despite everyone's protests, ventures into the dark forest in search of him. With the situation becoming more hopeless by the minute, things take a drastic turn for the worse as the cabin is violently attacked by something prehistoric...its razor sharp claws tearing apart the small outpost. The men fight off the initial attack, but quickly realize that they are now the hunted.

Seemingly invisible to the naked eye, the beast eludes the crew, blending in with the forest, stealthily hunting, and taking them, one at a time.

At the height of their paranoia, Neelis reappears with Jake in tow who recovers from frostbite almost instantly. Snowed in and on the brink of madness and starvation their reality shatters further as Jake attempts to eat human flesh. Slowly they realize that Neelis's story may not be a tall tale at all, as they watch Jake into a ravenous cannibalistic creature. -A Wendigo .

But how does the Wendigo take them over? And more importantly how do they battle some parasitic organism capable of perfectly imitating its victims? Survival is harder won than anyone thought, as they don't know which members of the team have already been assimilated. Slowly but surely, their paranoia threatens to tear them apart.

Not willing to give up, Steve is forced to make a command decision that sends Tom and Kim on a dangerous mission to try and get help. But when Tom returns without Kim their paranoia is complete. Is Tom grappling with cannibalistic urges or just half mad with starvation and frostbite? They are all coming apart at the seams, but before they can fall prey to one another the cabin is attacked in a final battle. After the dust settles, only Steve remains. Seared to his shotgun and chased by starvation he must face off against the Sawtooth Wilderness and a devilish truth that will either destroy or consume him......The Cold .

Special Thanks to member/fan Rean for the headsup. More when we get it.