I learned about the movie Frozen while looking up info about a writer/director that I like named Adam Green. He came on the scene with the incredible horror flick called Hatchet (a movie I just bought on DVD and plan to watch again very soon) and another one called Spiral - both movies that I very much enjoyed. When I saw that he had also made this one, I immediately wanted to get it and see it. Thankfully, I remembered that a co-worker mentioned having it so the next day I begged her to lend it to me.
The premise is simple, yet really scary: three college students spend a Sunday on the ski slopes and convince the ski lift operator to let them go up right before closing to get one last trip down the slopes. Naturally, they are overlooked as the crew shuts down the lift and they are left hanging in the middle of it.
Already it's pretty scary. I wouldn't call this a horror flick, really, yet it is pretty horrific to think about being left out on a ski lift over night - or two or three nights. I really can't say any more about the plot without giving things away, though I will say that elements of horror to pop up.
After watching the movie I found some reviews where people claimed that this movie does for skiing what Jaws did for swimming. Then I read another review which revised that claim and compared this more to Open Water than to Jaws. I'd have to agree more with the second observation. This movie is all about being stranded and alone and the feelings of hoplessness that surround that situation.
While I didn't find Frozen to be more exciting than Hatchet (which is a gruesome slasher movie that I can't wait to see again) Frozen does work. The characters are likable and you really care about them - that's the only way a movie like this can even begin to work. The performances were fantastic. Kevin Zegers came from the Air Bud movies and another fantastic movie called Trans America with one of my favorite actresses Felicity Huffman (and he was naked in that one!).
Emma Bell as Parker does a great job with her character - moving away from the "poor me" aspect typical of characters in this type of situation. Yet at the same time, she does a great job of making you worry about her and care about her outcome.
Throughout frozen, though, I kept getting distracted by how much Shawn Ashmore looks like Eric Dane, McSteamy from Grey's Anatomy. They must be related somehow!
I really did enjoy this movie. It moves a bit more slowly than some people may be able to take, but it's a good movie from a really great writer/director.
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