Frozen is a "Solid," Little Film

A skier's worst nightmare.

Every once in a while I stumble on something interesting while channel surfing. Last night, I was flipping through the premium channels and came across this little movie titled Frozen. It was slotted in the "horror" category, but when it said horror, what it really meant was horrific nightmare. Frozen is not a horror film like Scream. It's what they call in screenwriting, one of the premises that would fall under "your worst nightmare." Here is what impressed me most about three young people who find themselves stuck on a ski lift all alone on the mountain, the low production value. This well-done, little film didn't involve much in terms of budget. I would imagine a great deal of it was either filmed on an actual chair lift or sound stage. They probably rented a small ski resort for a few days. The acting at times got a little cloying, but I'm going to give this one three stars for its simplicity and tension being built around being stuck on a simple chair lift. The three young people get stuck on the chair lift and end up spending the night and so the story goes. Throw in some hungry wolves and you really have a serious problem. Now note to the screenwriters, you were a little on the nose with the foreshadowing when the kids start talking about their most dreaded ways to die and Jaws. We could have scooted around that discussion, because you pretty much gave it away. Other than that flaw, I enjoyed a tense diversion into a skier's worst nightmare. It's playing on Encore right now. So, see if you can find it. Frozen stars Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell and Kevin Zegers.