Frostbitten (2006)

The movie kicks off during World War II with some German soldiers fighting in Ukraine. They end up spending the night in what they think is an abandoned farmhouse, but being a horror flick it clearly isn’t vacant. After the sun goes down something crawls out of the basement and starts to attack them. Though we don’t find out until later there is only one survivor. Before you get mad this isn’t a spoiler as it is pretty obvious what is going on. Anyway the action moves to the present day.

Dr. Wallen and her daughter Saga are moving to a small town in Sweden so that she can work at a hospital. She moved her daughter and herself to such an isolated place to work with Professor Beckert, who is doing genetic research. Once they arrive it becomes clear that things aren’t what they seem to be. First off, the professor is a bit weird and mysterious only having a single patient. Then there are the interns at the hospital that seem more interested in goofing around and taking drugs then they are their education. If that isn’t enough Saga gets invited by the cool girl in town, Vega, to a big party. Mysterious research, party drugs, and cool kids… how could that go wrong? Well it does and in a very entertaining and bloody way!

I’ve had this one in my “to watch” pile for a couple of years. I thought that with my annual Halloween movie review marathon in full swing it was time to check it out. I’m glad that I finally did so. Before I proceed, I want to acknowledge that this isn’t a perfect movie. It is low budget and that shows at times. The ideas and gags are also not terribly original but executed well enough to be fun.

The story is familiar but moves the action along briskly so that the ninety plus minute long running time flies by. I was impressed by the volume of characters in the movie and how well the story juggles them. In addition to Saga and her mother, whose plotlines veer off from one another before reconnecting, we also get some comedic stuff from a couple of cops on patrol. Many filmmakers toss too many characters into the mix and end up with a mess that is impossible to follow. Here they clearly had a well-defined script and stuck to it. If you have read my stuff here at all you know that I hate it when movies meander clearly not having a clue where to go next. With Frostbitten I was engaged from start to finish.

The party gets bloody

Visually this movie is stunning at times. With the setting of perpetual night along with how they light the interiors bleeding out all of the colors from the background this looks like a much more expensive flick. We also get a neat trick of seeing someone delivering flowers but in shadow, so it looks like something else is happening and an amazing shot pulling back out of the cabin thru the window and looking into the night sky. That last one was done with a CGI assist but is good enough and ambitious. The special effects work is solid and the vampires look decent. But be aware they mostly use digital to achieve this. The kills are sort of tame and there was a bit too much digital blood but overall the results are okay. Again with the resources they had I can cut them some slack.

My favorite gag has to be the talking dogs. In this movie’s universe when you go bloodsucker you can chat with your canine friends. They have a lot to say and are quite funny! If it isn’t obvious yet I enjoyed Frostbitten and am going to recommend it. I can’t find it streaming here in the states but there is a pricey DVD available. Not sure if I can recommend dropping thirty or forty bucks on it but if you can get your hands on it cheaper, I think that this one is worth a watch.

 

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