Frozen - **+ out of ****

"Frozen" is a movie that is very difficult to make effectively. In short, it's about three 20-somethings being stranded on a ski lift late Sunday night when the resort closes until the following Friday. I've heard it compared to the nail-biting "Open Water," but for our purposes, let's just assume you haven't watched anything like this before.

The trio (Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore, and Emma Bell) can't seem to catch a break. After the aforementioned negligence, they discover that they have no real solution. Of course, no one hears them yell, and they aren't accounted for later (I'm sure you knew that as soon as I told you they were stuck on a ski lift). A storm is settling in, they're 50 feet above the ground, the wire that runs the ski lift is razor sharp, they're too far away to climb down a ladder, and wolves become notified of their presence. Yes, you read that correctly- wolves. I was able to buy that much, but if the movie went much farther (or was longer than 93 minutes), I would have expected ravenous buzzards carrying cobras to make an appearance.

One loses a glove, and there is an icky moment where that person realizes that they had left their hand on the metal bar and removes it (painfully, of course). You see quite a bit more gore than I would have wanted other than that (and I have a strong stomach, mind you), and that seems to be the movie's biggest flaw. There's enough suspense through several scenes that had no gore that it almost felt like a stretch to include blood and guts. I won't reveal any more about it because if I do, you could probably piece the entire movie together and be left without much of a ride.

The acting is very good. There are some nice tender moments, and I had enough knowledge of each character that I could distinguish one from the rest without resorting to assignment through 'the one in the red jacket,' 'the one with the goggles,' and 'the chick.' I thought I recognized all three actors, but after doing some www.imdb.com research, I realized that I've only been familiar with one, Keven Zegers ("Transamerica" and the remake of "Dawn of the Dead"). I later discovered that Shawn Ashmore played Iceman in the "X-Men" trilogy, and I'm not familiar with any of Emma Stone's work. Whatever. I hope these guys get great work in the future.

The writer/director, Adam Green ("Hatchet"), is able to do a lot with the simple setting and premise. Shot without special effects or green screen technology, I found many things to be effective without reaching. For instance, the camera occasionally looms around the skiers on the lift, there are intimate close-ups, and there are sometimes views from above or below. After an hour, you think that Green has used up every angle in the book, but the simplicity and logic of the camera shots keep you glued. Also, remember when I mentioned that there were no special effects? Well, I meant it- the actors really were 50 feet in the air. They even helped change the camera lenses between takes.

In short, the gore factor was a little too high for this medium, but the suspense and performances save it. I found this for $10 over the weekend. Check it out if it's your thing.

Rated R for some disturbing images and language.
Buy it here.