Review: Frost (2-disc Blu-ray and CD)

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Frost
Directed by Brandon Slagle
JCB Pictures; Multiverse Cinema; Sandaled Kid Productions;
Snow Leopard Entertainment; Cleopatra Entertainment; MVD Visual
81 minutes, 2022
www.Cleopatra-Entertainment.com
www.MVDvisual.com

Humans verses environment is hardly a new subgenre of suspense, as you can go back to the likes of the ABC Movie of the Week, Seven In Darkness (1969) and Jeremiah Johnson (1972), but it has picked up since the success of The Revenant (2015), with Frozen (2010) and Fall (2022), among others. Into this canon now comes Frost.

In most of these films, there is always something “extra” going on to add some spice, be it blindness, a grizzly, or a height. Here, it is pregnancy. Abby (Scream Queen Devanny Pinn, who was also in this year’s Death Count), is pretty far along as we meet her in Pine Mountain Club, California.

Devanny Pinn, Vernon Wells

She is on her way to visit her estranged dad, Grant (The Vernon Wells in full Aussie accent), an alcoholic, after half a decade; he lives in a cabin in the mountains, surviving on nature (hunting, fishing) and selling animal skins. You can tell he’s a tough old coot by the toque he wears indoors. The only other human in the film is Abby’s friend Sasha (Venus DeMilo Thomas), who we see on her phone (Skype? Zoom? WeChat?).

In an ill-fated momentary decision, Abby and Grant decide to go up to “the lake” to fish and bond. You know that it is not going to end well. The hint is a road sign that reads “Icy.” Thanks to dad’s inattentive driving and said icy roads, they end up off the highway and deep into a hillside, far down the track. And then the weather drops (hence the film’s title) and it snows…

While there are momentary shots of post-accident before the – er – accident, this begins the ordeal of Act 2: survival. What is a nice change is that Act 1, where we get to meet the two main protagonists, is relatively short. Too many films spend more than 20 minutes just to introduce the characters, unnecessarily, especially if there is a car ride involved. Here, the drive pre-accident only lasts a few minutes.

There are shattered glass windows so no protection from the cold or other outside inhabitants, locked in their seat belts, branches jutting into the car (and Abby’s shoulder), and two hours till dark when it really gets, well, frosty. Not only that, but they are on the edge of an embankment that is straight down the mountainside. That is the situation, and where it goes from there is where I basically stop talking about details.

This is a tale of, hopefully, survival. But they have a long way to go with no cell phone (left in the house) and no way to be seen from the curvy road above. In other words, like the film 12 Hours (2010), where a guy has to cut off his arm to get out of a situation, you do not want to be there.

Will Grant’s history of being somewhat of a survivalist help? Hinder? Will Abby’s baby stay in utero (I can guess…)? These are the immediate questions that went through my mind, and I will not reveal, so no spoilers.

Certain questions arise to me. I live in a climate where it gets really, really cold, and have had to wait for an extended period (couple of hours) in a car in -30F. Abby turns on the car (it still works?) for the heater, and then turns on the radio. What? The way to actually do it is turn on the heater until it is reasonably warm, and then turn it off until it gets unbearably cold again, then repeat. You do not waste the battery in cold weather by leaving the motor on, wasting gas, never mind the toll on its life with the radio. And how long would it be before you ate something disgusting because you had to, to survive. Did not take more than a day for Abby. This makes no sense. I once went for four days without eating (while waiting for a medical procedure), and after the first 24 hours, the hunger passes a bit.

Being her father’s daughter, I don’t know if her survival skills are innate or learned, but they are present, given what she has in her small environment. And speaking of situations, the film picks up with the arrival of a big, bad doggie (Shadow; yes, it has a name). The hungry wolf (no singing Duran Duran, please) knows what will satisfy its hunger, and trapped-in-car Abby has to contend with that among other things. It is hard not to think of Cujo (1983), even without the slobber.

There are definitely some extremely squeamish parts to the film, making this more than just a trying to survive story. I would think in one particular centerpiece (aka Act 3), especially for women (I am not meaning that in a sexist way, but situationally), and what brilliant singer-songwriter Christine Lavin might call “sensitive New Age guys.”

