Frost (2004)

   

Produced, Edited & Directed by: Dominik Alber

Starring:

.... Phil
.... Valerie
.... Braque
.... Ave
.... Rose
.... Hank
.... Rob
Cynthia King .... Anita Rivers


Special Appearance:


Linnea Quigley .... Sandra

Release Dates:
Direct-to-DVD: 2004

 

 

 

Rating:

 

Anita Rivers (Cynthia King) is brutally stabbed by a killer in black and wearing a ski mask while taking a bath as her husband is a police commissioner Hank (Marq Hawkins) as Lieutenant Braque (Tony Travis) initiates an all-out manhunt to find him but finds out some dirty and dark secrets about the two of them in a diary which involves affairs, hit and run and vengeance.
The killer is still on the prowl murdering others leading to more cases that surrounds all of the issues that were mentioned.

 

A nice start off in the story which gives it that exploited feeling with a beautiful woman named Anita Rivers getting ready to take a bath and good artsy shots on her rubbing herself. Then we spot the killer in black coming in to stab her to death which looked mildly intense but not incredibly powerful or shocking as it looked like that was how it was made out to be. Still it looked well done.
There's some effective scene's with the detectives as well as others arguing and getting frusterated about the unsolved murder cases as the interactions towards one another seemed to have powerful timing.
Perfect dark sequence between the main characters Valerie pointing a gun at Phil and demanding some explanations in a dark creepy area with their conversations flowing looking perfectly serious as nice shots between these takes. It almost gives it a Saw type of feeling when we spot all of this.
A real effective sitatuation when we spot a flashback sequence involving Phil with his mistress Anita after they hit some people with their vehicle and her freaking out as well as good grizzly shots on these victims as this was a great drawing card to the story by how all of this was shot looking good and dark for what we spot. Pretty intense material too and a peer pressuring moment on whether or not to keep this a deadly secret which alsmot seemed to borrow a bit from I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Plus we have some good violent moments between the two of them and a good camera shot on him smacking her and then raping her doggystyle. This looked perfectly twisted to watch.
There's a great sharp moment with a discussion between Phil and Hank staring out near the neighborhood at a hillside area which is another attention grabber as well as nice solid fighting sequences between them which looked powerful to watch as well as wondering on what the outcome would be throughout all of this.
Perfect shots and intense moments with Hank getting aggressive and violent towards Rose which was carefully focused and looking quite disturbing. Making him look like a perfect brute with his demanding behavior towards her and trying to get answers from.
While watching all of this I started to wonder if this was an actual horror or just a plain detective thriller flick but trust me as it rolls along the horror does come as of course there's a chick named Sandra getting it on with her boyfriend after her work at a bar and boy does this look exploited by how this was all shot and then the killer coming up from behind her to murder her. Although this wasn't a jumping moment since we see this dark figure approaching it was a perfect kill.
However things seemed a bit corny after the murder case and a woman there sobbing next to one of the detectives as it wasn't convincing at all and seemed a bit silly like this woman was in a comedy flick. Good shots however on the tarps over the corpse in the bar though as well as what was discussed too.
A great dark shot on a homeless man panhandling towards the killer as well as a nice brutal kill which looked unpleasant to watch this which now I was certain that this was without a doubt a horror flick after seeing the outcome of this.
One of the best scene's in the film is when we spot a teenage girl named Patricia in a deep dark area outside looking and calling to her boyfriend as this looked chilling to watch. A perfect target for the killer to come out before you know what happened. Nicely done too.
Great moment with Ave getting nasty towards Phil and the two of them pointing a gun towards each other as you wonder who will be murdered as well as looking like the mysterious killer will unravel himself throughout all of this.
Also we spot the situation again between Phil and Valerie when she drops her gun as this gives you the chills that he will soon take over and get violent. Plus some great intense moments when we reveal on who the killer is slowly torturing Phil which was perfectly shot and powerfully done. Great wirting with this scene and not letting an ounce down when the story rolls with the two of them.
Bottom line is that this German slasher flick has alot of good mysterious moments and although it wasn't my kind of movie still deserves three bats for how everything was nicely put together. It does seem confusing alot of the times since some scene's take place in other spots that takes place afterwards but again if Tarantino can do that for films like Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown then why can't this one?


