FROZEN

FROZEN

Do you remember "Open Water" (2003)? Do you remember that angst of helplessness you felt for the characters?

Adam Green's "Frozen" rekindles that same angst in this psychological thriller based in, of all places, a chairlift at a ski resort.

Anyone who has every ridden on one of those chair lifts will quickly identify with the terror experienced by the three characters. What if the lift stops and you're stuck, suspended over who knows what for a prolonged period of time.

Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers play Parker, Joe and Dan at a New England ski resort. The resort is about to close, but they want one last run while the slopes are emptying.

Using her feminine wile, Parker cons the chair lift operator into let them ride up one last time. He's a dimwitted adolescent who was esaily impressed by her flash of cleavage - so he lets them ride.

But as we have seen in countless films (and in real life), you never, ever put your life in the hands of a dim witted doofus who is easily impressed with c-cup breasts. Sure enough with the three only halfway up the mountain, he is called to a last second meeting, shuts off the lift and leaves.

Oops!

The resort will be close for the next several days and the temperatures will be falling like a rock.

They are now stuck with no escape as they begin the slow and painful death by freezing.

"Frozen" is storytelling at it's simplest. With no pun intended it is chilling to the core.

They talk about life and what they'll miss. Parker in particular regrets that her dog will starve to death because she won't be home to feed him. A thought that might cross any pet owners mind when faced with the reality of never returning home.

Unlike "Open Water", there are moments of painful anguish as the temperature drops and the metal of the chair they are sitting in freezes. A pack of wolves gather underneath them, like vultures waiting for something to die. Act act of desperation becomes a terrifying image. "Frozen" is sick.

But it is a good sick. "Frozen" will leave you totally mortified without a lot of big bangs and flashy effects. It assaults your deepest fear: the fear of dying alone. --GEOFFREY BURTON

RETURN TO CINEMATREK HOME