Frozen

There are so many films that are greeted with a journalist declaring it to 'Do for [insert activity here] what Jaws did for swimming in the sea' and Frozen is no exception with one of the taglines saying that it will do skiing no good at all. It comes with a decent pedigree, directed by Adam Green who brought us Hatchet and produced by Peter Block who has worked on the Saw movies, Daybreakers, Crank and Rambo so there is some genre knowledge behind the camera and, with Kevin Zegers from the Dawn of the Dead remake is one of the main three actors, at least one of the cast members knows what it is like to act in a proper horror movie.

The film is remarkably simple in its premise and could probably define what a 'high concept' film is: three skiers get stuck on a chairlift when the power is turned off when they are halfway up the mountain at night. There is a bit more to it than this as the three friends, all in their 20s, have gone on holiday to the skiing resort at Mount Holliston and have done so on the cheap so they don't have passes for every part of the result. Wanting to get to the top of the mountain to ski down, Dan convinces his girlfriend, Parker, to approach the guy operating the chairlift and bribe him to let the three use it. Although he is basically a minimum wage worker, the bloke won't risk its job for $50 and sticks out for $100 and then quickly lets them onto the machine. As night sets in, they want to go for one more run and, with the slopes and chairlift pretty much empty, they talk their way on, saying that for $100, they deserve more than one ride.

Having blagged another run down the mountain, the chairlift operator is called away but tells the guy who replaces him that there are three skiers still to come down and, when three skiers come down the mountain, he stops the chairlift not knowing that the three who have just passed in are not the three that his colleague meant. Dan, Parker and his friend Lynch, assume that the power outing is temporary and decide to sit and wait until all of the lights are turned off and they are left in the dark.

On the way up, they had been talking about the worst ways to die, whether it is being burnt alive, eaten by a shark or (as Lynch suggests) falling into the sarlacc pit from Return of the Jedi and being slowly digests over 1000 years but they hadn't considered freezing to death on a chairlift halfway up a mountain. Not only is the chairlift closed for the night, but, because of the opening days (Friday to Sunday) that means that it will be shut from that day (Sunday) to the following Friday so the chances of anyone stumbling across them are extremely slim. Contemplating what to do instead of just sitting there and waiting for the inevitable, the options aren't particularly great as it is a long way down to the snow but, with their core temperatures dropping all the time, they must do something.


Some of the more effective horror films put you in a situation to which you can relate and basically asks you 'what would you do?' This is the case with Frozen as, even if you haven't been on a chairlift, you can imagine what it is like and, as being lost is one of the primal fears, being completely abandoned halfway up a mountain with no hope of being rescued is a terrifying prospect.

The film is very well put together by Adam Green who takes his time introducing the characters, the situation and the dynamics between the three protagonists as Lynch is Dan's friend but spends most of his time winding up Parker about smoking, putting Dan in a situation where he almost has to choose between his best friend and his girlfriend.


Once the horror begins and the three realised that frostbite and hypothermia are the least of their problems and that starving to death is more of a pressing issue, they must do something to get off the chairlift and back down to the resort lodge. Dan decides to go first and, as the chairlift is one of the older varieties where you can lift up the safety bar, slides off the front of the seat before risking everything and dropping down to the snow. This doesn't go quite as hoped and only compound their problems when they realised that there are wolves in the New England woods.

I found this to be a engrossing and effective horror film due to the situation that Adam Green created and the fine performances by the three leads. None of them are particularly experience actors yet they all do a splendid job in making the fear and almost hopelessness of the situation easy to recognise and are interesting and fairly likeable people rather than the irritating teenagers that you usually find in a slasher film and almost can't wait for them to get killed. This is a case where you want everyone to survive.


The Disc

Extra Features
The commentary with Adam Green and the three main actors: Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers and Emma Bell is an easy listen and informative as they go through locations, how much of the work they did themselves rather than with stunt performers and why the lack of breath isn't a continuity error as, the colder the body gets, the cooler the breath and therefore why it is less visible than when you are warm. They clearly get on well together and speak right until the end of the final credits.

The commentary with Adam Green, DP Will Barratt and editor Ed Marx is a much more technical affair but oddly by no means less enjoyable than the cast commentary as they talk about how difficult it is to sell something so simple as three people in a chairlift. It is quite amusing as they disclose how the cast members had various lenses and even the slate hidden in their jackets during filming so they could quickly change the camera from a wide shot to a close up and call "action" without needing to get off the 'bucket' and go down 50 feet onto the ground. There are various other things they go through but I won't list them all here so as not to spoil the track for you.

