Pânico na Neve

For a film that mainly revolves around a cast of three to carry the movie, seven stars can seem like seventeen. What makes this film work is the realism. Every choice, every consequence, everything! Like a movie studio trying to emulate the moments before a car accident, then its aftermath.

I'm not one of these reviewers that will take you through the entire plot of the film. Especially in this case. This film's simplicity works. Three skiers accidentally get forgotten on a ski lift as the resort closes for the week.

That's it! Yet, this simple formula works better than any horror movie I have seen in a long, LONG time! This opinion may be a little biased and I'll tell you why. Personally, I am petrified of open heights. Adam Green's chosen camera placements are well picked, never once allowing any hints of fiction into the story. That's the beauty of shooting on location, despite how deadly the location can be.

Deadly, indeed! This movie really got under my skin. Not in anyway gore-filled, like "Hatchet" or its sequel. So for all the gore-hounds out there scanning the reviews for bloody details before watching it, make-up effects enthusiasts won't be completely disappointed, but it's no "Hatchtet". However, Adam Green focuses more on his Actor's/Actresses' reactions to the horrors within the film. This works! Lord, does it work! I'm a huge GOREHOUND, I welcome squeamish scenes, but the subtle incidents that happen to these characters while exposed to harsh weather works better than a graphic depiction of a chainsaw to the gut! I'm almost ashamed to admit that I had to turn away and groan at what I witnessed on screen! This is from someone who giggled like a girl-scout throughout "A Serbian Film"! "Frozen" works! In all the right ways! My only complaints about the film are the lack of themes. Usually a survival-horror like this contains some smug theme that ties the film together, a topic the film tries to make aware to its audience. Romero does the aforementioned flawlessly, just to provide one example. "Dawn of the Dead" and its issue of consumerism. For example, one would assume that being trapped with two other people in a situation like that, the throes of "cabin fever" would naturally work its way into the script. Yet, Adam Green chooses to focus on the reality of the situation his characters find themselves in. As a result, the film remains simple. Leaving the audience with no other thought to ponder upon besides their own feelings of fear. To some, this may be a compliment to the film, to others, a weak link.

The dialogue is probably the strongest device in the film. Revolving your film around only three characters, the script better be able to keep the dialogue interesting or your audience is going to give up on these characters. Adam Green's dialogue is just that, interesting. Realizing the situation the characters find themselves in, the conversations that follows feels significant, but above all genuine. Dialogue, outweighs the action, so be prepared for a lot of talking. However, when the action arrives it's like an avalanche; disastrous, yet magnetic. I was, literally, frozen, couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

I've said enough...

To reiterate a few points, I have to say, again, this film really shook me. After it was over I had a deeper appreciation for the bed I was watching it in. I also made a vow never, EVER to go skiing.

A college student goes on a weekend ski/snowboard outing with his girlfriend and his jealous buddy. It was supposed to be just the guys, but Parker came along, much to buddy Lynch's dismay. She is still learning, and as a result of this, the trio spends most of the day on a bunny slope. After some complaining from Lynch, they decide to go on a quick run down the mountain before the day is through, but there's bad weather moving in. They manage to convince the lift operator to let them go, but through a series of unfortunate circumstances, the lift is stopped midway up the mountain leaving them stuck as the place shuts down for the week. With bad weather, the freezing cold and a large drop between them and the ground, the chances for survival are looking slim. And that's not taking the pack of hungry wolves into account.

I caught this at the Parks Mall AMC back in February and thought it was fantastic. It's from the Open Water/Black Water/The Canyon school of survival horror. All of those films are intense portraits of people stuck in some form of wilderness nightmare with little hope of escape, but Frozen may just be my pick for best of the bunch. At one point early on into the trio's predicament, I discovered that I had unknowingly squeezed my hands together so tightly that they had fallen asleep, so it's safe to say that the tension got to me. The characters also really grew on me as the film wore on, and I actually felt really bad for them. This is Emma Bell's first film, and I was quite impressed with her performance. While she has a spotty moment or two, for a first-timer, I'd say she knocked it out of the park. Her standout scene takes place when she's relaying her fears about what might happen to her puppy if she dies on the lift, and if he'd think she abandoned him.

