Frozen (2010)
Director: Adam Green
Format: DVD
This is one of those movies I've been hearing good things about, but was worried wouldn't live up to the hype. I mean, it's a movie about three people being stuck on a ski-lift. How could that possibly be entertaining or terrifying?
Well, you know what? It is a good movie and in parts it does quite a good job of being scary/suspenseful/intense.
Adam Green (HATCHET) is developing quite a reputation as an up-and-coming horror director and there's plenty to admire about his work here. For a start Frozen was filmed entirely on location in the mountains. No sound stages here and no CGI - watch the main featurette in the special features of the DVD to see just how creative Green and his crew were in making the sparse script work.
The plot is, as I mentioned, simple. Three friends - played by Emma Bell (WALKING DEAD TV series), Shawn Ashmore (X-MEN series) and Kevin Zegers (DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) - sneak onto a ski-lift and through a series of bad luck end up stranded high above the ground while the ski resort closes for the week. What do they do? Jump? Try to climb along the wires? Wait it out? And what about the wolves circling below?
So, there's not much meat on the bones of this plot, which makes character development all the more important. Luckily the script and dialogue of Frozen do a good job of establishing the three main characters. The dynamic of two best mates and the "third wheel" girlfriend tagging along is entertaining in the build-up to the horror.
And once it starts the "survival horror" portion is full of tension, especially if you're scared of heights like me. There's also a few small moments of gore.
If you're a keen horror movie fan and think you've seen every possible scenario and setting, a flick like Frozen makes a refreshing change.
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