Today, January 17th, Dark Sky Films is releasing Adrián García Bogliano’s nitroglycerin-based thriller, Cold Sweat on DVD. This is my first experience with an Argentinean thriller/horror and it’s one that definitely caught me off guard. Only knowing that it would be a horror/thriller with nitroglycerin was enough to pique my interest but then when I began to watch the film, I found out that Bogliano’s had tied the film to the atrocities of the 1970s Argentinean dictatorship, which I thought was brilliant.
“When Roman’s (Facundo Espinosa) girlfriend Jackie (Camila Velasco) disappears, he expects to find her in the arms of another man. And, with the help of a friend, find her he does – but there is no lover on the scene, only a pair of demented old men keeping her locked away in the basement of their crumbling mansion. Armed with wild-eyed, reactionary political ideals and case after case of decades-old and highly unstable explosives, the villainous duo are conducting illicit experiments on a string of young women lured to their home via the Internet. With Jackie doused in nitroglycerine, her every step toward escape is fraught with the possibility of sudden death. If Roman cannot free his young love, she is likely to end up in pieces.”
What makes Cold Sweat different from a lot of horror movies I‘ve seen recently is how stylized it is. The incorporation of slow motion explosion effects, constant tense close-ups and a hard rock score made it feel a lot like a Zach Snyder film but for the horror genre. At times it could be a little annoying and overused but at other moments it proved to be an extremely effective tool that got your heart racing and completely caught up in the moment.
The main issue I had with the film was Roman’s logic when it came to saving both Jackie and Ali (Marina Glezer). One of the villains uses a walker to get around and the other is a large but old man. All he had to do was hit the walker, tie him down and then surprise his able bodied accomplice. It would have made everything so much easier for the protagonists and 
all they would have had to focus on was not blowing Jackie up as they try to clean her nitroglycerin soaked body. Granted it would have made this a very short film but his stupidity and early cowardice bothered me so much.
In addition to the feature, Dark Sky Films has put together a nice little package of extra content for those of us who like to see what’s going on behind the scenes or what might not have made the final cut. The disc includes Director’s Commentary, 24 minutes worth of Deleted/Extended Scenes, a 10 minute Behind the Scenes look at the production, a Poster Gallery, a Cold Sweat digital Comic Book, the theatrical trailer, Teaser trailer, TV Spots, Radio Spots and The Truth behind Cold Sweat, which is the director explaining how the idea came upon him and why he made the film based off the 1975 Argentinean dictatorship aftermath.
At times, Cold Sweat can be really twisted and exciting due to the campy acting and the great idea of using nitroglycerin as a means of controlling the victims. There are other moments though where it simply cannot resonate with anyone but an Argentinean audience due to the historical subject matter that is only close to their hearts. While Cold Sweat may not have met my expectations, it is still a fun watch for foreign thriller fans and one worth checking out.
Movie Rating: A twisted, kind of campy and semi-refreshing Argentinean thriller (5.5/10)
DVD Rating: 6.5/10
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