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Although it may resemble "The Thing" and "The Last Winter" the resemblance is superficial; those both relied on the audience feeling things (paranoia and dread, respectively)

Actually its closer to "Ghost Rig" and "Deep Freeze" and surpasses both easily. Gorehounds will probably be satisfied with many cringe-inducing scenes of which some almost enter gross-out territory. With critters burrowing into people that should be expected.

The characters however are almost caricatures and it quickly becomes apparent, with one exception I'm not spoiling, who will survive or die. That made the story kinda predictable but if you're into splatter flicks it might be worth renting.

This is an enjoyable little horror movie and more a kin to the movies I watched growing up (horror with a lowercase h by todays standards) The film has a nice long run up to the action which gives you a chance to get to know the characters (which are fairly bland but that doesn't matter) A lot of the horror is creepy crawly based which is more disturbing that scary.

The characters act out in fairly realistic ways (no one pops up to the attic on their own to investigate that damn scratching noise) and there is a real sense of peril.

Don't expect big affects, gore, nudity, over the top action or paralysing fear. Do expect to see an intelligent movie based on a not so intelligent premises, well executed in good time.

Even though the movie as a whole isn't really awesomely smashing in any way, the first thing that really struck me is how well done and thought out it all is.

It features realistic portrayals of human behavior all the way through. From phobias, realistic explanations of how they came to the conclusions they did, to a person using a multimeter and electrical tape to actually fix something. Like a real person might. And they all have their agendas. Also gunshots don't sound like tanks, and they don't make 10" holes in people. There are no huge aliens, there's no gratuitous nudity and it doesn't take one chop with a cleaver to cut someones arm off. Another thing that surprised me is that bodies don't vanish, the same with tracks and bruises etc.

In most movies (*ahem* multi-million dollar productions) stuff like this, commonly called realism, is just glazed over. Your focus is shifted to the CGI and the huge explosions the MTV generation seems to love, like some magician distracting your attention so he can get away with tricking you (out of a good plot).

Anyone who likes realism and thrillers/horror will probably have a jolly fine time watching this one. There's a bit of bad acting on the part of a few characters (though all the main ones are excellent), and as I stated the movie isn't miraculously good in any way. It's still better than most, and it has some really redeeming qualities to it.

A Ghosthouse Underground film with Aaron Ashmore from Smallville and Val Kilmer from Batman Forever. Batman, Jimmy Olsen and friends take on a prehistoric parasite that distroys every living thing in its path. A parasite that bites people and lays eggs under their skin. The parasite was frozen underground until now. N...ow it is unleashed and it will devour anything in its path including a pollar bear. With the threat of global warming is it possible for something like that to be unleashed. This film is a great companion peace to Cabin Fever with all of the infections, the big differerce is that people are infected by reanimated bugs not tainted toxic water. Both films are made to make statements about the polluted world around us. This film was amazing with all of the visual effects and make up. People cutting off limbs and getting strange infections after bugs have planted their eggs under their skin. A film full of scum bags and backstabbers fighting for their lives. A absolute guilty pleasure

Why was Val Kilmer in this one? It makes no sense to me. I know he's growing old and his last castings were not the best, but still.

The film is a classic isolated monster/contagion movie, featuring most clichés you would expect. Brave and good looking chick, check; black and Asian representation, check; cowardly hysterical jerk, check; scary but completely implausible premise, check; mad scientist, check; brave guy that saves the girl, check. Actually, the formulaic concepts were so absurdly respected that when there was a scene where they would cut some guy's arm off to stop the contagion, they didn't actually show the cut. Same goes for when the girl had to strip to check for contagion. No problem showing flesh crawling bugs, though.

I could debate the reasons why the film made no sense to no end, but I will tell you just this: prehistoric bugs that come out of the thawing ice will NOT make me think harder about global warming. This theme is largely responsible for why the movie sucked so much.

Bottom line: couldn't even give it an average 7. The effects and the atmosphere (if you ignore the actors completely) are the only two good things happening here.

It had some brief moments of entertainment, but overall it was Luke warm at best. The producers must've blown their budget on hiring Val Kilmer to fill some dead spots in the movie. Kilmer kind of walks through this movie and plays a dopey doc that wants these parasites to infest mankind just to make a point about global warming. Supposedly this movie takes place very cold (or somewhere in Canada.) Unfortunately, there isn't a lick of smoke we can see exiting their mouths in a supposed subzero climate. As a matter of fact, there was barely a drop of snow to be seen anywhere. Oh yeah, global warming. Throw in a bunch of 30 something year old grad students that are supposedly the most brilliant of their class and viola! LOL! Whoever the actress was that played Kilmer's daughter, should be given a Golden Turkey award for most pathetic portrayal of a confused daughter to a wacky mad scientist. I mean bad!! This movie delivers thrills for a buck at Red Box, but it's not worth a penny more.

