Frozen Review

By far, one of the greatest experiences as a movie fanatic would have to be when you settle down for the evening, throw out a web search with something like ‘fifty underrated horror movies’ and come out on top with a lesser known contender.

Video on demand and similar pay per view services are currently striving to achieve their best in the overcrowded market of home entertainment. Clearly these services are the future; a welcome change for those who no longer wish to rent DVDs from the local store at ridiculous prices (at least in comparison to services such as Netflix).

It’s also thanks to services such as this, that we can forgive ourselves for missing such great movies when they first come around. I had no idea Adam Green’s feature follow up to Hatchet even existed until last night, and though his cult following of splatter-hungry fans may stick their noses up at such a cerebral approach to story telling, all must surely respect the production’s effort. Every aspect of this little film shows heart and aspiration.

Frozen sees loved up young couple Dan Walker and Parker O’Neil (played by Kevin Zegers and Emma Bell respectively) sharing their last day of a skiing weekend with reluctant third wheel Joe Lynch (Shawn Ashmore) who serves as Dan’s best friend.

Tensions between the trio are quickly established when Joe complains to his best bud that he’d envisioned the weekend being strictly about the bromance and the slopes, both of which are being disturbed by Dan’s novice lady friend.

Picking up on the moody vibes, guilt driven Parker suggests the boys hit the slopes one last time before the approaching storm hits. Before you know it, the teens have predictably harassed the pushover ski lift attendant into allowing them one last ride to the top. Naturally, the attendant is desperate to exchange his post for a toilet and the resulting miscommunication with his relief colleague allows for the movie’s survivalist setup.

Inevitably, Dan, best friend Joe, and girlfriend Parker get trapped on the ski lift when the park is closed down for the night, and so must brave the sub-zero temperatures, savage elements of a storm and a very eager pack of hungry wolves spectating from the snowy mountain slope below.

Writer/Director Adam Green packs a gut-wrenching punch with the script here. It’s been tailored to squeeze every penny from the movie’s minimal production budget and truly utilize a basic concept for all it’s natural terror-inducing resources. Speaking frankly, this movie delivers when it has to. Upon getting through the initial ten minutes of film, one would be forgiven to suspect they’ve stumbled upon another standard format slasher movie. Young middle class folk spouting nothing but casual, presumably unimportant dialogue. The basic credit sequence and accompanying music score only adds to a sense of deja vu; like we’ve been on this journey before, many times. Don’t be dissuaded though, because this false sense of security only intensifies the awaiting perils.

Once our characters are established and the setup is initialized, Green wrings as much tension as possible from every single aspect of his high concept. For every minute our protagonists spend trying to fathom out how to get down from their 100ft high cable car, they are succumbing to frostbite, hunger and despair.

Despite how questionable the terms of their abandonment are, the emphasis on tension was more than enough to pull me in, freezing my behind to the sofa for an hour and a half, and, for the most part, I felt trapped in that ill-fated cable car with them.

Of course there are going to be questions raised. “Why didn’t the staff complete a thorough sweep of the mountain before lights out”? And due to it’s use of wolves as a further threat, there will no doubt be a fare share of one track minded hippies who’ll poke all kinds of holes through the authenticity of the animal’s actions, just like the hundreds of angry comments I once sieved through after reading an online review of 2012 survivalist epic The Grey. Thing is though, if I was surrounded by a pack of hungry wild animals, I wouldn’t fancy my chances of walking away unscathed, would you?

From an uninspired opening to a somewhat anti-climatic ending, Frozen is all about the journey and not the destination. A well written second act mixed with some fantastic location shots gives the viewer a clear understanding of what’s at stake against the smallest of odds in terms of survival. Some ‘out of nowhere’ moments of dialogue mastery plays heavy on the heartstrings and leads forth an adrenaline fueled third act. To summarise, Frozen is a little film with high aspirations.

Frozen was released in February of 2010 and is available now via DVD and Blu-Ray from most reputable wholesalers, along with most VOD platforms.

Ry’s rating – 3.6 Out of 5