Jack Frost (1997)

He's Chillin' and Killin'!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose... Everyone has, I'm sure, heard that song, right? Completely harmless little holiday song, right? Well, this movie would be the one instance where Jack Frost nipping at your nose would actually happen.

However, this isn't the first movie with that title, nor the last. In fact, when my wife saw it on my recently watched list, she asked if I was watching Michael Keaton as a snowman. As you might have noticed by the poster, that wasn't the case, especially since this one came out a year prior to the more kid friendly story.

For those, like my wife, who have never heard of this version of the story, let me give you a little plot. Jack Frost is a serial killer who ended up getting caught. One night during a blinding snow storm, he's being transported to his execution. Because of said storm, the transport van has a collision with a truck carrying an acidic genetic material. And in the most clichéd way possible, the acid comes into contact with Frost, turning him into a living, homicidal snowman, hell-bent on revenge against the sheriff of the small town that caught him.

The story itself isn't bad. What's really bad is the acting. The movie is so filled with cheesy one-liners, I kept thinking I forgot my chips. And unfortunately for the film, it really doesn't have any well known actors in it to help it out, though there is an early-career Shannon Elizabeth getting naked (American Pie anyone?).

In addition to the bad acting, the visual effects were horrendous. OK, yes, I know, it was the 90's, and this was a B-movie, but there were B-movies that came out in the 80's with better special effects. In fact, the very first zombie movie I ever saw falls into that category, and it came out in '85.*

After it's all said and done, the only redeeming factor of this movie was the unexpected comedic aspect of it. It's a lot funnier than it is scary, no doubt helped by all those cheesy one liners I mentioned earlier. I imagine if the script was a bit better, the movie could have been quite good.

Jack Frost gets a chilly 3½ star rating

There's really not a whole lot more I can say about this movie other than to tell you to not watch it. That is, of course, unless you like cruddy B title movies from the 80s and 90s, in which case, check it out on Netflix. The acting was horrible, the visual effects were worse and the script could have been better. There was a sequel made for this film where somehow Jack is able to stay frozen on a tropical island (I have a morbid curiosity to actually watch that one now), but what I would really like to see is a remake using today's technology, then I would be satisfied.

Happy New Year Everyone!

*Return of the Living Dead

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