The End.

After reading some of the comments on this movie, I was more than pleasantly surprised at how good this smart little bug feature was A definite step up from the usual B movie sci-fi horror crap that's been out in the cinemas this year. There were decent squirm effects and gore and a nice touch of tongue in cheek humour too. The cinematography was cool and eerie and the brooding atmosphere had echoes of The Thing and Near Dark (although it's nothing like The Thing) I thought the acting and direction were assured. I Liked the twist at the end too. Don't listen to some of the other reviewers on this forum as I doubt that they have actually seen the film.

THE THAW is an unashamed rip-off of THE THING, with the action shifted to Alaska rather than the Arctic and a prehistoric parasite rather than a shapeshifting alien as the menace. Other than that, it's business as usual, with a small cast whittled down by an unknown enemy and paranoia erupting all over the shop.

Given that this is a low-budget B-movie starring a mostly unknown cast, I thought it was surprisingly enjoyable. The director and writer focus on the sense of impending menace and the creepy atmosphere for the most part, and it works well; some parts are genuinely unnerving. There are the inevitable gross-out and medical scenes, but these are handled well; the gore effects are limited but more effective as a result. Even the expected CGI isn't too shabby.

The idea of a parasitical organism has been explored quite a lot in recent years - such as in the memorably creepy found-footage horror, THE BAY - and it's always one I find pretty disturbing, and that's no exception here. Add in a value-for-money Val Kilmer and you have a decent B-movie for a change.

How these genius college kids can not figure out that this is a virus is absolutely unbelievable. Whoever wrote is horrible at story telling.

Thirty minutes in and it's obvious how this will end up. It starts off with promise, but quickly deteriorates into a predictable mess. There's a deadly parasite. No one seems remotely concerned about catching or spreading anything. It's a free for all touch infected nastiness, and getting up close for a better look. The lack of common sense and logic is staggering. The scares primarily come via the gross out factor. Plenty of puke, oozing sores and bodily fluids in the name of entertainment. I felt compelled to stop watching about three quarters of the way through, and was glad when it ended. Garbage.

In the near future, climate change (aka "global warming") causes parts of the Arctic to melt. Investigating the effects, environmentally conscious Val Kilmer (as David Kruipen) is startled to discover an intact woolly mammoth is thawing. Other creatures feed on the ancient carcass. A polar bear dies from the experience, and appears to be infected with parasites. "The Thaw" unleashes these creepy crawlers to fester under the skin of other animals, and lay their eggs. The creatures feed on the host body and look around for more. Human flesh is especially tasty. The squeamish should be on high alert...

Before the horrifying danger is clear, four graduate students are selected to observe Mr. Kilmer's expedition...

When his estranged daughter Martha Macisaac (as Evelyn "Evy" Kruipen) decides to go, the count is lowered to three. Joining her are attractive Aaron Ashmore (as Atom Galen), Kyle Schmid (as Federico "Feddy" Fulce) and Steph Song (as Ling Chen). The script should be clearer about how the first student becomes infected. Kilmer isn't on screen much, but helicopter pilot Viv Leacock (as Bart) is part of the group; he should have been included in the opening credits. It all adds up to a surprisingly effective thriller, written and directed Mark A. Lewis; he should be working more. The special and visual effects are excellent.

******* The Thaw (8/30/09) Mark A. Lewis ~ Martha Macisaac, Aaron Ashmore, Kyle Schmid, Steph Song

Credibility in a horror film isn't something that I usually pay any attention to unless it has to do with the acting, actions or dialogue. I usually leave premise out of it because I know Jason Voorhees, the Candyman or Freddie Kreuger don't really exist. However, when a film harps on about a very real topic like Global Warming throughout the entire film, it subconsciously takes on a realism that is quickly derailed by the incredible beast that it unleashes. A beast that could easily be seen as the dominant species at the time yet shares almost nothing in common with the dominate species of today.

The relatively unknown cast played their parts competently enough but no one shines due to mediocre writing and dialogue but there were numerous times when either the writing or directing was just completely off and full conversations were taking place in areas no sane/intelligent person, let alone a full cast, would stay in.

