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STUDIO: Wellspring Media
MSRP: $24.95
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 96 min
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Behind the Scenes
- Deleted Scenes
- Bloopers
The Pitch
It’s 30 Days of Night with the wit of An American Werewolf
The Humans
Petra Nielsen, Grete Havneskold, Emma Aberg, Jonas Karlstrom, Mans Nathanaelson, Carl-Ake Eriksson, Mikael Goransson, Anna Lindholm Rosendahl
The Nutshell
A female doctor moves to a town in Sweden with her daughter to start studying under a famous geneticist, Professor Beckert. Soon after the town enters the period of the polar winter, vampires attack and with no day light coming for another thirty days there is nowhere to hide. The only option is to just survive.
After being stuck on the frozen pole for days, Martin found the only way down was to eat his way off
The Lowdown
The premise of Frostbitten should seem familiar to people at this time. Taking place in a town in Sweden, the movie is set against the polar winter that encompasses the entire community into a month long night.
The movie starts with a bang. Sixty years ago, a German SS troop runs from a battle they are losing and heads into the woods hoping that the polar winter would hide them from the enemy. However, the cabin they took solace in was a haven for a pack of vampires. These scenes are beautifully shot and are a great beginning to what would turn into a very solid and entertaining film.
Present day, we meet Annika and her daughter Saga as they move to a city in Norbotten so Annika can work in a hospital under the guidance of Professor Beckert. Beckert only has one patient at the time of her arrival, a comatose woman who he is simply feeding pills to as some sort of experiment. When a young intern named Sebastian steals one of the pills and takes it, he realizes he has a heightened sense of hearing and vision, as well as the ability to understand what dogs are saying. He also develops a taste for blood.
He steels more pills from Professor Beckert’s office, which are in turn stolen by a girl named Vega who takes them to a party that Saga attends. They are slipped into the punch, drank by almost everyone at the party, and the party turns into a bloodbath. One by one, the partiers begin to change and attack and turn everyone else into vampires as well. Saga is lucky and ends up locked in a bathroom, safe from the carnage.
Fatal Attraction ain’t got nothin’ on me
The movie is a very clever film that mixes horror with just the right touches of comedy, including a rabbit hating pug. The comedy touches are very comparable to An American Werewolf in London or The Lost Boys, and there is actually a line in the movie lifted directly from The Lost Boys. The comedy is very inspired and incredibly funny, which makes the intense scenes of horror even more striking. There is a scene where an officer is dressed up in riot gear to interrogate Sebastian. This movie is full of these little touches of innovation. The death by garden gnome is a thing of brilliance.
The scenes of gore are also very well done. This movie is definitely a step above the B-level horror films that have been getting released lately. The gore at the party is over-the-top in all the right ways and the actual vampire effects are a step above B-level as well. This movie is trying very hard to be a step above the rest and I think on most levels it succeeds. The actual monster effects are done quite well and the editing is solid enough to hide any problems that might exist.
There are small problems with the film. There are three storylines that are broken up throughout the film. We follow the mother and Professor Beckert, the daughter at the party and Sebastian. With all the cutting, there is not much room to allow for tension. We get moments where someone is running from a vampire and then we switch to another. The switching of directions occurs so frequently that it is difficult to put yourself into a single character’s shoes. Also, there was an opportunity to explore the dynamic between Saga and her mother after she was changed, but the movie just abruptly ends. You should also be warned that it is a Swedish language film and is subtitled.
Sixteen Candles 2: The Re-Awakening
The movie looks great, has a sharp and innovative script and is really something you should check out. Don’t think this is just a 30 Days of Night rip-off. This just might be one of the funniest, yet scary, horror movies since An American Werewolf in London. You won’t be disappointed.
The Package
The picture is crystal clear and the scenery in Sweden is beautiful. Shot in 2.35:1, it is just an amazing visual treat. The sound is also very good with Dolby Digital 5.1. The cover is simple and that is just right for this movie. The delivery of this DVD is almost perfect.
There is a Behind the Scenes Featurette that talks to just about everyone involved and is a nice and informative feature. There are also two deleted scenes. One is a very funny car scene where a police deputy is telling a story to another officer about a funny incident where a rookie cop had to shoot a dog. It was a really funny story, yet would not have worked in the movie without further taking the focus off the main characters. There is also a scene where Sebastian’s girlfriend comes face-to-face with the vampires at the party. There are three blooper reels where actors are having trouble keeping a straight face while delivering their lines. The final extra is the trailer.
7.2 out of 10