Wind Chill

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.

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.

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.

It's a few days before the Christmas holidays when two (unnamed) students share a ride home.After taking a "short-cut" they have a serious accident and find themselves stranded in nowheresville', in the middle of a cold snap and miles from the nearest town, then the 'problems' really begin....

I have to admit I'd heard nothing about this film, in fact I'd never even heard of the title, but it proved to be a bit of a revelation.The two leads Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) and Ashton Holmes (A History Of Violence) are both very good actors and both put in good performances.The film is well paced, not letting you know too much too soon, it's a very eerie looking movie, the the darkness of the night brilliantly contrasting with the glistening snow, reminiscent of the classic "The Shining".

In an age of shock horror which has become rife in Hollywood over the past decade it nice to see a good old fashioned horror film in the fashion of say John Carpenters "The Fog" or even Peter Jackson's "The Frighteners" which it had elements that were very similar too.

A fine intelligent psychological horror film.

A boy and a girl (whose names are never revealed) share a car ride home to Delaware, which is strange once you realize no film in history has ever taken place in Delaware. Luckily, they get stranded on the roadside and don't make it there, saving us the chance of this being the first film to take place there. But the stranding was just the beginning -- ghostly figures live in the woods and the girl slowly learns the guy is not who he says he is.

I have to hand it to the creators of this film. Gregory Jacobs is a relatively new director (though he has helped on many projects) and Joe Gangemi is a new writer. Steven Katz also co-wrote this film, but hasn't written any screenplay since 2000's "Shadow of the Vampire" (which was quite good, for the record). Being new doesn't hamper these guys -- they put together a tight picture.

The writing is much stronger than the plot or directing, I have to say. I enjoyed the plot of the boy's mysterious background (this alone could have carried the film), but the ghosts and the violent cop just weren't all that interesting to me. I enjoyed the isolated car story much better in "Penny Dreadful". The dialog was astoundingly incredible. I could have listened to these two talk about pointless things for hours. The inclusion of Nietzsche's eternal recurrence was a nice touch, and actually ties in to the plot. As a philosophy major, that tugged at my heartstrings.

The guy was a decent actor, but the real star here is Emily Blunt. You might know her name, and you're familiar with her if you've seen "The Devil Wears Prada" (I haven't). Miss Blunt has several projects in 2007 and 2008, and I'm not surprised -- she is a dynamic actress that is both talented and beautiful. And not the dainty type of beauty Hollywood likes, but a more powerful brand.

The film is a bit tedious and drags in the second half. Things get repetitive (hence the eternal recurrence) and the ghosts aren't really all that interesting. The cop is bland, the priest is just mildly intimidating and the black man who coughs up an eel is not nearly as creepy as it could have been. I mean, he's coughing up an eel -- that should have been the highlight of the film, but it was just a quick scene.

I'm glad I saw this one. It had solid writing and a nice dynamic between the two leads. I was expecting the music to be better, with the score being done by the same man who composed the score for "The Fountain" but I was instead treated to bad Christmas songs. I've had enough of Christmas movies and music. But, I suppose it's better than Creed or Rush. If you're curious, pick this one up. It's not a bad beer and pizza movie, though you could probably do better.