Kudos to Adam Green for shooting this film on location. There are no green-screens or studio sets to be found here. Green and company found an actual lift to go out and shoot on. Equal amounts of kudos must go to the actors, as they were the ones up on the lift braving the elements for the authenticity a film of this type needs. Their hard work and tolerance paid off, as I often felt like I was right there on the lift with the characters. The chilly atmosphere vividly leaps off the screen, the bleak nature of the situation in which these three find themselves never in doubt. This film also hit a little closer to home for me, as I spent a week of skiing, etc. in Winter Park, CO not two months prior to watching this at the theater. With that fresh in my mind, I was left with an even stronger feeling of "What if?".

Also effective is the sparingly used score, usually played over visuals of the abandoned ski park. There are some gruesome bits, particularly the hand scene from the trailer and a discovery towards the film's end, but most of the tension comes from the predicament itself and some of the debasing things the characters have to do. Needing to take a leak while stuck on a ski lift may not be a big deal if you're a guy, but Parker's options aren't so easy.

I didn't think much of Adam Green's Hatchet. Frozen, on the other hand, is worth raving about.

I've always loved 'trapped in a single location' type films – from the likes of PHONE BOOTH to CUBE. Frozen is the latest effort, a thriller with horrific overtones in which a trio of people find themselves trapped on a chair lift in sub-zero temperatures. There's very little in the way of build-up and exposition, and instead the film gets on with tackling the various dangers that the stranded folk face: everything from frostbite to the possibility of being eaten alive by wolves.

The movie emphasises realism throughout; there are no outlandish heroics here, no contrivances, just a very real chance of dying in an increasingly horrible way. I always judge the success of movies by how well they make you feel like you're there in the situation with the characters, and FROZEN achieves that effect very well. There's plenty of suspense en route, and if the characters aren't the most likable or interesting you'll find in a film, then they're far from the least interesting either. Instead they're presented as ordinary folk, little different from you or me, adding to the 'what would I do?' feel.

Director Adam Green – the man behind the HATCHET movies – is clearly a horror lover first and foremost, thus the emphasis here is on the horrible nature of the scenario. Although much of what occurs is kept off screen, this makes it all the more powerful and there's no denying the sickening feeling that accompanies one unforgettable event, achieved through sound effects alone. Don't be fooled - there's also a fair amount of gore and unpleasant stuff on-screen, too. All in all this is an effective and tension-filled little thriller with much to recommend it.

"Frozen" is a great suspense movie that works -and does so extremely well- with very few elements: a natural environment as beautiful as hostile, three helpless characters, and time running against them. That's it. Filmmaker Adam Green somehow manages to pull this off -keep the interest and the viewer's attention almost without a break for an entire hour, that is, the whole running time except for about 25 minutes to introduce the characters and create the atmosphere for their horrific experience -which is, in my opinion, a good point, because the characters are nice people and I cared about them and their luck.

These three characters are Dan, his girlfriend Parker and his best friend Joe, all on a skiing vacation. One evening they get on a chair lift back from skiing, but it stops without notice, with them being its only occupants -hanging 50 feet above the ground in the middle of nowhere and no hopes of being found in three days.

Like I said, the suspense and the thrill work very well and go in a crescendo, especially for the first half since their situation begins. There are some truly horrifying moments, proving once again that it doesn't take a lot of blood and guts splatted all over the viewer in order to convey a real feeling of terror. This is survival horror at its finest -experiences that can happen to anyone, because they involve all real life elements.

The pace goes remarkably down toward the end, and there are a few scenes that, though not long, drag it down a little bit and don't seem to serve any real purpose, except to linger the denouement a little more.

The only real problem I have with "Frozen" is its ending, which I find objectionable not because I may think it is bad, but because the rest of the movie is so terrific, I expected something on par with that. It is, however, a very worthwhile movie and one I recommend to all fans of thrillers and horror movies full of tension.

My score: 9 over 10.

The director (whom I didn't know before this movie) gets to generate an authentic tension from a real suspense story: the panic gripping the trio is absolutely palpable, although the strong implausibility of no one having a cellphone is not that believable. The terror due to their predicament mounts minute by minute and is made genuine by showing a harsh environment and by imposing tension on each of the characters. The cast is not famous at all but the way the story is set and the three personalities are described keeps attention and tension high and strong. I recommend it also for the wonderful location (movie shot in Utah's Rockies).