Frozen

(Viewed on Netflix streaming)

A simple premise, some basic horror conceits, and a small, contained cast and location and you've got Frozen, a surprisingly not-annoying little horror/suspense film.

Dan (Kevin Zegers) and Joe (Shawn Ashmore) are lifelong friends out for a day of hitting the slopes. But Dan's brought along his girlfriend (Emma Bell - no relation) who's a novice. Some basic tension here with the three of them thrown together but trying to make the best of it.

They bribe the lift operator to let them on and then, later, get him to let them up for one last run at the end of the day. Poor communication skills and bad work ethics lead to setting the premise in place when the three are then left, literally hanging, up the mountain on the ski lift with the dark and a storm coming on. Oh and the resort is going to be closed for a week.

Using the horror course 101 of people left to their own devices making things worse, director Adam Green gets an amazing amount of mileage out of that constrained space. Personalities start to deteriorate as everything becomes more desperate, with threats above (the ice/cold, frostbite) and below (wolves!) and the three try to overcome their situation. But Green also follows the further horror conservative conceit - “if they'd just followed all the rules they wouldn't be in this situation.” But none of them ever think of this, instead bonding or fighting or just trying their best to survive. The tension in this man vs. nature is inherent and Green milks it along nicely for all it's worth. The ending, to me, seemed a bit too easy and not standing up in the proper horror movie tradition but it still works, keeping the story again fairly self-contained and moving along nicely.

Rating: C+