FROZEN

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
OCTOBER 1, 2010

In 2004, director Chris Kentis proved that placing an ardent couple in the middle of a vast ocean with swarming sharks beneath them could produce an unexpectedly disheartening thriller. In 2010, Adam Green followed with the comparable “Frozen,” which you can only describe as the hell of “Open Water,” frozen over. With a small cast and a budget spent mostly on make-up, prosthetics, and renting a chairlift, “Frozen” rises above its low-budget contenders and provides a visually pleasing experience despite its questionably low-impact concept.

Three friends head off to a ski resort for the day with no money, bribing the chairlift operator. From the trailers, you suspect that the operator will retaliate by leaving them stranded. Instead, the stranding is a misunderstanding during an unexpected shift change and an approaching storm that results in the early shutting down of the resort for the week. The only problem is the three college students are left, dangling high above the ground on the immobile chairlift with no one to hear their screams. As the film progresses, the three students face the elements. Those elements include a fifty-foot free fall, a snow storm, razor-sharp chairlift cable, frostbite, and severely hungry wolves, who, contrary to what the characters believe, are not more afraid of humans than humans are of them. The film ensues as if Adam Green stranded himself on a chairlift and brainstormed all the possible scenarios that could emerge.

On paper, this film sounds uninspiring and hokey. However, “Frozen” captivates with the inclusion of pristine visuals in the pure mountainside scenery, atop the somewhat plausible performances of the three newcomer actors (including Iceman from “X-Men,” Shawn Ashmore… coincidence?), matching the advancements offered by “Open Water” delivered in a quaint snowy setting. “Frozen” is disgustingly fervent, yet no matter how repulsive the film gets, you will not be able to look away.