The Frozen (2012)

So much average

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Interesting premise and a one liner story stretched into 1.5 hours of annoying movie.Honestly what were the makers thinking when they made this one? This has to be one of the most purposeless movies ever made. I m a big thriller/horror fan. But the intended thrills here were plain irritating.****SPOILERS AHEAD***A pregnant girl and her boyfriend's adventurous camping trip in snow goes awry when they meet a snowmobile accident. The boyfriend goes missing and the girl makes very lame attempts at getting out of the situation. Strange things keep happening. A mysterious gunman keeps appearing at random and doesn't say a word. Adding to your annoyance and making you hate this movie even more. The performances are in sync with the movie, BAD!!The "supposed" suspense/twist in the climax is plain lame. Avoid this one at all costs.

I broke my own imposed rule yet again and decided to give this low budget indie "horror" flick a try. Thank goodness, I'm not disappointed that I did. It certainly didn't blow me away by any means but it also wasn't horrendous and that's a big achievement with indie horror nowadays. The film's sole issue is how it drags. It is excruciatingly long and doesn't have enough depth or material to captivate you for the hour and a half. As a short film or a half hour episode of Twilight Zone, this would have been terrific but it really struggles to make itself feature length unfortunately. The good news is that the performances in the film are decent and the movie is appropriately bizarre enough to keep fans of the genre happy. It is clear that everyone involved really did try hard and they deserve mention for that. As with any good, bizarre horror flick there is a twist to the whole mystery and it unfolds quickly towards the end. The "twist" ending is very stereotypical, we've seen it a thousand times but it works for the film and it wasn't disappointing per se. Its a decent low budget thriller that won't blow you away but it also is decently made and not a mess.As with any indie thriller the cast tends to be very small and is with this one. Seth David Mitchell and Brit Morgan both do a very good job as the young couple gone camping for the weekend. Morgan ends up being our "scream queen" and focus of the latter half of the film and she actually does a decent job of keeping the action going. She is a good scream queen and her charisma on screen keeps the story rolling. Noah Segan is really the only other role that gets more than thirty seconds and he's decent though it isn't exactly a hard role to capture. Its bare bones at best.Andrew Hyatt is our writer and director and he is mostly an exception to my rule. That rule is when indie writers direct their own stuff...its almost always crap. This isn't crap. Again, I reiterate it isn't amazing and its excruciatingly slow but I give it honourable mention for not being crap. There are even a couple of genuinely well done and very creepy scenes. He uses his low budget very well and shoots from certain camera angles to emphasize the creep factor. So I'm not raving about this film, but you have to understand when you watch as many really terrible low budget horror flicks as I have you tend to see a 6/10 as a really great feat for something like this. Check it out for something a little different and see that it can be done right. 6/10

It takes a great actor to hold their own for so long. Acting seemed believable. Holding the tension throughout was good. Great ending and symbol of the red marker at end. It was a gamble to have couple breaking up than in love for emotional appeal...but it gave a sense of reality not tear some movie formula. Holding the tension then explaining at end what was happening made the supernatural understandable and governed under its specific laws. The change of mind over her condition redeems herself. Also liked how she steps up to take charge and how she uses something of the vehicle was good thinking. The not understandings of events is explained and tied in a worthy knot. Thought of Castaway with Tom Hanks and female in first Blair Witch. I am having my movie Crematory begin production 2014 and love to have her play the main character.

There are probably going to be some reviews bashing the simplicity of this film, but amazingly enough that is what I found most intriguing about it. For a simple ultra-low budget this is the best I've seen in a while. The synopsis is simple. Guy talks his girl into heading up to the snowy mountains in a bold (if not ignorantly risky) attempt to get some alone time. Survival becomes a factor after a foretelling crash, and then of course there is the menacing bad guy to contend with. The director is knowledgeable of the area and the expertise shows in the scenery takes. Great camera work and some effort put into good angles. The musical score helped out quite a bit, at least for me. Good tension rifts and effectively moody when needed. I was most amused by the first half of the film. The focus is the interaction between the guy bending over backwards in optimism to cater to the ever-skeptic and ego-crushing girlfriend. Sounds cheesy I know, but my opinion is that for some reason this worked.. I'm sure some couples are going to relate.. and then the added bonus of them ripping around on an RMK sled while dripping with naivety. They did pack quite well at least. I think I was more nervous and tense for them than they were. If you've ever personally crossed that moment in the outdoors where you just aren't quite sure if you are going to make it back to the truck... even if just briefly, then you know what I mean. Anyway, some nice details that make sense in a survival struggle were present.I'm not saying there weren't flaws. There we're. Both in tech details for what was being portrayed and in the story itself. For instance, snowmobiles are heavy and tricky to ride in a couple plus feet of mountain powder. Not something for a novice. It would have been fun to show the realism of getting one unstuck.. lol. Also 3/4 of the way into the film my plausibility meter was gagging with the bad guy, but that one worked itself out.. just have to be a little patient. All in all I was entertained by this cheap trip into the woods. Not everyone will be, but if you dabble in the outdoors with your spouse, it might have a better effect.