The Chill Factor

This capsule review was published - in an actual newspaper, remember those? - on October 15, 1993, when it was first released on home video by AIP Video (not the same as American International Pictures, by the way) four years after being made:

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DEMON POSSESSED (R) - AIP Video: EVIL DEAD's 'spam-in-a-cabin' routine and WITCHBOARD's ouija board antics are mixed to not-bad effect as six snowmobiles (this has to be the world's first snowmobile horror flick) take refuge in an abandoned children's camp where they are systematically chunked up by an in-house shadow demon (or something like that). Shot in 1989 as THE CHILL FACTOR, this ultra-low-budgeter falters a bit in the logic department (especially when an otherwise eerie narration doesn't connect with the film's Twilight Zone ending), but showcases some tame-but-effective gore and a cast and crew of ambitious amateurs.

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Short stuff, for sure. When I reviewed this in '93, my weekly column focused on direct-to-video titles, particularly schlock like this, which could routinely be found filling up shelf space in video stores (especially mom 'n pop shops) but which was rarely reviewed outside of the back pages of horror mags, assuming you had access to them, and big-city fanzines, assuming you had access to those (the internet, still in its infancy, was essentially useless in this regard). Now, 30 years later, I'm tagging this old review to an IMDb listing in which most of the other reviewers have the advantage of Arrow Video's supplements-laden Blu-ray edition of Chill Factor. As they say, things were different back then, but the spirit of stumping for (or dumping on) b-movies hasn't changed much at all. We're just conditioned by the likes of Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin et al to believe that all of these films - no matter how crappy and opportunistic - are somehow unheralded classics deserving of special editions loaded with supplements and collectors' booklets. It does get to be a bit much, but if it introduces new fans to old junk, what's the harm?

Supernatural type slasher set out in the snowy wilderness. Three couples find themselves in a spot of bother when out racing on their snowmobiles one has a serious accident and they take overnight refuge in what looks like a creepy, abandoned summer camp. They discover an unusual type of Ouija board and soon an evil spirit takes hold of the injured man. This scenario did remind me somewhat slightly of Evil Dead, only that is a horror classic and this one certainly is not. The first part of the movie is taken up by snow mobiles etc, gets a bit slow. The opening scene is one of the worst bar fights I have ever seen. Looks like they roped in some of the locals judging by the serious lack of acting ability. The killings are OK but none are very gory, there is some sex but this movie is tame enough for a UK 15 certificate. I think The Crap Factor would be a more appropriate title, however I still prefer this to the bulk of 21st Century horror movies though. There is a creepy musical rendition of the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice", that was pretty cool. AKA Demon Possessed.

A trio of young couples is on a snowmobiling holiday when one of them is seriously hurt in an accident. Desperate for shelter, they happen upon an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere.

After noticing religious artifacts everywhere, they decide to play a "wheel pf fortune"-type game (think: Ouija board) they've found. Bizarre occurrences and deadly "accidents" soon follow.

THE CHILL FACTOR is a slow-moving supernatural horror movie with a few ghoulish set pieces. While the characters are pretty vapid, they're not annoying enough to ruin everything. Gorehounds will find sustenance here, especially during the death-by-icicle sequence!

If you have a taste for the occult and don't mind a bit of gruesomeness, then this might hit the spot...

As far as acting go, this movie was the pits. HOWEVER, the story is slightly original because the characters get around on snowmobiles and are stuck in blizzard-like weather. I am always happy to see snow and freezing, bundled up actors instead of bright sun and greased up, bikini clad actors. There is too much California weather in movies, I must say, so this is a nice change. And you could tell that the snow and northern woods were real and not made up on some California ski slope.

It was also pretty creepy how they added the Christian memorabilia into the plot. A giant statue of Jesus on the cross or a crying face of Jesus are both really creepy. Much more creepy than a made up Satanic demon or something, which most movies usually use when dealing with the occult. Although, I don't understand what Jesus has to do with the occult, but it still added a lot of overall insanity/craziness. When people have Jesus things all over the place, sometimes you feel like they will act without thinking because Jesus told them to or something. This is the feeling I got from the old camp in the woods.

However, the "devil eye" ouiji board thing didn't seem to fit. They should have kept with the Jesus theme instead of entering Haitian voodoo into it. That seemed to come out of nowhere.

Tom, the character that gets in the snowmobile accident, had a funky look about him. When he has sex with the ladies and they show his snarly face, I thought it was pretty gross and hard to watch. Good job with the ugly faces.

Did anyone notice that nearly every person in this movie has giant, oversized front teeth like rabbits?

The waitress at the bar in the beginning was really life-like and typical. I thought she was a neat character, though a bit over-acted.

I could have done without the old lady voice narrating it. That was too much unneeded cheese. It would have been better without it.

Overall, terrible acting but a good story that keeps you wondering what is going to happen and succeeds in using effective props/sets. And they get an extra point for using real snow.

"The Chill Factor" follows a group of snowmobilers stranded at an abandoned religious camp where they uncover a strange ouija-like game, and proceed to unleash demonic spirits that start taking hold of them one-by-one.

This utter oddity was filmed in the late-1980s but went unreleased until several years later when it surfaced on video under the title "Demon Possessed." Make no bones about it, this is a low-budget flick, and has all the hallmarks of a cheap horror flick: Bad acting (especially from the extras), silly gore effects, and a plot that seems to have been invented on the fly (a voice-over narration from an apparently chain-smoking grandmother attempts to tie up the loose ends). Even with its pitfalls, however, I found myself enjoying "The Chill Factor" for what it is.

The film's greatest strength is that it's quite atmospheric, and recalls other snow-set horror films such as "Curtains" or "Ghostkeeper," which feel like distant cousins. Conceptually, the plot has potential, and is just weird enough to be attention-grabbing; the execution, however, is not quite up to speed, but one can see the seeds of something ominous buried underneath all the ineptitude. I won't attempt to make a case for "The Chill Factor" being a good film, because it isn't, but it is so bizarre and so wonky that one cannot help but get somewhat absorbed in it. There are a handful of decent death sequences, and the finale boasts a snowmobiling showdown that is ridiculous but somehow not out of place.

"The Chill Factor" is worth a watch for horror purists who enjoy cheapjack possession horror flicks; it melds the demon film with the slasher, and packages it in a late-'80s aesthetic that is as perplexing as it is amusing in all its weirdness. 5/10.