Frozen (2010)

Director: Adam Green
Cast:
Emma Bell/Parker
Shawn Ashmore/Lynch
Kevin Zegers/Dan

Plot: Three friends are stuck on a chairlift as a blizzard is supposed to roll on in. No one will be there for the next week. Can they survive?

Review:
I was supposed to see this film back in February when it first came out. I loved the trailer and I'm a big fan of Adam Green and Shawn Ashmore. When no theatre by me was playing this film I was devastated. So this has been a LONG wait to get to see this film. Was it worth it?
YOU BET YOUR ASS! I had really high expectations and this film met them AND then some. I honestly wasn't expecting the film to be THIS good. Adam Green has proved to us with this film, that he isn't a one hit wonder. Hatchet wasn't just a good fluke. Between this, Hatchet, and Spiral, Green really has a lot of talent and might be the savior of the horror genre in America. He really proved to us that he can do any type of horror film given to him - whether it be a fun and gory slasher, a psychological thriller, or a survival thriller that takes place in one place the entire film.
What is amazing is how the film never once gets boring, even though every scene is on the chair lift. That is the beauty about having a great director and an equally great script. The script is smart and gave us three very likable and well developed characters that I found myself rooting for. I honestly wanted them all to make it out alive. I grew attached to them and wanted to hang out with them. My favorite would be Parker (Perfectly played by Emma Bell, more on her later). She was adorable and sweet and cute, and is the type of girl any guy would dream to have. Her boyfriend Dan (Kevin Zegers) is cute and cool and they had some good scenes together, but it is Lynch (Shawn Ashmore) who steals the show. He plays the pothead best friend of Dan and was the cause of a few smiles to my face.
What really worked about this film, is they so easily could've given us cliched melodrama or stock characters, but Green wrote a wonderful script with developed characters and legit drama. Dan and Lynch used to be best friends, but ever since Parker came into their life they don't see much of each other anymore and Lynch feels replaced. But they don't play Parker as a bitch. They play her as a genuine sweetheart who actually feels bad and Lynch does like her, and Dan is torn between the two. It's the relationships between these three that kept invested in the film.
But without the right actors, the film wouldn't have worked. The whole film is basically these three people. Shawn Ashmore is a dreadfully underrated actor and is a favorite of mine so he was great in the role. Kevin Zegers was good as Dan. But it is Emma Bell who blew me away. Color me impressed. She really gave a brilliant performance for a horror film and at one crucial scene even got me to tear up because of her emotion. It seems like Bell really gave it her all in this performance, and I hope to see WAY more of this actress in the future. (I got my wish - She is the female lead in Final Destination 5).
Adam Green's directing is impeccable and he really ties into the claustrophobia and the fear in this film. I was on the edge of my seat and I got genuinely terrified through this film. It was very tense and I honestly had NO idea who would survive or if anyone would for that matter! This was a film where I could see everyone dying, so I was always on the verge of having a heart attack. Green gave a very mature direction and it is very different from the feeling of Hatchet. I also must give him props for no CGI and no soundstage. Everything is shot in the bitter cold on a real chair lift. It really added to the realism and made me shiver down to my bones. The score to the film was beautiful and reeled me in deeper and really complimented the film perfectly. I actually want to own this film.
Plus we get a nifty cameo by Kane Hodder and in the end we have a GREAT horror film, and what may now be my favorite horror film of 2010, if NOT my favorite film of 2010 period. I adored the film!

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10