Dead of Winter

Gave it a 6 because CG was bad and many flaws that should have been edited. Acting was good and so was the story.

Your typical cut-off-from-the-world, getting-hunted-and-picked-off-one-by-one horror. Still, the scenery and dialogue are great, the acting... well, it's acceptable. The story itself makes sense in the end, which is great; most horrors leave you hanging or give you the finger. It was a fun watch.

Movie set in freezing nowhere. Check. Characters that are actually DRESSED FOR THE WEATHER! HATS,GLOVES, COATS!!!!! This stopped that ridiculousness in every sub zero wilderness movie where some chick whines that she is freezing,mainly because she's dressed like she's hitting the town in tampa bay on a july evening,dedpite being in a place with literal snow on the ground. So kudos to the filmakers for that,because it truly looked cold as heck! As for this story?!?!? Meh. I sided with the killer, ESPECIALLY after the first scene and the tale he told,and was hoping he would take them all out,because they were annoying as all get out. The one lady had really nice curly hair. Acting was decent,killer had excellent reasoning,but really this movie just moved woodenly and bizarrely. Decent scenery,acting,and hell yeah i included stars for tbose warm clothes,because i have seen that stupidity play out in so many other movies,but ultimately this is just a meh movie.

THAT'S NOT a bad thing these days but its odd not to just set it there. So obviously Canadian...anyways yeah.

The Geo Cache thing is so 2005! & not too funny. The usual types likethe older guy seems way too cool about sudden decapitations and booby traps. Thats not a spoiler its in the first 20 min lotsa dumb jokes when they should kinda strategizing what the best way outta this melting forest trek. Its boilerplate "in the forest horror" film design, just add snow avoid too many accents & call it Colorado.volume goes from 3 to 50 alot. No subtitles either!

However, stunts were a bit on the 'bloodbath' level. ( not quite torure porn like Saw- same characters tho!) Still good to nod off to on a rainy afternoon. I'm finding it harder to locate new films on my new Prime app so that is my excuse. Oh & beware a character whose going pee..bad things happen.

Short and sweet, no spoilers.

Actually...I felt it was between 4 and 5 but rounded up.

This is a very average independent, low budget film. The overall bent of the characters being picked off one by one is not new, but the plot itself is a new take on an old trope. Thankfully, the acting is average to slightly above, so at least it's (a little) "believable." We get no subtext or history on the characters, so what you see is what you get, which is very little so there is no real development or attachment to anyone except what is formed during the movie. I would compare the group of geohunters to their own "Breakfast Club," since each one is a cliché. That's not a bad thing, only an observation.

The direction, cinematography, script...all average to above average. There are some good moments in the cinematography, as the snowy (and legitimately cold) landscape offers some great opportunities. The story and script are the worst offenders, as the story content is at times sickeningly cliche (eg "love" interests, "speeches")

Re: parental content:

• no sex or nudity
• very little profanity. It's there but not gratuitous
• the directors include violence that might otherwise be gory but for the relatively bad CGI fx. There are a couple of practical fx scenes, but for the most part the blood and "gore" are all digital...and not very well done "digital" at that
• I suppose some scenes could be considered intense, but for the most part the intensity comes with the killings.

Overall, it's a very "meh" film. I don't regret watching it, but I wished it had been more. Small budgets don't mean a movie is damned from fx but this could have been a really fun, bloody, gory slasher had there been a little cash behind it. Don't go out of your way to watch this, but if you find it on late at night, it will kill the time.

It should be noted...it's a bit slow. And by slow, I mean there are multiple areas where the pace lags behind what the viewer wishes.

Hated the end.