Realism obviously wasn't an issue for the filmmakers but by harping on about Global Warming and then introducing such a powerful parasite I really had to wonder if this was a true attempt at a Global Warming warning or an Anti-Global Warming film showing how ludicrous the concept is. In either case, I would have rather it was played down ten-fold so I could have at least enjoyed what I could from the film.

'Thaw' is basically a warning against global warming where, because if the polar ice caps melting, a woolly mammoth's body is discovered an unfrozen. Bugs are unleashed from its corpse which then set about infecting and killing your average bunch of American teenagers who always seem to end up in these sorts of situations.

Thaw seemed like a bit of a remake of 'Cabin Fever' due to it having a group of dopey teens in a secluded setting, turning on each other as they don't know who's definitely infected and who's not. However, where as Cabin Fever had a fair share of humour to its gore, Thaw plays it straight.

That's not to say that Thaw's a bad film. It has its plus points - the bugs are well animated (as far as inch-long beasties can be) and there are some nice moments of gore to keep those with a strong stomach happy. The film goes along as you'd expect. Sure, if this happened in real life, we'd probably do something different, but, luckily for the plot (and bugs in many ways) the group of teenagers contains a prize chump who seems to choose the wrong decision at every turn (which results in another death or amputation).

Thaw is no classic (it has Val Kilmer in it after all), but there are worse horror films out there (like most of the studio 'After Dark's' output). Don't expect too much and you may enjoy it.

Everything wasted. This is the shortest depiction of this movie. I had not had a nice opinion on Val Kilmer as an actor before I saw this movie, but this is by far his most stupid film. I am a great horror buff but there is nothing of a horror in this film. Find a cockroach in your closet and you will be scared much more. As for the logic of the film, it is extremely insulting for everyone who has over 20 IQ. For an equally stupid example, the main teenage star of the movie is crying over possibility that maybe thousands are going to die, never spelling a tear about her father dying in front of her. This is just an example of insane details of the film. Main idea had been exploited many times before but this is the most stupid by far I have ever seen.

The Thaw (2009) I enjoy the mixture of horror, and political commentary. That is, after all, how this blog was born. I'm from the George Romero school of political commentary though, in the sense that it should be subtle. The political commentary of 'The Thaw" is not subtle. I'd liken it to carving "Global Warming" into a 4x4, and smacking the viewer in the face with it. Regardless, I found enjoyment in the film.

Val Kilmer(Felon) Plays Dr. David Kruipen, who is researching global warming at a remote artic research station. Dr Krupien discovers what appears to be a wooly mammoth thawing in a melting glacier. Marth MacIsaac(The Last House On The Left) is Evelyn, Dr. Kruipen's daughter. Against her father's wishes, she hitches a ride on a helicopter with 3 college students, going on a global warming study. We soon discover, that it's not just the mammoth that is thawing out.

The Thaw has a lot of the same elements of "The Last Winter" but manages to stay somewhat original. The message is obvious, Make personal sacrifices to slow global warming, or die. The opening montage shows various media sources, either validating global warming, or claiming it's a complete myth. Whichever camp you belong to(hopefully the former) you're sure to at least have fun with this borderline body-snatcher'esquire film. The acting is good across the board. The premise is somewhat believable, and the tension is thick. The location lends to the creepiness, being such a remote location.

The few scenes of special effects seem to have been handled practically for the most part. There isn't an overwhelming amount of CGI, although there is a bit, conservatively used for things that just aren't possible with practical effects.

Even though I wasn't thrilled with the fact that the political commentary was so in-your-face, it did leave me thinking after the credits rolled. I would rather it have been handled with a little more tact, but the obnoxious presence of the message fits in with the extremities discussed within the story.

3/5 -napalmfuzz

http://liberaldead.blogspot.com

This is one of those movies that sounds promising on script, but fails to deliver on the screen.

The concept seems alright; something frozen has been thawed up and is now a threat to mankind. Right, nothing wrong there.

But the way some of the characters behave throughout the movie, just makes you wonder "what the...?". The movie is not scary at any given point, it just delivers a lukewarm thrill.

Certain parts of the movie were excellent, with some fairly decent effects. But those moments do not have enough leverage to carry the entire movie.

Val Kilmer's performance in this movie seemed like he just wanted to get it over with and get paid. I am not a huge fan of his already, but this performance was poor. And before the movie really got into gear and were ready to take you on a ride, it ended...

This movie experience is being archived deep, deep down in my memory, and will hopefully never get thawed...