... In Wind Chill, however, he is actually very scary and really added some value to the film.
The story is largely set in the car and for a hundred metres or so around it. This would seem as though there wouldn't be much scope for the story. However, I think the actors and director did a ... Read review
A Road Many Have Travelled... And Few Escape.Desperate to get to Delaware for Christmas, a ... more
college student (Emily Blunt) catches a ride with a strange classmate (Ashton Holmes). As soon as she begins to uncover that he knows a little too much about her, the stranger decides to take a shortcut down a remote country road. Caught in a raging snowstorm, the young travellers are suddenly forced off the road by a mysterious car. Stranded, they soon realise the cold is the least of their worries.
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Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Advantages: Suspenseful, gels together surprisingly well Disadvantages: Weird special effects, largely unnecessary supernatural element
...a waste of space. In Wind Chill, however, he is actually very scary and really added some value to the film.
The story is largely set in the car and for a hundred metres or so around it. This would seem as though there wouldn't be much scope for the story. However, I think the actors and director did a superb job of managing the environment to ensure that the story could be told efficiently, without giving the viewer much of a chance ... ...idea for thrillers - The Strangers and Captivity immediately spring to mind - but there is something about the way that this one is done that really captured my imagination, in a way that The Strangers and Captivity just didn't. I think that much of that is down to the relationship between the two lead characters - their chemistry (or initial lack of) is so good that they really drew me into the film.
Two college students, apparently unknown to each other, share a ride home for the holidays. The girl (neither of them are named) complains about the boredom of highway driving, but is taken aback when the guy, the driver, takes a detour, claiming it is a short cut. The snow is heavy and driving is not easy, so when a car coming in the opposite direction doesn't move out of the way, their car crashes. Freezing cold, there is nothing that they can do but wait until daylight, still several hours off. Soon they realise that being cold is not the only problem they have to deal with - the deserted area they find themselves in is haunted by ghosts of past accidents. Even worse, these ghosts appear reluctant to let the pair survive the night. Will they manage to make it through to daylight? Or will the combination of shock and cold finish them off even if the ghosts don't?
The girl is played by Emily Blunt, probably most famous for her performance in The Devil Wears Prada, although I recognised her from Poirot's Death on the Nile. I took an instant dislike to her; the girl is a snotty, sarcastic ungrateful little madam who seems to think that she is doing the guy, who owns the car and is driving, a huge favour by deigning to ride with him. Thankfully, this behaviour does change during the course of the film and it is this change that gives Emily Blunt the opportunity to show off her acting skills. And I have to admit she is very good in the role. The fact that I hated her so much to begin with is a sign that she was doing something right, yet by the end of the film, I was really hoping that she would survive.
I also liked Ashton Holmes, who plays the guy. He is slightly geeky and obviously has a hidden agenda, but I was immediately on his side because of the girl's attitude to him. Like the girl, his character really does develop during the course of the film and so Holmes also has the opportunity to prove that he really can act. Although there isn't as much character change as with the girl, and therefore he perhaps doesn't make so much of an impact, I really liked the way that we are kept guessing as to his motivations - this little element of mystery really made the film for me and I think that Ashton Holmes did a great job of playing on it.
Although he has very little on-screen time, Martin Donovan, who plays an 'interesting' policeman, is worth a mention. I've seen the actor recently in The Haunting in Connecticut, in which he was largely a waste of space. In Wind Chill, however, he is actually very scary and really added some value to the film.
The story is largely set in the car and for a hundred metres or so around it. This would seem as though there wouldn't be much scope for the story. However, I think the actors and director did a superb job of managing the environment to ensure that the story could be told efficiently, without giving the viewer much of a chance to get bored. Confined spaces are obviously not a new idea for thrillers - The Strangers and Captivity immediately spring to mind - but there is something about the way that this one is done that really captured my imagination, in a way that The Strangers and Captivity just didn't. I think that much of that is down to the relationship between the two lead characters - their chemistry (or initial lack of) is so good that they really drew me into the film.
Where I think the film falls down, is with the supernatural element. Firstly, it didn't really make a great deal of sense - why would ghosts of past accidents want to ensure that new victims died horrible deaths? I suppose it doesn't really matter, but it did pray on my mind while watching. Secondly, one of the so-called ghosts in particular was really strangely made up. He (at least I presumed it was a he) looks more like an alien than anything else, with a weirdly metallic green face and a habit of spitting out snakes. I really did think that this could have been done a lot more convincingly - for me, it really did stop me in my tracks and distract me from the story.
Despite this, I think the film actually is quite scary (and I watch a lot of films from this genre, so I don't say this lightly). This, however, has very little to do with the supernatural element and a lot more to do with the fact that the students really are fighting for their lives because of the cold, fear and injury. The ghost story was a sub-story for me and I actually found it quite annoying at times, because it interfered with what I thought was the most interesting part of the film - the dynamics between the two main characters. So all in all, this was a scary film, but not for the reasons for which I think director Gregory Jacobs meant it to be scary. There is a rating of 15 in the UK - this is probably about right, although 12 might have been more realistic.