Catching Frostbite: The Origins of Frozen (11:00, HD) features interviews with just about every member of the crew, particularly Adam Green, who tells you how he came up with the idea and the research he did to make sure that the various scenarios are as real as they could be. It also goes on to talk about the production company and various aspects of the money side of things which makes this a fairly comprehensive and enjoyable featurette.

Three Below Zero (10: 51, HD) begins with Adam Green talking about why the three actors were cast and moves on to the actors (and Green) talking about their characters and various moments in the film to explore the dynamics between Dan and Parker, Dan and Lynch and Parker and Lynch.


Shooting Through It (11:18, HD) explores the relationship between Adam Green and cinematographer Will Barratt and production designer Bryan McBrien and how each of them contributed to the film, dealing with the elements, why they decided to use the 2.40:1 aspect ratio and just how cold it was on that mountain with rain, sleet and snow plus the sub-zero temperatures. Although this doesn't sound like the most interesting of featurette, it is surprisingly revealing and, as each person is a good speaker, this helps to make the subject material easier to watch.

Beating the Mountain: Surviving Frozen (52:55, HD) begins at the end of the Grace shoot where Adam Green basically says that no other film he makes will be as difficult a shoot as that before going straight to him talking about all of the clothes he had to wear for the Frozen shoot from two pairs of socks, insulated long Johns, over trousers and boots that are designed to be worn in temperatures as low as -100 Fahrenheit! As someone who is used to dealing in Celsius, it takes a bit of mental calculation to figure out that -4 Fahrenheit is extremely cold indeed especially when there is sleet and they were working on snow anyway. I don't think the title 'Surviving Frozen' was chosen flippantly as, by the looks of things, this really was a shoot that you had to survive rather than enjoy.

Overall, these five featurettes (which clock in at just over an hour and a half) are dominated by Adam Green who is an enthusiastic speaker and casts a great deal of light on every aspect of shooting from where he got the idea from the hardships of the shoot. It is an impressive selection of featurette that contain a great deal of information and they are well worth going through.

There are also a series of deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer.


The Picture
I was incredibly impressed with the quality of the SD picture on the DVD so wondered if, and how, this HD picture can be any better. The first thing I noticed was the contrast levels which are noticeably darker so when you have a black sky, there is no line between the sky and the letterboxing at the top so when something is black, it is inky black. The snow is also incredibly bright, especially when it is just snowed and you get the contrast between the white snow, green trees and a bright blue or black sky. Despite the difficulties of shooting in such an environment, the picture is extraordinarily good with crisp edges and excellent contrast and colour. Making this even more visually impressive is the complete lack of green screen and, when it looks like there are several people sitting on a chairlift in the middle of nowhere, they really are several people sitting on a chairlift in the middle of nowhere with the lights off.

When it comes to the SFX make-up, there are the more 'low-tech' effects such as the frosts on people's faces and the minor frostbite effects all the way to compound fractures and half eaten corpses!


The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track as much more clarity, separation and balance that the Dolby Digital SD track did on the DVD so, when the wind is whipping around the chairlift, the entire speaker setup comes to life and you almost feel the cold in your room so, just like North face, the sound effects can actually influence how warm you feel. The soundtrack also does a tremendous job of putting you in the middle of the action with terrific sound design, crystal clear dialogue and every little creak from the chairlift making the experience all the more uncomfortable.

Frozen is very well scored and the music certainly helps to ramp up the tension, atmosphere and terror making the whole experience even more harrowing than it would otherwise have been. Also aiding in this is the sound design which makes every creak of the chairlift and gust of wind help stretch your nerves to breaking point.


Final Thoughts
As recent horror films go, Frozen is one of the more impressive; introducing a thoroughly nightmarish scenario which you more or less know won't end well. Along with the extremely affecting film is a very good extras package with plenty of information about how the film came about and how it was made. This is a film to be avoided if you are just about to go on a ski trip!

This is a much better disc than the DVD with the extra commentary, HD sound and all of the extra features in high definition. The film looks far better and the improved soundtrack really helps to compliment the visuals. The extra commentary track is worth listening to so you have hours of extra material to add to your understanding and appreciation of Frozen, should you want to watch it all and listen to the two commentary tracks.