Frozen
Featuring: Emma Bell, Keven Zegers, Shawn Ashmore
Written & Directed by: Adam Green
Three college students take the last ski lift to the top of a resort mountain. Human error leaves the trio stuck on the ski lift far above ground. A storm is rolling in. The staff will not be back for five more days.
Horror movies depict college students as presumably the dumbest class of human beings in existence. Seven year old characters are often extremely in tune with their surroundings and grizzled adults in horror films will at least take good care of domestic needs. The college student in the middle is almost shown as an irresponsible, well-educated idiot. If a horror movie about three such characters stuck to a ski lift sounds like a foolish idea to you then you are far from alone.
Frozen meets those low expectations. Then, just to keep us on our toes, Adam Green, his cast and his crew actually exceed them. Three personalities mingle and clash above the snow. Dan (Zegers, Wrong Turn) is a natural leader who reaps the rewards and responsibilities of leadership. His girlfriend Parker (Bell, The Walking Dead) brings emotional support to the people around her. Dan’s best friend Lynch (Ashmore, X-Men trilogy) assumes the role of odd man out both on and off the ski lift. Look at those credentials again. A person doesn’t get his role expanded throughout the entire blockbuster X-Men trilogy by being a bad actor. The players on screen performed superbly.
That leaves one important question: Is it scary? The filmmakers knew exactly when to pull punches. They also knew when to punch hard and when to even fight dirty. This is not a terrifying movie from beginning to end. Frozen is a film with several brief payoffs.
However, Frozen is still a movie about three college kids who get stuck on a ski lift. Many of the ridiculous antics feared by everyone are sadly present. It seems those annoyances needed to exist to make the story work, even if they make the movie much less enjoyable.
Final Score: 5/10.
I may have just lost face with fans of both hardcore horror for scoring this too high. People who enjoy story with a few scares could be angry that this is scored too low.
Other notes.
- I flinched. I actually flinched and looked away from a horror movie on Netflix. That is not all that common at all. The brief payoffs were very well done.