The snowy scenery is actually quite beautiful, especially the shots of hoar frost on the trees. There is nice use of drone photography for overview shots of the forest; or perhaps it is stock footage? Either way, it is stunning, even for this city boy.

There is no doubt that this is Pinn’s movie. She is in nearly every scene, and also produced the thing. As vehicles go, this will look great on her demo reel.

This Blu ray Includes Slide Show (mostly screen shots, with some behind the scenes of Shadow), and bonus Trailers from Cleopatra Entertainment but, unfortunately, no subtitles. Especially of note is a CD soundtrack bonus disc, featuring Rick Wakeman (Yes), Geoff Downes (Yes/Asia), Terry Reid, and Front Line Assembly, among others. I did not listen, because I am not a fan of the bands; I’m a folkie punk rocker and am bored to tears by prog rock.

This is more than just a humans vs. nature tale, because there are some gruesome moments. A horror film? Perhaps not, but there are unquestionable surprisingly grisly moments. And that’s what made it for me.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: A Knight’s Tour

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

A Knight’s Tour

Directed by Marvin Choi

Fugitive Frames; Terror Films

77 minutes, 2018 / 2020

www.facebook.com/aknightstour

www.aknightstourmovie.com

Perhaps it’s a post-Covid 19 world, or maybe even a zombie apocalypse. Whatever brought our two characters into proximity to each other in the middle of nowhere, we are there with them.

Humorously, the joke is the “Black guy” is the first to get killed in genre films, yet here we have a two-person story, both of whom are African-American. This is the first feature I can remember other than Sleuth (1972) to consist of only a duo of actors.

Darnel Powell and Joseph Price

Injured, Joseph “JD” Dauber (Darnel Powell) stumbles upon the humble abode of elder Henry LaMoe (Joseph Price) in the middle of some mighty hills (filmed in California). Like 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), the homeowner is suspicious of the newcomer, and promptly locks him in chains less than 5 minutes into the film, so hopefully I am not giving a spoiler to anyone. The irony of a Black man chaining up another Black man is something that can be discussed at length, obviously, but I am not going to go into that right now. Needless to say, this is more of a psychological drama than an action-packed shoot-‘em-up.

Unlike John Goodman’s modern and spacious underground lair, Henry’s home is more of a wooden shack, with no running water (and though unseen, I am assuming an outhouse). It’s a backwater hovel that is probably way more realistic to the situation than the big budget Goodman sci-fi film.

The story takes place with enough years after “the outbreak” (sounding scarily familiar to our modern times) that JD, I’m thinking in his mid-20s, pretty much grew up in the post-apocalypse to the point of where it has become somewhat the new normal for him. Old school Henry is not as sure of his footing in this abandoned world of understandable paranoia and clings to the cabin and his past. Everyone he has cared about is gone, and he faces the world alone. That’s when JD comes into the picture.

Naturally, there is suspicion at first that slowly builds into a necessary friendship between the two, though trust is harder to come across in this world of short supplies and roving gangs. As much as the game of chess is a central motif, including the title, Henry and JD try to figure each other out while keeping their own “king” on guard against being hurt, or worse. For them, it’s a game of literal survival.

This is an odd choice to be reviewed on this blog, because despite its internal time period, technically the film is not what one would normally place in a horror or thriller genre. It’s more a psychological piece of two strangers who are trying to survive their surroundings as things change from what has become the routine. JD’s world changes more often as he is roaming, but for Henry, it is much harsher, like the lick of a cat: it’s something you may crave, but the roughness does not always make it easier.

Both Powell and Price fit their roles well, with JD being curious and almost casual about what is happening around him (sort of a personification of the look Willem Defoe gives Amy Madigan when she bursts into his room with a gun in 1984’s Streets of Fire). Henry is more intense and tightly wound, having spent years on his own with no one to share his thoughts. His humanity is on the line, and JD willingly or involuntarily has the ability to shine some reflection on that area. Or, perhaps, he has some other nefarious aims that come to light when Henry finds out just how JD survives.

This is a first full-length feature film for director Marvin Choi, who also wrote and edited it. Man, if this is his first, I can only imagine where he can go, say, by 10 years from now. Again, if you are expecting a “The Walking Dead,” change the channel. Sure, there is some serious tension here, but if what you seek is an intelligent dance between two lost souls who are seeking out any hint of humanity left in the world, I strongly recommend this release.