Marie Davenport (Theresa Russell) is married with Dr. Alex Davenport (Mark Harmon) and is having a love affair with Dr. Daniel Corvin (James Russo). Marie plans to leave Alex and move in together with Daniel that has just left his wife Anna Corvin (Julie Carmen). Marie believes that the best moment to tell her decision to her husband is in Acapulco, Mexico, where he will go to a medical convention. While sailing with Marie, Alex swims and is hit on the head by a motor boat. He goes to the hospital but dies; however before the autopsy, his body disappears from the morgue. Marie returns to Carmel and out of the blue, she meets Alex alive in her hotel room. Marie, who was raised Catholic but is atheist, recalls a vision that she had one year ago when Virgin Mary pointed out to her the location where a sanctuary should be built and seeks out Monsignor Cassidy (Richard Bradford). Is Alex's resurrection a test of her faith?

"Cold Heaven" is a weird film indicated for religious people, more specifically to Catholics. The story about an adulterous woman raised Catholic but that lost her faith in God when her mother passed away is strange and has a moralist conclusion. The plot keeps the mystery until the moment that Marie discloses her vision to the priest. At least, the sexy Theresa Russell is worthwhile watching by her fans. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Desejo Selvagem" ("Wild Desire")

It's atmospherically done but I don't know what it is that gets done.

Let me think. Theresa Russell is married to a likable doctor, Mark Harmon, but has been having an affair with the moody James Russo. He's also a doctor. Russell knows how to pick them. Harmon knows nothing of the affair.

There is a boating accident and Harmon sustains what is evidently a mortal head wound. Russell is broken up. He was a nice guy. But his body disappears from the hospital. Zip, just like that, after being pronounced DOA.

Russo is delayed in his assignation with Russell in picturesque Carmel, California. She enters the motel room, which she assumes to be empty, and, Lo!, there is a confused and amnesic and paranoid Harmon. Russo finally shows up and things get even more twisted.

Out of nowhere, Russell announces to a bored priest that she's had a vision of the Virgin Mary, tell her something like, "If you build it, they will come." Well -- not that, but it might as well be, since the message is so much nonsense. By this time she's going nuts and the even the most patient viewer will understand why. Will Patton, now an earnest priest, tries to comfort her and explain that God has dominion over life and death but everything else is our choice. A strange nun has recurring dreams of Russell meeting the Virgin Mary. The nun and Russell go to the place of the vision and something portentous happens but nobody knows what. A visiting priest blesses himself and stares in awe at The Spot, but it looks the same to me as it did before.

I swear I'm not making that all up. There's a love triangle and some sort of supernatural dynamics are forced upon it, where it all sits uncomfortably, like a tarantula on a piece of angel food cake. I love Raymond Chandler.

This one is exquisitely photographed. It's difficult to turn Point Lobos into a vision of hell but Roeg manages it. Will Patton, my able supporting player in the magnificent "Everybody Wins", is not a beneficent priest. He's a human sidewinder and nothing else. Boy, is he miscast. One glance at those staring eyes and fake grin and you think "pedophile." Theresa Russell does her best but nobody can conquer a confused script like this. Mark Harmon dies, goes crazy, and comes back to life so often it becomes boring.

I'd love to recommend this because I admire Nicholas Roeg for some of his earlier work, and for his hiring my little son as an extra in one of his flicks. But my artistic integrity forbids me. Try as he might, he is no Edgar G. Ulmer. But he at least passes Cedric the Entertainer.

Nicolas Roeg ? He directed the classic supernatural thriller DON`T LOOK NOW didn`t he ? Strangely the aforementioned movie was broadcast on BBC television at the weekend which did tonight`s screening of COLD HEAVEN no favours what so ever .

You see it`s impossible not to compare COLD HEAVEN with DON`T LOOK NOW since they both have the same director and the same structure and for the first third of COLD HEAVEN I thought they also had the same plot except a dead husband had been substituted instead of a dead child , in fact my mind was set on this movie revolving around a grief stricken widow seeing her late husband running around Venice wearing a red anorak . This doesn`t occur but about one third of the way through the running time there`s a massive plot twist and despite being an essential plot twist it`s not explained in any great depth . In fact very little is explained in COLD HEAVEN which ruins the movie

People have mentioned the rather poor production values of COLD HEAVEN and it`s impossible not to notice them . If I didn`t no different I would have thought this was a TVM since it`s got a made for television feel to it right down to white capital letters in the title sequence . Roeg also tries to inject art house pretentions via spoken thought processes but again this doesn`t help the movie at all . One can`t help feeling Roeg should have put all his effort into the plot twists which are totally flat on screen

Cheap production values , disinterested directing and a really bizarre premise and screenplay make for a bad movie