Alex’s Sundance 2010 Review: Adam Green’s Frozen

Earlier this week, Brandon reviewed Adam Green’s Frozen from Sundance, giving it a measly 3 out of 10. Despite that negative review, I still stayed up tonight to catch a midnight screening of Frozen and I’m glad I did. For what it is, essentially a brutal B-horror movie, it’s actually a lot of fun. I mean a lot of fun, especially if you’ve ever been on a ski lift in your life. I’m not sure why exactly Brandon disliked it so much because I enjoyed it, despite the ridiculous characters and numerous logic problems. But it’s a horror-thriller with a crazy concept, so I expected them to bend the rules and make it entertaining, and that’s exactly what it was.

If you haven’t already heard yet (or seen the trailer), Frozen is about a group of friends who, stupidly, bribe their way onto a ski resort on the east coast for some skiing/snowboarding fun. But then they, stupidly, make the mistake of trying to get in one last run even though the resort is closed. And, obviously, they pay for their stupidity by ending up stuck on a ski lift at night. As a life-long skier, I was excited for this because I was looking forward to seeing this terrifying (and rare) occurrence play out. Remarkably, the way they end up stuck is actually quite reasonable, despite their absolute stupidity. Like I said, these kids had it coming.

Frozen does have problems with believability and stupidity, but that’s expected, and if you can look past all that (like I did), you’ll enjoy it for being very intense and horrific. There are definitely no wolves living in the mountains on the east coast, but if they’re added appropriately to ramp up the terror and fear, and it works well, then sure, throw them in there. As a director, Adam Green is good a setting a mood and keeping a good pace, which is important for a film like this. There are some fun surprises and great jump scares, but they’re not overused, and the film progresses smoothly and quickly without ever getting boring (for me at least).

Overall, I enjoyed Frozen, but it’s definitely not a new favorite horror-thriller or even my favorite midnight film from Sundance. If you’re already interested based on the premise, then it’s worth seeing. I got a kick out of it and had fun watching it with an audience and I expect most moviegoers will have a similar experience.

Alex’s Sundance Rating: 7.5 out of 10

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