They make Swedish horror movies? I mean, beyond the existential horror that one is moved to feel while watching the works of Ingmar Bergman of course. Swedish horror? Wow. Usually, when I think Swedish films I get very dirty ideas about young blonde girls in pigtails or women with ginormous knockers named Olga who “Vant to haf sex.” Seems like I learn something new every day.
We open in 1944 Germany following a group of Nazi’s as they try to escape pursuit. They eventually find refuge in a small snowbound cabin in the middle of nowhere and soon regret this decision when they realize that the inhabitants are neither alive nor dead, and that whatever’s locked in with them is very hungry.
After this prologue, we are transported to modern era Sweden where scientist Annika and her teenage daughter Saga are in the process moving to a town far up North in Norrbotten province where Annika has a new research job. Saga, as her name implies, is used to the moves and has that weary look of a kid who’s lived half her life out of boxes and suitcases.
She’s also not too enthusiastic about the whole perpetual darkness thing because of the polar night phenomenon in that corner of the world. There won’t be daylight for an entire month. Bad place to be if you’re a fun loving teen, worse place to be if you’ve got vampires creeping about.
Frostbite’s initial pacing is its biggest problem. The first act drags, and this is death for a fun horror movie. However, once things get rolling they really pick up. So if you can forgive those first twenty minutes you’re in for a hell of a cool film. I especially love the slow vampire transformation. Ten zillion vampire films and I’ve never seen one where a guy suddenly becomes insanely thirsty for “something” but doesn’t know what and desperately empties his fridge trying to satiate the craving. The poor guy got infected by taking a strange red pill he found in the hospital where he works. Same place that Saga’s mother works at. The same place which has an odd doctor who gives these strange pills to a comatose patient.
After the aforementioned pills find their way into the hands of the local teens, who think that its ecstasy, the fun really begins. Director Anders Banke and writer Daniel Ojanlatva have created a really kickass vampire flick. It’s nothing that’ll blow you away but it’ll more than entertain and that’s something we can’t say of a lot of wannabes like Bloodrayne.
Storywise. Frostbite may not share much in common with American Werewolf in London, but it does have that same kind of overall “feel”, and together they’d make a great double feature. So if you liked the Landis film chances are you’ll at least be very amused by this offering from Sweden.
