Stone cold thriller

While writer/director Adam Green’s 2006 debut, tongue-in-cheek slasher Hatchet, marked him out as the new enfant terrible of modern horror, his follow-up, psychological drama Spiral, proved his depth as a filmmaker. And his latest, Frozen, is another completely different but equally as thrilling slice of genre entertainment.

After a weekend spent skiing, Dan (Zegers), Joe (Ashmore) and Parker (Bell) decide to take one last run. Human error leads to the trio being stranded on a ski lift halfway up the mountain after dark, faced with making some dangerous choices if they are going to survive.

As such a high concept movies Frozen had the potential to be a one-note gimmick with nowhere to go but down. But although the set up is a shaky catalogue of convenience, once Green has trapped his hapless trio he slowly builds an edge-of-your-seat atmosphere, made all the moreterrifying because of its lack of human adversary. These kids are victims of extreme circumstance; at the mercy of mother nature, who proves to be one hell of a bitch. The fact that it was shot without any special effects, together with the trio’s desperate performances and some effective editing from Ed Marx, adds to the intensity.

It’s rare to find such originality and skill in the horror genre, but Green continues to demonstrate both; Frozen is an expertly crafted chiller that will send a barrage of shivers up the spine.

4 stars

This review was originally published in movieScope #18, available now.

ROLL CREDITS…
Stars Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers
Director & Screenplay Adam Green
Certificate 15
Distributor Momentum
Running Time 1hr 33mins
Opens September 24 (DVD & Blu-ray October 18)