Post #16 - Frozen

Please note this is a complete SPOILER and I am basically relaying how insanely stupid this movie was for your enjoyment. I suggest seeing the movie before reading this if you have any interest in it being surprise.

2010 Release
Directed by: Adam Green
Written by: Adam Green
Starring: Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell & Kevin Zegers

I realize I am a day behind in posting this review but I had to really think about my score on this one to make sure it was right. I watched this movie on Monday night for the first time expecting to fall asleep half way through, and instead I watched it all the way through and was late to work the next morning as a result. After the movie was over I was torn on what I thought about it, a part of me really liked it and then another part of me was really disappointed at one scene. One other disclaimer I must make is that I watched a large portion of this movie with no sound and the closed captions on because as I said I didn't expect to watch the whole thing. Plus there were quite a few scenes with wolves and anyone who has met Lola would know why that would be problematic. I am probably going to go into more detail than necessary because I am still hesitant on my score and I hope reliving it will help me decide. So skip around if it gets boring.

Ok so Frozen... I have seen this on demand for awhile but never really had any interest til the other night when I decided to give it a whirl.

There are three main characters, Dan, his girlfirend Parker, and best friend Joe. The trio is spending a beautiful Sunday on the slopes of a local ski resort, but most of the day is spent on the bunny slopes because Parker is still learning the sport. There is some tension among the three because this activity is typically something Joe and Dan alone together, so Parker's presence seems to be interfering with serious man time. It gets alittle cheesy but at least it made an attempt to give the characters some believable personalities. Dan is a real "good guy" and clearly cares deeply for Parker who is sort of typical but not all that bad. Joe is the single best friend who likes Parker but pretty much wishes she would fuck off most of the time.

At the end of the day, they convince ski lift operator to give them one more run since they already paid him $100 instead of purchasing lift tickets. He concedes and off they go up the mountain. Half way up the operator leaves his post asking another employee to keep an eye out for the last three people coming down. Of course, within a couple minutes 3 guys come down and the new operator things everyone is safe and sound at the bottom of the mountain and turns off all the power and lights to the lift. Skip up to the top of the mountain where the trio sits waiting for the power to come back so they can continue up to the top. The sun has gone down at this point, it's snowing and they are dangling high above the now frozen ground. They soon realize that they are stranded and that no one knows they are still stuck on the lift. Parker of course starts to panic and Dan does his best to calm her down. Parker was probably alot more annoying with the volume turned up but I didn't think she was all that bad since I couldn't actually hear her voice. I would have panicked and assumed the worst as well, so I was trying to be forgiving of some of the stupid dialogue.

So they are freezing their asses off and realize that the resort won't be open for another 5 days so they have to get down somehow otherwise they will surely die. At one point a snow plow shows up below them but doesn't seem them despite their attempts to get his attention. Dan decides he will jump to the ground and make his way down the slopes on foot. BIG MISTAKE! The shot of him falling is pretty cool since his view is looking down at his feet as he hits the ground and both of his legs break. Joe and Parker are of course freaking out from above realizing that Dan can't move, let alone get help. Then you hear it...the sounds of the wolves and out of no where one appears standing over Dan's mangled body. Dan is fully aware and does his best to scare off the wolf but quickly the pack decends upon his. At one point Joe tries to climb across the cable to a ladder on a post but the wire is razor sharp and he just can't help Dan. This is where I did get really freaked out. The shot is Dan on the ground covering his face and screaming to Joe not to let Parker watch what is about to happen. I guess I was so absorbed I didn't even realize the fucking wolves were going to kill him, and I liked how they shot the scene. Parker is screaming and crying trying to look down while Joe does his best to shield her face. You see a shot from above of Dan on the ground and the wolves sort of pounce on him and that's it. It doesn't show anything all that gory or horrific. I could somewhat hear it at this point and that was the worst part, Parker screaming Dan's name, Dan screaming in agony and Joe doing his best to distract her. Then it goes silent and you know Dan is dead. I was SHOCKED! I didn't think any of them would die or at least this quickly, or as violently.

So, its the calm after the violent storm. Dan's chewed up corpse lays below them and they are now aware of the silent killers on the ground. Even if they got down, how the hell would they protect themselves? Flash forward to the next morning, they somehow survive the night but are starting to suffer from frost bite. There is a really sad scene where Parker pisses her pants because she can't hold it anymore. It was a short, small scene but really expressed her desperation and despair. The 2 remaining survivors decide to wait it out for the day and see if anyone comes for help. They talk to each other and share stories about Dan and their pasts. You start to really feel for them because they are just normal stupid people.

After a whole day with nothing happening Joe decides he is going to try and climb across the wire again to get to the poll. It was a really tense scene and he does finally make it. He hands are so fucked up and that bothered me almost as much as the wolf scene. He makes it to the ladder and the wolves appear again. He gets to the ground, fights them off and disappears down the slope on a snow board. Dan is dead, Joe is gone and Parker is all alone on the lift which is now starting fall apart.

She somehow makes it through another night, her hand is fucked from freezing to the safety bar, her face is pealing off in spots and she is mentally shot. She is all alone and decides she to do something before the whole lift chair breaks. She shimmies down the seat and luckily the chair does snap off the wire. Her saving grace is the safety wire which catches before she hits the ground. Slightly injured when she actually makes it down she slides down the mountain desperate for help. Ok, so here is where I go from digging this to disappointed. She is I guess about half way down when she stumbles across the corpse of Joe. The wolves clearly got to him and were still working on him when she arrives. Ok, so that problem I had with this is the fact they showed way too much of Joe's mangled body. It was so much more effective when you just saw blood on the ground and a shot where you could sort of make out a body. They OF COURSE have to show more details and it was so realistic looking that it sort of snapped me out of it, if that makes sense. The wolves see Parker but let her go because I guess they were still munching on Joe. She makes it to the bottom and collapses on the road where she is rescued.

What the fuck? An hour and a half of very careful attention, an hour and a half of your imagination running wild and then they have to show the body. I can perfectly picture the scene, its one of Joe's legs and the skin is ripped off and flesh is just hanging, plus I think they show even more but I sort of zoned at this point out of disappointment. I HATE WHEN THEY SHOW YOU TOO MUCH! I didn't even fucking care that she made it down at this point, I was so pist off. It would have been even better if we saw nothing but the blood because then we could wonder if he lived, is he lost somewhere else, NO HE'S IN A PILE ON THE GROUND AND YOU CAN SEE HIM RIGHT HERE! God damn it!

SO having said all that, I give this movie: (god this was a long one)
I debated giving this a 1 because I was disappointed BUT then I thought that giving it a mediocre score like 3 was more appropriate. Had it not had that one scene that ruined the imagination I would have probably given it a better score, but I must move on.