Blu-ray Release: Cold Light of Day

Blu-ray Release Date: Available now
Price: Blu-ray $27.99
Studio: Arrow/MVD


Offering a grim and gritty retelling of the story of “Des” Nilsen, often dubbed the “British Jeffery Dahmer,” the 1989 drama Cold Light of Day stars Bob Flag (the face of Big Brother in Michael Radford’s 1984) as Nilsen-cipher Jorden March, delivering one of the most chilling and credible portrayals of a serial killer ever committed to screen.

February, 1983. Detectives are called to a residential address in the London suburbs following reports that the drains have been clogged by human remains. One of the property’s residents, Dennis Nilsen – a mild-mannered and unassuming civil servant – is brought in for questioning, leading to the discovery of one of the most shocking and disturbing cases of serial murder ever to rock Britain.

From writer-director Fhiona Louise, Cold Light of Day – which picked up the UCCA Venticittà Award at the 1990 Venice International Film Festival – is a hugely underseen and underrated British effort that can stand proudly alongside the likes of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer as one of the most unflinching true-crime films of all time.

  • Limited Edition of 2000 units
  • Brand new 2K restoration from the original 16mm camera negative approved by director Fhiona-Louise
  • Original uncompressed mono audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary with writer/director Fhiona-Louise
  • Brand new audio commentary with film historians/writers Dean Brandum and Andrew Nette
  • Newly-filmed interview with actor Martin Byrne-Quinn
  • Newly-filmed interview with actor Steve Munroe
  • Original Cold Light of Day promo film made to raise financing for the feature
  • Re-Release Trailer
  • Two short films starring Cold Light of Day director Fhiona-Louise and photographed by Star Wars DP David Tattershall, newly restored in HD: Metropolis Apocalypse (1988, 11 mins) and Sleepwalker (1993, 2 mins)
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
  • Limited Edition Die-cut O-card
  • Limited Edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jo Botting and a look at how the press reported Dennis Nilsen’s real-life crimes by Jeff Billington

Buy or Rent Cold Light of Day

About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.