Posts Tagged ‘Kevin Zegers’

HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR DAY 25! FROZEN: 3 ½ TENSE STARS. “will chill you to the bone”

frozen-movieThe most surprising thing about “Frozen” a new horror film from “Hatchet” director Adam Green, is that it isn’t a Canadian movie. With its vast vistas of snow, wolf attacks, two Canadian leading men and body parts getting stuck to cold steel poles, “Frozen” has Great White North written all over it.

Set on a remote ski hill in Massachusetts “Frozen’s” story is very simple. Three snowboarders—Parker (Emma Bell), her boyfriend Dan (Kevin Zegers), and his best friend Lynch (Shawn Ashmore)—get stranded on a ski lift fifty feet in the air after the hill has shut down. The resort, only open on the weekends, won’t reopen for another five days and unless they can find a way to safely get off the lift they will freeze to death.

This is situational horror. There are no monsters, just bad timing and bad decisions that force the unlucky trio to face their darkest fears—the dark, the cold, heights and the worst foe of all, Mother Nature. Director Green subtly ups the ante every minute of the film’s running time, believably building horror, both physical and psychological. Not that much happens and the action is at a minimum but “Frozen” is an extremely tense movie.

Green makes good use of the stark surroundings and sound design. I’m not sure what they used to create the squishy sound that dominates one grisly scene, but it proves conclusively that sometimes what you hear is scarier than what you see.

On the downside, the barebones story doesn’t demand the full feature length treatment. In the early moments of the film, once the lift stops suddenly, it feels like the movie will movie along quickly. Once the action starts—or, more accurately stops—the fear and tension build a little too rapidly. The three friends fall apart in seconds, panicking too soon. Green let that bit of pacing get away from him, but soon has the real horror start and gives them a reason to be on edge.

Still, at ninety minutes “Frozen” feels padded, particularly during the, occasionally interminable small talk the friends makes to take their minds off their predicament. Too often it feels like filler and worse, frequently sounds like acting school monologues. The prattling gets tiresome as the movie nears its final moments and a bit of trimming here and there could have brought this down to a lean and mean eighty minutes.

Green has pulled good performances out of the actors, particularly from newcomer Emma Bell, who avoids the usual pitfalls of being the only female presence in a horror film.

“Frozen’s” tense story of survival will, at the very least, make you think twice about that trip to Whistler next year. Maybe Myrtle Beach would be a better choice…

FROZEN: 3 ½ VERY TENSE STARS

frozenThe most surprising thing about “Frozen” a new horror film from “Hatchet” director Adam Green, is that it isn’t a Canadian movie. With its vast vistas of snow, wolf attacks, two Canadian leading men and body parts getting stuck to cold steel poles, “Frozen” has Great White North written all over it.

Set on a remote ski hill in Massachusetts “Frozen’s” story is very simple. Three snowboarders—Parker (Emma Bell), her boyfriend Dan (Kevin Zegers), and his best friend Lynch (Shawn Ashmore)—get stranded on a ski lift fifty feet in the air after the hill has shut down. The resort, only open on the weekends, won’t reopen for another five days and unless they can find a way to safely get off the lift they will freeze to death.

This is situational horror. There are no monsters, just bad timing and bad decisions that force the unlucky trio to face their darkest fears—the dark, the cold, heights and the worst foe of all, Mother Nature. Director Green subtly ups the ante every minute of the film’s running time, believably building horror, both physical and psychological. Not that much happens and the action is at a minimum but “Frozen” is an extremely tense movie.

Green makes good use of the stark surroundings and sound design. I’m not sure what they used to create the squishy sound that dominates one grisly scene, but it proves conclusively that sometimes what you hear is scarier than what you see.

On the downside, the barebones story doesn’t demand the full feature length treatment. In the early moments of the film, once the lift stops suddenly, it feels like the movie will movie along quickly. Once the action starts—or, more accurately stops—the fear and tension build a little too rapidly. The three friends fall apart in seconds, panicking too soon. Green let that bit of pacing get away from him, but soon has the real horror start and gives them a reason to be on edge.

Still, at ninety minutes “Frozen” feels padded, particularly during the, occasionally interminable small talk the friends makes to take their minds off their predicament. Too often it feels like filler and worse, frequently sounds like acting school monologues. The prattling gets tiresome as the movie nears its final moments and a bit of trimming here and there could have brought this down to a lean and mean eighty minutes.
Green has pulled good performances out of the actors, particularly from newcomer Emma Bell, who avoids the usual pitfalls of being the only female presence in a horror film.

