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Sam wants to
become an author but is in desperate need
of some cash to be able to start. He finds a job at a
small grocery store run by a retired doctor who has a
strange decease that forces him to stay cold at all
times. Sam finds this a little odd since he's never
heard of a skin decease where you have to stay cold
in order to stay alive but doesn't reflect on it too
much. What he doesn't know is that the doctor is
experimenting on people in his private fridge, peeling
their skin off so that he can wear it.
First of all I'd like to say that I watched the German
DVD release of this movie and judging by the special
effects, I'm going to guess that this is not the
final edit that will be released in the states. Now
that I've said that, let's slap this baby into the
hot seat, shall we?
Saw meets Nosferatu in this semi-original horror tale
where an author, Sam, decides to take a job at a small
grocery store. The store owner is an ex-doctor who's
suffering from a skin decease that forces him to stay
cold at all times. What he doesn't know is that the
doctor is in fact a walking dead that peels the skin
off of random people and attaches it to himself in
hopes of being able to live as a normal human being
again. Sure enough, the premise may seem somewhat
interesting - and it is for most of the time. But Chill
is filled with flaws - at least the version that I saw.
But let's begin with the positives for a change. We
have a surprisingly strong cast here with Thomas
'Melrose Place' Calabro and Ashley 'Hellraiser' Laurence
in the leads. Their characters may be a bit flat but
they fully commit and come out strong. Then we have
the fact that this didn't at all look cheap, which
I was very pleased about. Serge Rodnunsky has done a
stellar job with directing this movie (I also didn't
mind his movie "Fear Runs Silent"). Finally, the premise
has a lot of potential and I think that there might
actually be a decent movie in here.
Now to the negatives. The pacing. Oh the pacing. Man
this movie sure knew how to make the viewer tired.
I yawned so many times that tears came out of my eyes,
and I watched it in the middle of the day! (Oh and
don't worry, my apartment is pitch black 24/7). Then
we have the climax which was a bit exaggerated if you
ask me. The doctor quickly went from a collected and
clever killer with a good motive to a raving madman.
It wasn't very plausible to me. There's also a
complete lack of atmosphere throughout the movie and
I was never at the edge of my seat. But to be honest
with you, the pacing was the main issue in here.
Overall, Chill isn't a terrible thriller but it's very
mediocre and is obviously headed for a DTV release in
the states. It's got a decent concept but it's just
not very exciting. It's uneventful and occasionally
really dull and that's the movies' main downfall.
Skin peeled off and a head blown off, not much.
I REALLY hope that they completely redo the score for
the US release as the soundtrack dragged the movie
down several notches.
It is what it is, a mediocre DTV flick where a good
concept has once again gone completely to waste. It's
occasionally entertaining and if you catch it on TV,
you'll probably end up watching it until the end. It's
just not something I'd want to pay money for (which
unfortunately I did - and German rental releases sure
are expensive to import, but what don't I do for my
beloved readers). Forgettable movie, but the US edit
will hopefully be a whole lot better.
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