(Phil) seemed to be the best out of the cast here in which he had the perfect good looks to portray a tough detective as well as having a great in your face type of attitude and arrogant behavior. Shows off some perfect energy when he acts violent or getting into a rage. He certainly knew on how to portray a character actor within whatever he did here. Has alot of sharp and powerful blocking especially with his fighting sequences.
(Valerie) also showed off some good powerful moments showing a perfect coldness to her speaking as well as knowing on how to stay alert showing some nice blocking while pointing a gun and having a perfect focus within all of this. She adds some great dramatic performances to her part in this. Also does well with her emotional behavior too.
Tony Travis (Braque) seemed to add alot of nice wit to his role as a lieutenant along with being serious about the murders at the same time. Seemed to show a natural characteristic while getting into a conversation and making his part truly likeable while being this way. Had the perfect looks to portray this role too and seemed to be one of the best out of the cast.
(Ave) portrays a perfect punk type of appeal to his role and acting perfectly obnoxious along with having a convincing cockiness to whatever he does towards others. Certainly was convincing as someone that you don't want to mess with. Does well with his rage while pointing a gun towards someone else and really showing his stuff while performing a showdown. Had also the right rough looks for this.
(Rose) seemed to do well with her soft spoken type of behavior as well as knowing on how to cry on set and get scared by being abused and knew on how to act troubled about a situation. She had the right sensitive type of looks and appeal to her role as well.
(Hank) defintely showed a perfect gruffness to his speaking and shows some interesting aggressions but sometimes he seemed a little too forceful whenever he did this. However he still was a ball of negative energy to his role which was a good thing since he studied this role fairly well and knew on how to act like a brute as well as behaving obnoxiously too. Is on target with his violent blocking too and really knew on how to act forceful too.
(Rob) had the most effective supporting role in which he knew on how to act insane and violent as well as speaking crazily as well as combining this to being aggressive. Certainly was believeable by acting vengeful to what he did here. He rolled in with the punches marvellously into whatever he did. Another worthy character actor.
Cynthia King (Anita Rivers) seemed a bit over the top when she freaks out after a deadly incident as this didn't seem natural enough. But again I think it was mainly due to a German voice over. She seemed a bit rough whenever she cried or acted emotional as you can tell by how she did this. In other words she was a mediocre actress who had a hard time with her characteristics.

Cynthia King takes off her clothes to get into a bath her butt exposed and later on her breasts while she bathes herself.
Surprise, surprise! Linnea Quigley is barebreasted fornicating in a bar after hours as well as briefly her crotch revelaed. Eddie Barber as her lover has his crotch briefly revealed as well.

Various bloody stabbings.
Skin of faces are sliced off in certain various scene's.
A knife is stabbed through a woman's neck.
A knife is nailed in a guy's shoulder.
A hole of a bullet is revealed in a guy's head.
Woman shoots herself with blood splattering.
Homeless man's insides are torn out.
Teenage girl is stabbed by a machette against a tree.

The music sounded perfectly versatile all done by Vincent Gillioz as we hear quiverring sounds and laser effects with electronic moments too which has an effective feel to certain plotlines. Plus there's the good old classical violin and clarinet composing for the melow and suspenseful scene's. Along with this there's some great hissing and almost howling types of sounds for the real dark moments too. There's some peaceful electronic sounds for the beginning of the story when someone is soaking in their bathtub as it fits in nicely. Also we hear icy and spooky synthesizer playing throughout alot of the plotlines as it doesn't sound cheesy at all and sounding terrific and horror sounding too. Plot we hear the odd female chanting operatic type which sounds nice and clear. There's the odd guitar riffs and harp string plucking which sounds off nicely too.