Beyond the Valley of ‘Cold Mountain’

I just made contact with Ron Ford . If you don’t know the name, and I wasn’t totally familiar with it myself, then you don’t dwell in the depths of independent horror cinema. Ford is a guy who attended Evergreen College, moved to Arizona, got involved with the movie business, wrote/acted/directed in a number of mostly no-budget movies, all before moving to Spokane this past year. I’ve ordered three of Ford’s films — “Deadly Scavengers,” “Mark of Dracula” and “Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood” — and plan on watching them before actually meeting with him for a cup of coffee.

I guess it’s legitimate to ask why I would want to do this. Several reasons. One, it’s my job. Two, I like to meet people who work in film, whatever the genre. Three, I love horror films, even bad ones (Walt Hefner’s “The Ghosting” comes to mind). And, finally, I prefer even low-budget bad films to big-screen melodramas such as Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of “Cold Mountain” — and how’s that for a segue?

To be fair, I didn’t care all that much for Frazier’s novel, which won the 1997 National Book Award. In fact, after reading the final couple of pages I ended up throwing it across the room. The movie, though it ends in a similar way, does soften Frazier’s clumsy insensitivity a bit. Still, Minghella (best known for “The English Patient”) never met a scene that he wasn’t tempted to let linger longer than a dental appointment. By the time the final half hour of the 155-minute running time arrived, I had already checked my watch five times. To me, that’s REAL horror.