There are a couple of extras; the main one being the making of documentary. This concentrates mainly on how they coped filming the movie in such poor weather conditions - the temperature actually was minus 25 degrees celsius at times, so a lot of the shivering and suffering from cold portrayed in the film was real and not at all fake. Then there are trailers for The Convenant, Ghost Rider and Reign Over Me and, finally, an audio commentary by the director.
I had no expectations when I started watching this film - I had never heard of it, and didn't really know who Emily Blunt was to begin with. However, the chemistry between the two lead actors really struck a chord with me and that meant that I enjoyed the film a lot more than I otherwise would have done. I suppose it depends on whether they affect other people in the same way as to whether others enjoy the film as much as I did. However, I think it is worth giving it a go - just treat it as a thriller rather than a supernatural thriller and you shouldn't be too disappointed. Recommended.
Advantages: Not what you might expect Disadvantages: None
Wind Chills synopsis gives little hope of drawing in a massive audience the story follows two college students who while travelling back home for the Christmas break become stranded, during their hours in isolation waiting to be saved they are haunted by the ghosts of people whom have died there. When I read a variation of that movie description I was not too eager to watch this movie, and put it way down the list of movies to see, this on my part ... ...months ago that I received Wind Chill, and its exactly a since it saw a brief stint in UK cinemas, had I been quicker off the mark then this movie might have well seen at least one extra viewer.
Wind Chill starts in a very interesting manner, put simply we are told the trials (in a few seconds) of travelling back across the US when returning home from college, here in the UK your pretty much never more than 200 miles from home when studying, but ...
sghawken 04.09.2007
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Advantages: Creepy atmosphere, acceptable storyline. Disadvantages: Not scary, bad acting.
Director: Gregory Jacobs
Writers: Joe Gangemi & Steven Katz
Genre: Drama - Horror - Thriller
Country: UK/USA
Certification: 15+
Language: English
Released: 5th May, 2008 (DVD)
MAIN CAST:
Emily Blunt (college student)
Ashton Holmes (student/driver)
Martin Donovan ( highway patrolman)
A college student with a biting attitude, who is headed home for the Christmas holidays, decides to share a ride with another student instead of taking the bus. When the driver takes a wrong turn and they end up getting lost, things go from bad to worse when they are driven off the road and are stranded in the middle of nowhere. With the weather dropping and night falling, a highway patrolman appears? but he's not there to save them?
'WindChill' is possibly one of the tamest 'horrors' I've seen in ages - it possesses just ...
WIND CHILL is the tale of an unnamed young student at a Northeastern College in need of a ride home to Delaware for Christmas break. Deciding to check the ride board, she finds a fellow student going her way, though an impending blizzard promises to make their ride treacherous. Very early into their journey, he opts for a scenic route, only to be run off the road by a reckless driver. Stuck in the snow, with no cell phone service, the two are forced to get to know each other under the worst circumstances as they learn of the area's frightening history and try to save themselves from perishing in the cold.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Filmmaker commentary, Making of WIND CHILL featurette
Aspect Ratio
2.40 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 French Italian Spanish
DVD Description
WIND CHILL takes the conventions of the haunted house film and transplants them to a dangerous stretch of road where the unfortunate victims of prior events haunt those unwise enough to drive on it. Director Greg Jacobs's film is the tale of an unnamed young student (Emily Blunt) at a Northeastern College in need of a ride home to Delaware for Christmas break. Deciding to check the ride board, she finds a fellow student (Ashton Holmes, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE) going her way, though an impending blizzard promises to make their ride treacherous. Very early into their journey, he opts for a scenic route, only to be run off the road by a reckless driver. Stuck in the snow, with no cell phone service, the two are forced to get to know each other under the worst circumstances as they learn of the area's frightening history and try to save themselves from perishing in the cold. A sparkling addition to the realm of holiday-themed fright films, WIND CHILL sidesteps gratuitous gore and murderous Santas in favoUr of chilling images of ghostly figures in a snowy landscape. Creating ample suspense with a story that unfolds largely within a car, director Gregory Jacobs (CRIMINAL) keeps the abrupt jolts to a minimum, relying on mood and a compounding sense of dread. Writers Joseph Gangemi and Steven Katz give us two characters--realised through fine work by Blunt and Holmes--whom we learn to care for as we watch them endure a realistically horrific situation. Claustrophobic, understated, and painted with a snowy glow of cool blue, this is a classy, spooky safe haven from gratuitous gore and hastily made remakes and sequels. Though the name connotes discomfort, WIND CHILL is a more likely to be a breath of fresh air for discriminating genre fans.
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