[DVD Review (R2)] WIND CHILL

Emily Blunt is a good actress! Ashton Holmes is a good actor! Gregory Jacobs is… erm… a friend of George Clooney (working as a producer here alongside Steven Soderbergh) and a first assistant director on the majority of his films. They’ve all come together to make Wind Chill, a spirited attempt to return the horror genre to the area not often catered for these days; the ghost story style psychological horror.

As you’re all aware, I’m so bored of the ‘gorenography’ soaked horror flicks these days that films like Them or [Rec] instantly appeal to me just because they’re brave enough to try something away from the decapitations, rapes and impalements that litter the horror genre these days. I’ve adopted a policy these days that any horror film willing to brave the ‘current trend’ and do something different and actually scary without being gore-obsessed, is one that I’m willing to give my attention to.

Wind Chill was sent to me for review in a double pack with Shrooms. Shrooms will be going unreviewed by me because it’s already covered by my compadre in name and site - Gareth (aka Wvyerex). I share his opinions on that movie, although he was a tad more generous then I would have been. You can read his review by clicking here and I urge you to coz it’s a great review of a mildly reasonable film.

Now, forget Shrooms. Wind Chill is what we’re looking at. It’s the story of a young woman (Blunt) who catches a ride home from a stranger (Holmes) she meets through a college ride board. Racing to beat a severe winter storm, the two young travelers take a shortcut down a remote country road, only to find themselves forced into a snow bank by a mysterious vehicle that engages them in a dangerous game of chicken. Over the long night that ensues, an intense relationship develops between the pair as they must brave the elements and confront the road’s sinister legacy that dates back to the terrible events that occurred there in the 1950s.

Emily Blunt is a very talented actress and she does alot, as does Ashton Holmes, with material that is - to be quite frank - beneath her. This isn’t a particularly great horror. It’s a B-movie in every sense of the word. What it does end up being though is a frustrating experience because director Jacobs goes to great lengths to create the right sense of scary and tension-soaked atmosphere for a good ghostly horror… he just forgets to add in enough effective scares for the whole endevour to be worthy!

Wind Chill isn’t a bad movie. As a “ghost” story it’s relatively entertaining but it’s most certainly not memorable. I only saw this two days ago and yet trying to talk about it on the phone to my girlfriend with regards to why she should or should not check it out, I couldn’t remember a single bloody thing about it and just ended up muttering and stuttering “Erm… you like horror movies don’t you? Well.. it’s.. erm… sort of a horror movie!”

Not bad, not great either though. But what it is is worthy of your attention because it tries to bring a bit of “old school” class to the horror genre. And whether it’s a failure or not, any film that decides to put strong acting, atmosphere and story telling above flat out gore etc. is worth a look.

Give it a go.

1/2

Posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am under DVD Reviews (R2) by Gazz.
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