Wind Chill (DVD)

...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.

Where I think the film falls ... more

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.

The DVD is available from play.com for £5.99.

Classification: 15

Running time: 91 minutes 

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