Prior to its fancy release on BluRay (thank you, Arrow Video) I had never heard about "The Chill Factor". This can mean two things. Either it's an unjustly obscure and undiscovered masterpiece, OR there is a good reason why it got forgotten over the years; - namely because it's terrible. Usually, it's option #2 and that's also the case for this one. However, this doesn't mean it can't be entertaining and - luckily - that's also the case for "The Chill Factor".
What we have here is a textbook amateur horror flick, thriving on enthusiasm and goodwill rather than on competences. The year is 1993, but everything looks & feels mid-to-late 80s, the plot is ultra-thin, half of the footage is time-filler, the dialogues are embarrassing, the wannabe atmospheric & foreboding voiceover is pointless, and most of the cast and crew members have only this insignificant title on their resumes.
The plot revolves around a group of six twenty-something dimwits, three couples, that get isolated in an abandoned cabin near a frozen lake after a trip on their snowscooters. These scooters appear to be the pivotal gimmicks of the movie. It feels as if someone in the group had the idea of renting snow scooters, and then use them in horror movie because you don't see that often. "What will the movie be about?". "Who knows. Who cares because we got snowmobiles, right!". So, after an endless hour of scootering footage, macho racing contests, and a dumb accident, there comes a silly story about possession by an ancient evil entity that gets unleased via a sort of Ouija board. It turns into a supernatural slasher with a couple of gruesome kills (notably the icicle in the eye), shots of girls in their underwear, and some hysterical screaming. The second half is quite fun and it's over before you know it.
