by Chris Learned Kane, Reporter

When I sit down to watch a movie and see BASED ON ACTUAL EVENTS in stark white against a pre-titles black background, I’m already in.  And that goes double if it’s a horror or (as in this case) a true crime flick, ‘cause if I love the movie there’s a “second helping” in the source material.   The Frozen Ground, based on the events that culminated in the capture of Alaska’s most prolific serial killer fulfilled both requirements that peak my interest, and threw in the reunion of Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, Raising Arizona) and John Cusack (Say Anything, Being John Malkovich) interestingly reversing their roles from their prior joint venture (Con Air) to boot.  How could I resist such succulent offerings?

Grisly remains begin appearing in the bucolic Alaskan wilderness and state trooper, Jack Holcomb (Cage) is convinced that it’s the work of a serial killer.  With the help of a psychological profile, the FBI, and the testimony of a victim (Vanessa Hudgens – Spring Breakers, Machete Kills) lucky enough to escape, Holcomb and his team of troopers are led to the doorstep of humble unassuming baker and family man, Robert Hansen (Cusack).

The Good

The strength of The Frozen Ground is its cast.   Nicolas Cage turns in a controlled and understated but nonetheless powerful performance, perhaps his best in a decade.  John Cusack evinces a homicidal rage boiling just beneath his humble-baker mask, and his “pee puddle scene” choice (tap-SPLAT!) gives an unsettling insight into cruelty and misogyny born of rejection and sexual frustration.  And the award for “Who Knew She Had Chops?” performance goes to:  Vanessa Hudgens whose performance as hooker, stripper, and living loose thread proves she wasn’t given top billing, she earned it!

The Meh

Although The Frozen Ground is intriguing and capable of some very tense moments, there are puzzling scenes and wholly unnecessary exposition.  Jack Holcomb is based on real-life state trooper, Glenn Fothe, but is also an amalgam of other contributing investigators, behavioral scientists, and forensic analysts; it feels unnecessary to know about Jack Holcomb’s fictional sister’s death at the hands of a drunk driver, or about his fictional wife’s growing agitation living in Anchorage when neither have any demonstrable bearing on Holcomb’s actions, motivations or indeed the film.

Also, in a beautiful but wholly inexplicable shot Vanessa Hudgens wanders through deserted Anchorage streets and suddenly, with little warning: a moose.   It’s awfully pretty, and certainly memorable, but it doesn’t advance the story or do much to reveal anything about moose or hooker.  Perhaps it was the director’s homage to Gordie Lachance’s deer moment in Stand By Me.

The Ugly: Nuttin’ ugly here!

Audio and Video

Blu-ray is crisp and makes exterior shots of soaring mountains, blankets of white through which slumbering skeletal trees poke look like a Planet Earth Documentary!

Special Features

• Commentary with Writer/Director Scott Walker
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Writer/Director Scott Walker
• Examining The Frozen Ground:  Behind The Scenes with Interviews of Cast and Crew
• Writing The Frozen Ground
• Extended Interviews with Cast and Crew
• Trailer Gallery

Overall: Although there are some scenes that confused me, The Frozen Ground is watchable, and not at all bad for a fledgling director’s first feature.   Are you a fan of little known yet prolific serial killers?  Are you a fan of “based on actual events” movies?  Have you been waiting since Con Air to see Cage and Cusack together again?  Then this film is worth a look!

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives The Frozen Ground 3.5 Creepy Eklutna Annie Facial Recreations out of 5!

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