Word: filmed
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...film centers on a couple, Parker and Dan, and Dan’s long-time best friend Joe, as the three go skiing for a weekend. They try to squeeze in one last run at the end of the day, but a mix up leaves them stranded on a ski lift. The trio soon realize they are trapped, as no one will return to the mountain for days. They are too high to safely jump and it’s too dangerous for them to climb across the lift cable, leaving them in a seemingly hopeless predicament...
...plot is not particularly original. The film is mostly a transposition of 2004’s “Open Water.” Instead of being stranded in the middle of the ocean with a group of sharks, the protagonists of “Frozen” battle freezing temperatures, lack of food or water, and a pack of hungry wolves below...
While the plot may not be particularly inventive, the brilliance of the film is that, compared to modern horror film standards, freezing temperatures and a pack of wolves do not sound particularly frightening. However, Green portrays the group’s desperation in such a hauntingly realistic manner that he manages to make frostbitten faces and frozen limbs be just as disturbing as the most expensively elaborate special effect...
Because it focuses on the single stationary chair lift for three quarters of its running time, the film easily could have given become tiresome to endure. However, though Green lacks a measure of technical freedom due to the airborne nature of the lift, he still manages to capture the protagonists’ plight from a multitude of angles, which makes the movie constantly engaging on a visual level. Green’s imaginative directing is one of the greatest strengths of the film and is the main reason why it works...
...contrast, Green’s writing is considerably weaker. The script is not particularly deep and relies too much on exaggerated emotional outbursts. This is a bit unexpected as Green’s most popular film to date, 2006’s “Hatchet,” was primarily buoyed by its inventive screenplay, which played popular horror conventions for laughs...