Estrada Maldita

While this is not the best horror film ever to have been made, it stands out as one that actually has taken the time to develop the characters and still manage to hold your attention. Aside from a back-story that is thrown in at the last minute which never really explains why this is happening to the characters, the film stars and director have helped create some very effective scar sequences which don't always need to be played upon with exhausting music and gore.

The story begins with a girl (Emily Blunt, "The Devil Wears Prada") who needs a ride home for the holidays from college because she has just broken up with her boyfriend. Upon checking the student "ride board" she sees that there is someone offering a ride home in her direction and decides to take it. The boy (Ashton Holmes, "A History of Violence") is our driver, who may have ulterior motives of his own.

Needless to say things begin to fall apart when the boy decides to get off the main highway at the behest of the girl, swerves the car to avoid another one that is oncoming, and crashes in the middle of nowhere. In the snow. In the freezing cold. Obviously with no cell phones in service. Soon the two realize that they have much more to worry about than just freezing to death in the night.

Up until this point things have been fairly clichéd and predictable as with most horror films, but this is exactly what catches you off guard for the second half of the film, the dynamics of which I will not spoil for you. The director Jacobs ("Criminal") is fully aware that the best of horror films are those that have given you time to get to know and feel for the characters before something bad happens to them, even if it is only in the last half. Hitchcock knew this quite well and although "Wind Chill" may be a far cry from "Psycho" or "Frenzy", its effectiveness in making you believe in these characters and feel for them is a truly terrifying experience.

It is a surrealistic film, like a nightmare. Very claustrophobic n heavy on atmosphere. Saw this first in 2007 on a DVD. Revisited it recently. The movie is about a college girl who is trying to get home on Christmas break. She hitches a ride with a complete stranger by getting his number thru a college ride board. Strangely, the stranger knows everything about her. The stranger takes a short cut through the forests..... The acting by the two leads were very good, especially Blunt. The director did a good job with the settings n atmosphere. The story was decent but audiences may find shades of Dead end, The Abandoned 2006, Triangle, No mans land aka Reeker 2 n Haunter. Also ther r aspects in this movie which ain't original. In this movie u can make out when the terror is approaching when the song starts playing in the car a la Jeepers creepers style. Also most of the film is shot in the car a la Joy ride n Penny dreadful. The score is very good, in particular the piece at the beginning and end. Very haunting n sad. Despite nearly the entire film being set in the broken down car n almost in one location it never gets boring.

Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes play two nameless college students who share a ride home for the holidays. On the way from Pennsylvania to Delaware, their car becomes stranded in a snow bank far away from civilization. Soon they are being haunted by the ghosts of all the numerous people who died earlier in the very spot that seems intent on claiming two fresh victims.

"Wind Chill" is a modest little horror outing whose admirable restraint and sense of atmosphere don't quite compensate for its overall lack of energy and incoherent storyline. It takes quite awhile for the plot to kick itself into gear, and even when it does, the movie ends not with a bang but with a whimper.

"Wind Chill" is certainly preferable to an out-and-out gore-fest like "Saw" or "Hostel," but a few more runs through the typewriter (or word processor, as the case may be) might have gone a long way towards making it a more satisfying and scary film. Like the car stuck in the snowdrift, the audience at "Wind Chill" ultimately finds itself stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Wind Chill (2007) 4 of 5 Dir: Gregory Jacobs Stars: Emily Blunt, Ashton Holmes, Martin Donovan

A girl (Blunt) is in need of transportation home for the holidays. She hooks up with a guy to share expenses for the trip home to Delaware. But a scenic detour gets them in proverbial hot water when out of the snowy darkness a vehicle runs them off the road. Now stranded in the cold with the wind chill quickly approaching 30 below zero they thought find out that the cold is the least of their worries as strange figures appear around them and a ghostly patrolman appears to harass them. This snowy stretch of road may well be a highway of a different kind.

'Wind Chill' is a refreshing change from all the entire Saw'-like entertainment lurking about as of late. It takes its time getting where it wants to be while establishing characterization and eventually building up a pretty decent atmosphere from about the mid-point. I liked the sort of red herring that the filmmakers threw in regard to the relationship between the boy and the girl. The twist is an interesting one, not fully realized but still done very well. The acting is done very well and since Blunt and Holmes nearly have the screen to themselves they play off each other excellently.

I recommend 'Wind Chill' for those who may like a change of pace. Nicely acted with a solid script and interesting premise.

Being the horror aficionado that I am, I enjoy all kinds and can analyze each movie based on its predecessors and what it brings to the genre. Wind Chill is a movie that was on the border of being a very original horror story told in a new way, but it slightly misfires and ends up settling for mediocrity. At first, I had it figured for an elemental thriller about survival but it goes deeper. It evokes the tortured past as the story unravels. This combination is exactly what a new age horror movie needs to do to establish itself. It did come up short in a few areas. Mainly, in a movie that tries to juggle themes, you end up with two sets of slightly unsatisfying emotions. You don't get the full elemental thriller or story twists of the tortured past. The acting is done well enough, and Emily Blunt impresses in the role. Ashton Holmes plays the role of the unsure, overwhelmed male character well, but I felt the story didn't capitalize. With very few other characters, it was hard to survive with just those two personas. Though this may sounds overly critical, I felt that this movie could have been a top film and I do believe it was still very well done in its own right. Overall, everyone should at least watch this movie, however, if you don't enjoy the two main characters from the get go, find another way to spend your time.