“Frozen’s” tense story of survival will, at the very least, make you think twice about that trip to Whistler next year. Maybe Myrtle Beach would be a better choice…

THE COLONY: 3 STARS

colonyCanadians who were still digging themselves out of winter’s bounty in late April might feel a bit better after seeing “The Colony,” a new sci fi thriller starring Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Zegers and Bill Paxton. “The truth is,” we’re told by way of narration, “one day it started to snow and it never stopped.”

The movie takes place in a modern ice age. Survivors found refuge from the ice and snow far underground in places like Colony 7, a community run with an iron fist by former military man Briggs (Fishburne). The colony is divided along red / blue state lines—the liberal approach to governing from Briggs, versus a more practical reality espoused by Mason (Paxton), a gun touting enforcer whose catchphrase is, “We need to be tougher!”

The underground ecosystem is fragile at best. “It’s not the cold we need to worry about, it’s each other,” says Sam (Zegers).

An uneasy truce between Briggs and Mason holds until a routine call to Colony 5 goes unanswered. Briggs takes a two-man team—Sam and Graydon (Atticus Dean Mitchell)—to truck across the blustery tundra to investigate. While they’re gone things at Colony 7 go all “Lord of the Flies,” but it’s an even worse situation at Colony 5.

“The Colony” makes good use of the situation to build atmosphere and tension by using the icy outside and the claustrophobic interiors (it was shot at the decommissioned North American Aerospace Defense Command base in North Bay, Ontario) to good advantage. Shadows and creepy sounds stand-in for elaborate special effects, but when the going gets bloody old school nasty action effects—like a bisected bad guy skull—are effective and cringe inducing.

On the downside “The Colony” has many of the standard plot devices used in sci fi thrillers— who doesn’t see the sacrifice of the metaphorical red shirt coming?—and the ultimate survivors just happen to be the good-looking ones who escape to Adam and Eve it up elsewhere. But it makes up for its deficiencies with some excellently feral cannibals and an ending that while hopeful, is still bleaker and cooler than we might expect if this was a big Hollywood movie.

The Colony: Your standard sci-fi action flick, with some feral cannibals to spice things up By Richard Crouse and Mark Breslin Metro Canada – In Focus April 26, 2013

The-Colony-651x433The movie takes place in a modern ice age. Survivors found refuge from the ice and snow far underground in places like Colony 7, a community run with an iron fist by former military man Briggs (Laurence Fishburne). The underground ecosystem is fragile at best. “It’s not the cold we need to worry about, it’s each other,” says Sam (Kevin Zegers). An uneasy peace holds until a routine call to Colony 5 goes unanswered. As Briggs and a rescue team truck across the blustery tundra to investigate, things at Colony 7 go all Lord of the Flies. Unfortunately it’s an even worse situation at Colony 5.

• Richard: 3/5
• Mark: 2/5

Richard: Mark, I thought The Colony made good use of the situation to build atmosphere and tension. The icy outside and claustrophobic interiors (it was shot at the decommissioned North American Aerospace Defense Command base in North Bay, Ont.) do the trick, and keep you uncomfortable throughout. Shadows and creepy sounds stand-in for elaborate special effects, but when the going gets bloody, old school nasty action effects — like a bisected bad guy skull — are effective and cringe inducing. Were you hot or cold on it?

Mark: Somewhere between tepid and lukewarm, Richard. Although there’s nothing wrong with this movie, there’s not much that is original or memorable. It’s a little bit zombie, a little bit aliens, a little bit haunted house. The atmosphere and tension are well done, but that isn’t enough. The real mystery is how they got Laurence Fishburne to appear in what feels like a superior direct-to-video release.

RC: I hear you. On the downside The Colony has many of the standard plot devices used in sci-fi thrillers — who doesn’t see the sacrifice of the metaphorical red shirt coming? — and the ultimate survivors just happen to be the good-looking ones who escape to Adam and Eve it up elsewhere. But it makes up for its deficiencies with some excellently feral cannibals and an ending that, while hopeful, is still bleaker and cooler than we might expect if this was a big Hollywood movie.

MB: I didn’t find the ending bleak at all. What I did find bleak was casting Bill Paxton and giving him a one dimensional papier mâché role. Mind you, none of the characters were particularly vivid.

RC: Bill Paxton has been in WAY worse movies than this. I kind of liked the simplicity of the whole thing. Reminded me of an old school action movie that stereotypes as a kind of shorthand to let the audience know what to expect. It’s not the characters that are interesting — they’re the standard hero, anti-hero types — it’s their actions. This movie doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any means, but the journey the characters went on entertained me. Besides, any movie featuring feral cannibals is OK in my books.

MB: Hey, I like a feral cannibal as much as the next guy; I mean, it’s not like I’m a vegan. I was modestly entertained by the movie but I thought it could have been better with a few more rewrites. I will say this, though: North Bay has never looked better.