Frozen (2010) Dir. by Adam Green
Three skiers are stranded on a chairlift and forced to make life-or-death choices that prove more perilous than staying put and freezing to death
Adam Green seems to be one of those directors where you either love him or hate him. Personally, I love the guy's work. In fact, I think he is getting quite a bit of love in the horror universe and I am all for it. I imagine he is going to have a long and prosperous career in filmmaking. He has show so much versatility not just as a writer, but as a director. He jump starts his career making a comedy movie from $400, friends and family, and borrowed equipment. That movie got picked up and turned into TV show. From there he goes on to make Hatchet, a complete 360, making a film the pays tribute to the great horror slashers of the 80's and essentially has started to become a cult classic of its own. Then he goes on to make Spiral, which happens to be one of my personal favorite psychological thrillers with an outstanding cast. Then he RETURNS to making short films for a few years. That's right, even with his booming career taking off, he returns to making short films. And finally we get back to Frozen. It happens to be completely different than any of his previous movies, and provides a whole new type of scary. Sure some of the things might seem a little far fetched, but well within the realm of believability.
The acting in the film was surprisingly well. Kevin Zegers probably being the weakest link, and even with that said he didn't do a bad job either. Emma Bell and Shawn Ashmore give extremely strong performances as two out of the three leads. In a movie that tries to be realistic, dialogue is often extremely important and it is so in this film as well. It drives it, and I don't know if it is mostly improve or if Adam Green's writing skills are even better than I had originally thought, but the dialogue is great. The raw emotion of the film is brought to life by strong situations, and the characters react just like people should. Great job on every one's part and keep an eye out for Mr. Kane Hodder, and a funny cameo from bash brothers of horror Joe Lynch and the director Adam Green.
The film itself just oozes intensity. From a fifteen minutes into the film to the very end, I was on the edge of my seat. The situations the characters were in felt so real, and it felt like it could happen to me. My wife Kim said it best, "Now I refuse to ever go skiing." While it is the complete opposite type of horror as Hatchet, it does not lack in the gore department. There was even a particular moment that made me feel uncomfortable, and that never happens. I watch gory frickin shit all the time, and yet it still made me feel a little queasy. Maybe it was just the realistic part of the whole film. Andy Garfield, Green's close friend, is the one who truly deserves a large amount of the credit here. Without his Original Music, Frozen would not be able to deliver the emotional intensity that it does. The music runs a perfectly parallel line the the events in the film.
All in all, with its intensity, shocking moments, perfect music, and spot on acting, Frozen delivers on all accounts and will leave me trembling at the thought of hitting the slopes any time soon.
Entertainment Value: 9/10 Bunny Hills
Cinematic Value: 9/10 Bunny Hills
