Dead Of Winter (1987)

A young actress (Mary Steenburgen) travels from New York City to upstate New York to audition for a film. But she slowly begins to realize that her "producer" (Jan Rubes, WITNESS) has a deadly ulterior motive that involves murder and blackmail and she is, in fact, his prisoner. An uncredited but very loose remake of the 1940s thriller MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS, director Arthur Penn (BONNIE AND CLYDE) whips up a tense thriller that provides an opportunity for Steenburgen to play three roles (though if my ear is to be trusted, one of them is dubbed by Amy Madigan): the actress, the homicidal sister and an ill fated patient. If one can suspend disbelief at the overactive plot, there are minor pleasures to be had. Steenburgen is quite good and one forgets how really good Roddy McDowall can be, here playing Rubes' odd but faithful man Friday. The effective score is by Richard Einhorn. With William Russ as Steenburgen's husband.