WARNING: THIS BLOG CONTAINS BODYCOUNT. HIGH RISK OF SPOILERS. ENTER IF YOU DARE.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

World's Most Pissed Off Snowcone!: Jack Frost (1997)

Jack Frost (1997)
Rating:***1/2
Starring: Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport and Stephen Mendel

My earliest memory of this movie happened one grade school night ago as I watch a scene where a guy melts from something and got his cells merged with the snow via funky-looking animation. It was an awesome sight for my grade school self and even though that crazy moment found its way to be a core memory, I sadly didn't catch the name of the film then. Now imagine my glee as I watch Jack Frost (1997) whole for the first time and getting a big dose of déjà vu seeing the melty scene again, only this time, I have chance to experience the bizarre insanity that is this killer snowman movie and thanking the stars that it didn't suck much despite being, well, a damn movie about a damn killer snowman!

On one December night, Jack Front, convicted serial killer of 38 victims all across the five states, was on a snowbound transport awaiting his execution when the truck carrying him got more than a tap against an incoming tanker containing experimental genetic stuff. A car crash here, Jack thrown off there, and viola! Jack's free and he's ready for some killing! But not before the highly unstable genetic goop blows out of the trashed tanker, dousing our killer and breaking him down to a molecular level before reconstructing the guy back, merging him with the snow in the process! So not only is Jack's back, but he now has a frosty new look and a nearby town to terrorize as a literal cold-blooded killer. But who can save these doomed townsfolk? Why the town's sheriff Sam Tiller, of course! Coincidentally the very guy who successfully nab Jack Frost many years ago.

Whacky, twisted and full of holiday cheers and fears, Jack Frost (1997) is one title that truly earned its cult status; it's cheap at all costs and hardly a serious bone in its body, with a main interest of making us laugh while dishing out the goriest and creative killings under the Winter season. It's the kind of film that's supposed to be bad but its execution has so much zesty energy and dry wit that it actually saves the film to a great degree of fun. It's a horror-comedy trying its best, openly inviting its viewers to look at its flaws of cheap characters, mostly mediocre special effects and, of course, the mountainous of amount of cheese, and daring them to double these as the movie's strength.

And as a slasher, there's a real novelty here of having our killer be a mutant snowman as he got it made with icicles shot to heads, throats mutilated by snow and one of the weirdest murder-rapes there is. So long as ice is involved, ole' Frosty here got creative playing with the chilling elements of their killing spree and they're as gory as they can get, all the while spewing his own brand of Christmassy one-liners with groove and charm that plenty proved to be chuckle-worthy.

On the other end of the batch, the main protagonist casts are a likable bunch of friendly folks who got nothing more to do than bake oat cookies, build snowmen and make sweaters. They're completely clueless about the deep shit they're plunged into, but that doesn't stop them from being cool and hilariously hammy in the last act, dishing out them blow-dryers and anti-freeze! The ultimate choices for anti-snowmen weapons!

Jack Frost (1997) is, perhaps, one of the more contending Z-grade slasher movie there is and for that reason alone, it again deserves all the horror junkie's love and attention. That is, of course, if they got a taste for the weird and wonderful, or is just plain appreciative of a funny attempt to make a good (if not one of the best) popcorn flick ever! It doesn't shake anything big but cheesy fun all through out, so I dare you to slip this in your Winter holiday viewings. Well worth it!

Bodycount:
1 male had his neck stomped on, broken
2 males killed in car collision
1 elderly male found with a broken neck
1 boy beheaded with a sled
1 male gets an axe handle shoved down his throat
1 female forced fed with ornaments and gets a Christmas star to the head
1 male ran over by a reversing car
1 male impaled on the head with a shot icicle
1 female beaten to death against wall
1 male had his insides mutilated
Total: 11

8 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this monumentally silly movie - and especially liked that it took some thunder away from the cheesy Michael Keaton family film by taking its title. I worked with actor John Wesley Shipp, who is a good friend of an actress in this movie - Marsha Clark - who plays the female deputy/dispatcher. Well, John was on his cell one day on set and passed me, and I heard him say "Marsha, there's a fan of one of your movies here" and he handed me the phone, knowing I would understand since we'd already talked about Jack Frost and his buddy being in it. So I took the phone and chatted with Ms. Clark, who seemed to have a great humor about the whole thing. That was fun! Are you going to be checking out the sequel, Mr. K?

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  2. I'm thinking about it. I was lucky enough to get this, but I still have nothing in the radar for Jack frost 2. No Copies, no bootleg copies and no online stream or downloads in my country. Which is too bad, cuz the sequel sounds gorier and funnier. I would pay anything to see that!

    You sure got all the luck there, mate! I mean you get the chance to talk to mot one, but two folks involved with the film! Kudos, mate!

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  3. Jack Frost 2 is awful. Awful. Awful. Awful.

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  4. I'll review it in January but it was bitterly disappointing. The first one, flawed as it is, at least has a charm to it. The second one just looked like it was shot for $29.95.

    My memory is vague but I remember it takes place in Hawaii or something. Yes - the snowman goes to a hot climate. And the tag line was: "He's icin' and slicin'."

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  5. Always thought this would be perfect for a crossover with MonSturd, which also had a serial killer named Jack turn into a monster (guess what it was made of...) because of a chemical spill.

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    1. ...ever let them know that suggestion?

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    2. I would... if I only knew who to contact. :<

      I'm dreaming of brown Christmas.

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