Released in 2010, three years before Elsa first sang "Let It Go," Frozen was a low budget thriller written and directed by Adam Green. It tells the story of three people who become trapped on a ski lift in dangerous weather, with no hope of rescue as the resort will be closed through the week until the following weekend. So... not one for the kids.
Frozen gets off to a bit of a rough start. A whole lot of track has to be laid to try to justify how such a scenario can even come to pass. Even then, the movie can't button up every flaw you might find in the plot. Plus, all throughout the first act, rather clumsy exposition lays out the relationships between the three soon-to-be victims. Still, if you can possibly maintain your suspension of disbelief until disaster finally strikes and the characters become stranded, the rest of the ride is reasonably entertaining.
There are a lot of fun new takes on some classic horror movie tropes. There are gross-out scares, psychological thrills... plenty of moments to make you wince and recoil and lean in and tense up and more. It ultimately delivers exactly the sort of ride you want out of a thriller. It's not coincidentally like a ski run itself -- a slow ride to the top to start out, but then a fun and fast rush of adrenaline.
It's also fairly impressive looking for a small indie production. It was made right on the cusp of the time where it might have been judged easier to film with abundant and cheap greenscreening and other digital effects. Instead, the movie is actually shot practically -- if not entirely, then near enough not to be noticeable. It's filmed on an actual snowy mountain. Actors are actually suspended in the air. Real breath fogs in the real night air. And it all makes the outrageous scenario a bit easier to accept, as it mostly looks quite real.
It also holds together thanks to committed performances from its three stars, Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, and Kevin Zegers. Making this movie couldn't have been tons of fun for them; sure, they weren't suffering as much as their characters, but they were definitely out in the miserable elements to catch it all on film. After that awkward first act, the actors play the shifting relationships of the characters believably -- moments of accusation, heroism, and more.
Would I recommend Frozen? Well, if you aren't a fan of thrillers, no I wouldn't. But if you like a movie with chills (pun not intended) and are able to switch off your "oh, come on!" detector for at least a bit, you might be entertained. I give the movie a B-.
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