Frozen

 3/4

Starring: Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell

Rated R for Some Disturbing Images and Language

Not to be confused with the 2013 animated film, "Frozen"

Now this is real horror.

Anyone can make a movie about a bloodthirsty monster or a berserk lunatic wielding very sharp cutlery.  It could be scary.  But if a film can tap into our innate fears, like getting lost or being trapped, then it is guaranteed to generate a sense of panic and dread in the audience.  Movies like "The Blair Witch Project" and "The Descent" (the first half of it, anyway) work because they tap into those very feelings.  So does "Frozen."

Joe (Ashmore) and Dan (Zegers) are lifelong best friends who are taking one of their many trips to the local ski resort.  This time, they've brought along Dan's girlfriend Parker (Bell), although she's not as good on the slopes as they are (much to Joe's annoyance).  But she is handy in bribing the lift worker into getting them on the lift for a hundred bucks.  All too soon the day is over and they want to go one one last run.  The man at the lift reluctantly agrees, but miscommunication leads to the being stranded in the middle of the lift.  And it's Sunday night so they'll be stuck there for a whole week.

The best question any thriller can generate in the audience is, "How will they get out of this?"  It piques are interest, and if we like or at least identify with the characters, the audience is hooked.  I liked the trio stuck in this cold version of hell.  Writer/director Adam Green knows how college students talk and interact with each other, and the actors convinced me that they were real people, not cardboard cutouts to be manipulated by the needs of the plot.  It's just another way that Green manages to turn an ordinary situation into something truly scary.

Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore and Emma Bell are just as responsible for the movie's successes as Green is.  The relationships between the three of them are nicely developed and the actors sell it.  Dan is cocky but caring, Parker is the newbie, and Joe is the goof who feels like a third wheel.  I felt like I knew people just like them, or had been one of them at one point or another.

Unfortunately, too much time is spent fleshing out their backstories and little melodramas.  True, some of this is necessary to get us to identify with them, and it's generally well written and acted.  But a little of this goes a long way.  Once the trio finds themselves trapped, the film should kick into high gear and stay there.  Pausing for reflection is fine, but Green loses focus and in so doing the tension dissipates.

That being said, when "Frozen" hits the mark, it does so with extraordinary skill.  The amount of terror and dread that Green cultivates in his film is palpable, including one that left me utterly drained and closing my eyes and ears.

Take away some of the padding and smooth out a bit of the contrivance, and you'd have a classic.  As it is, it's a good thrill ride, although not always pleasant.

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