'Frozen' musters only a few chills

The three players of "Frozen" kill some time while suspended on a ski lift discussing the worst ways to die.

For them, it turns out that being suspended on a ski lift, forgotten and left to freeze after the resort staff goes home for the night, is the most horrible of deaths. For the audience, though, "Frozen" is the most boring way to go as writer-director Adam Green struggles and fails to keep his one-note idea interesting for the length of a feature film.

There's maybe enough material here for a short film, so Green pads "Frozen" with a lot of dreary scenes of chattering teeth and chattering characters as Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers share thoughts of their plight and the odd childhood anecdote as frostbite sets in.

Since three people shivering on a ski lift would be about as action-packed as "Waiting for Godot," Green also adds wolves — you know, the sort of ravenous wolves that hang out at all the finer New England ski resorts waiting for dalliers on the slopes that they can hunt down and devour.

Green offers a thin back-story about his three characters — longtime best buddies Joe (Ashmore) and Dan (Zegers), college students whose friendship is undergoing a bit of strain as Dan grows more serious with girlfriend Parker (Bell).

Honestly, though, these three are so dull the story might have had more spark and tension had Green stranded three strangers aloft on a frozen chairlift.

"Frozen" has a few queasy-making moments — avoid it if you can't stand the sight of a broken bone sticking through flesh like a knockwurst or the deleterious effects of peeling skin away from freezing metal.

And the wolves do provide some scares, even though they have no business running wild on well-used ski slopes.

To Green's credit, "Frozen" is a nice technical achievement. Green and cinematographer Will Barratt capture images that balance the claustrophobia of three people hanging on a narrow bench with the empty void of night surrounding them.

The characters' frostbite is palpable — the makeup so authentic you can practically feel their pain as the cold sears the skin.

The cold also lulls them to sleep, a state the audience will share for most of the movie.

"Frozen," an Anchor Bay Films release, is rated R for some disturbing images and language.
Running time: 93 minutes.
One and a half stars out of four.