I guess I’ve been slowly drifting off at the wheel as of late because The Thaw is one flick that’s been way beneath my radar. It’s not that I didn’t have any interest in said movie, I just simply didn’t have a clue the damn thing was happening.

For those of you joining our program already in progress (like myself), The Thaw is apparently a nasty little tale about a group of eager ecological students in the throes of preventing a lethal parasite from transforming into an epidemic. Seems the eager beavers opened Pandora’s Box by unearthing and thawing out a centuries-old woolly mammoth. Naturally, a badass parasite comes along for the ride and all hell breaks loose.

Mark A. Lewis directs, while Anagram Pictures (Fido) produces.

Nifty and original concept, methinks. Beats the hell out of rage-infected monkeys, anyway.

Moving along, one little tidbit (or not so little, depending on your point of view) I came across earlier today was the casting of an actor Joel Schumacher loves to hate oh-so-much; apparently, Val Kilmer has been cast in this fright-fest (excuse me, I meant “eco-thriller”) alongside Martha MacIsaac (Superbad). Looks like Kilmer will be playing the role of Dr. David Kruipen, father to Evelyn Kruipen, which will, of course, be played by MacIsaac.

In addition to that little bit of casting news, it also looks like the production has scored a Canadian distribution deal through Maple Pictures. Vancouver production company Brightlight Pictures will also be chipping in with Voltage Pictures to snag international sales.

Shooting is set to get underway in mid-June in Williams Lake and Vancouver, B.C. 

If all goes as planned, we’ll hopefully get a look at The Thaw early next year.