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SUNDANCE 2010

Alex's Sundance Review: Adam Green's Thriller Frozen

by Alex Billington
January 30, 2010

Earlier this week, Brandon reviewed Adam Green's Frozen from Sundance, giving it a measly 3 out of 10. Despite that negative review, I still stayed up tonight to catch a midnight screening of Frozen and I'm glad I did. For what it is, essentially a brutal B-horror movie, it's actually a lot of fun. I mean a lot of fun, especially if you've ever been on a ski lift in your life. I'm not sure why exactly Brandon disliked it so much because I enjoyed it, despite the ridiculous characters and numerous logic problems. But it's a horror-thriller with a crazy concept, so I expected them to bend the rules and make it entertaining, and that's exactly what it was.

If you haven't already heard yet (or seen the trailer), Frozen is about a group of friends who, stupidly, bribe their way onto a ski resort on the east coast for some skiing/snowboarding fun. But then they, stupidly, make the mistake of trying to get in one last run even though the resort is closed. And, obviously, they pay for their stupidity by ending up stuck on a ski lift at night. As a life-long skier, I was excited for this because I was looking forward to seeing this terrifying (and rare) occurrence play out. Remarkably, the way they end up stuck is actually quite reasonable, despite their absolute stupidity. Like I said, these kids had it coming.

Frozen does have problems with believability and stupidity, but that's expected, and if you can look past all that (like I did), you'll enjoy it for being very intense and horrific. There are definitely no wolves living in the mountains on the east coast, but if they're added appropriately to ramp up the terror and fear, and it works well, then sure, throw them in there. As a director, Adam Green is good a setting a mood and keeping a good pace, which is important for a film like this. There are some fun surprises and great jump scares, but they're not overused, and the film progresses smoothly and quickly without ever getting boring (for me at least).

Overall, I enjoyed Frozen, but it's definitely not a new favorite horror-thriller or even my favorite midnight film from Sundance. If you're already interested based on the premise, then it's worth seeing. I got a kick out of it and had fun watching it with an audience and I expect most moviegoers will have a similar experience.

Alex's Sundance Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Filed under Review, Sundance 10

From around the web:

beavis

alex, brandon over-writes EVERY review toward one extreme (good or bad) or the other. i never base watching a movie on a review. they are interesting reading to see if the reviewer gets it right. and brandon has ALWAYS been wildly inaccurate. his "reviews" aren't even that - they're more just biased opinion. avatar especially.........it was a good movie, but NOT the religious experience his endless ramblings indicated. as far as frozen.......it sounds like you have a good take on it. i'll be checking it out just to see ( like "buried alive" and "altitude") how they make a movie out of the concept. i'm expecting a fun, campy, B-horror movie.
Hattori Hanzo

Generally I'm not into these predictable cheesy B-type horror movies about stupid kids doing stupid things and getting chopped up or eaten, but that picture above has me interested in Frozen. You can just picture yourself in the chair, hanging all alone in the complete darkness knowing that something you cannot see is watching and wanting you and all you can do is wait until it either gets you or you are rescued. Kind of reminds me of the scene from American Werewolf in London where the guys are alone on the Scottish moors on a dark rainy night, knowing that they are being stalked and there is nothing they can do about it except wait to be taken down.
Man With No Name

Did they steal this idea from an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm?
twispious

no idea why brandon disliked it? well,mm,he wrote a damn review so maybe start there. and two reviews for a crap movie noone would probably watch anyway?
http://www.torrentbasket.com Tor.Basket Search

I've just watched this movie and the story is not attractive.? This is not possible. For this to happen: everyone at the resort would have to leave at the same time (including employees). These guys would have to stay behind and have somebody? to operate the lift for them. In real life, they check all the lifts to make sure everyone is off. This looks retarded.
http://www.btscene.com Imagine

Going in to the movie theater to see frozen, I wasn't expecting much, having not gone at my own suggestion. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by Adam Green's recent outing in film making. Anyways, lets get onto the plot. It starts out innocent enough, 3 friends, Parker,Dan, and Joe go to the ski slopes to have fun, well, skiing. So, they want to go for one last ride before the slopes close down and inadvertently get stuck.
http://www.lookrichforless.com rolex

I didnt see frozen myself but my gf did and she liked it a lot after reading about it at http://www.lookrichforless.com but she had to see it alone because I dont like these type of movies much since thye feel like they have been done before due to most is shot in one scene/stage. I had the impression that it was a lowbudget movie but maybe i am mistaken.
http://www.bitcoca.com/subcat/id/36/ Thriller Movies

The amount of preposterous coincidences that lead to the precarious predicament of the three muppets and their continued suffering also robs Frozen of any remote credibility.