Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10942 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Synopsis
Wind Chill takes the conventions of the haunted house film and transplants them to a dangerous stretch of road where the unfortunate victims of prior events haunt those unwise enough to drive on it. Director Greg Jacobs's film is the tale of an unnamed young student (Emily Blunt) at a Northeastern College in need of a ride home to Delaware for Christmas break. Deciding to check the ride board, she finds a fellow student (Ashton Holmes, A History of Violence) going her way, though an impending blizzard promises to make their ride treacherous. Very early into their journey, he opts for a scenic route, only to be run off the road by a reckless driver. Stuck in the snow, with no cell phone service, the two are forced to get to know each other under the worst circumstances as they learn of the area's frightening history and try to save themselves from perishing in the cold. A sparkling addition to the realm of holiday-themed fright films, Wind Chill sidesteps gratuitous gore and murderous Santas in favoUr of chilling images of ghostly figures in a snowy landscape. Creating ample suspense with a story that unfolds largely within a car, director Gregory Jacobs (Criminal) keeps the abrupt jolts to a minimum, relying on mood and a compounding sense of dread. Writers Joseph Gangemi and Steven Katz give us two characters--realised through fine work by Blunt and Holmes--whom we learn to care for as we watch them endure a realistically horrific situation. Claustrophobic, understated, and painted with a snowy glow of cool blue, this is a classy, spooky safe haven from gratuitous gore and hastily made remakes and sequels. Though the name connotes discomfort, Wind Chill is a more likely to be a breath of fresh air for discriminating genre fans.

Customer Reviews

BULLSEYE! No gore, lots of scares.

Wind Chill is a surprise gem; I picked it up cheap, expecting it to be yet another low budget, pretentious horror movie with a female model thrown in for sex appeal... but, like many it appears, I was pleasantly surprised.

Wind Chill has accomplished what many others have failed. It's taken the worn-out 'never-ending road' genre, and turned it into a really good little fright flick.

For a few years now, the film industry has seemed to believe that blood and gore is the way forward. Wind Chill perfectly proves that blood and gore is not what makes a good, scary film.

Wind Chill is a lot more frightening than things like Halloween in my opinion. The jumps are well timed, the scares are properly thought through, the acting is passable and the direction seems competent enough. All this tied together with a provocative circular plot: and you've got yourself a great little thriller.

This is one of the most brooding and atmospheric films I've seen, and a total breath of fresh air for horror fans. Make sure you see Wind Chill.

Very effective. Very eerie. (Review may contain spoiler).
I love snow movies, especially when they are like this one, abandoned in snowy landscape middle of nowhere all night and menaced by phantoms! Can't remember if wind was howling too, but I think it was. It's great watching something like this, alone, and with all lights out so you're sat in total darkness apart from the dvd on screen. My only complaint (hence only four stars instead of five) was that some of the 'ghosts' or whatever they were, were a bit OTT, especially the one with the eel or whatever it was meant to be, when things like that start happening, I lose a bit of interest because it just seems so silly, and unnecessary, as, so often in movies what is hinted at, or only half seen, is far more effective than straight-up, in-yoour-face silliness, and at one point in the midst of some of the dreams, hallucinations, happening from the past, or time warp memory or whatever, I found myself growing a little bored, whereas throughout the rest of the movie, I was riveted, especially the bit where Emily Blunt's character goes out alone into the raging blizzard to climb a telegraph pole in the middle of the night with the threat of phantoms appearing at any moment. That, combined with the wild elements of the weather and the dark coniferous trees was a superb touch and my favourite moment in the whole movie. A very effective scene indeed.
The two characters worked well together and were believable and, as they grew closer, their plight, coupled with their growing closeness, was very touching and ulitmately very sad, given the outcome.
A joy to watch and I wish they made more movies like this one.

An intense psychological thriller with its fair share of genuinely creepy moments
Ah, yes, the old "who needs a ride?" trick to spend some quality time with a hot coed - why didn't I think of that when I was in college? You get your chance to wow and impress the girl, and she gets the ride home she needs without having to worry about riding a bus - everyone's happy, right? Not in this case - and that's putting it mildly. It makes for one terrific movie, though. I know some people won't embrace this story, but I loved it. Sure, it has a few rough edges, but it's a surprisingly intelligent, atmospheric, gripping little gem of a film. And, while it's more of a psychological thriller than a horror film per se, Wind Chill has its creepy moments. I don't know if I was just off my guard or tired or what, but this thing even elicited a small cry of surprise from my throat at one point - and that almost never, ever happens.

The best thing about Wind Chill - well, actually the best thing about it is Emily Blunt - but the next best thing is the film's ability to move in different directions at just the right time. Just when you think you have it all figured out, the story squirts right out of your arms like a greased pig. This makes the film a little more convoluted than some viewers might like, resulting in some confusion - despite the fact that I believe it spoon feeds you almost too much in the end. We're so used to the almost complete lack of creative ideas coming out Hollywood that your first instinct is to compare what you are seeing with other movies. The filmmakers in this case actually use that to the film's advantage, however. When you're wondering whether this is another Wrong Turn, The Hitcher, Jeepers Creepers, The Hills Have Eyes, etc., you're wonderfully vulnerable to this film's different transitions - and, in the end, I think Wind Chill manages to carve a nice little cozy niche for itself.

The main characters are not given names, so I'll be referring to them as Girl and Guy. Girl (Emily Blunt) is planning to take a bus home to Delaware over Christmas break, then follows up on someone's suggestion to check the message boards for a possible ride. That's how she ends up riding home with Guy (Ashton Holmes), and it is not an easy trip. For starters, she treats him rather shabbily, as she's in full ice queen mode; she can hardly be bothered to even talk to him. She also senses, right from the start, that something just isn't right about Guy; her sense of foreboding only increases when she learns that Guy knows things about her that he really shouldn't know. When Guy decides to suddenly leave the highway in favor of a "shortcut" in the form of a snow-covered country road, she reaches her breaking point and starts demanding answers from this fellow she now sees as a threat. Then everything changes in a heartbeat, as an accident leaves the pair stranded by the side of the exceedingly lonely road. The intensity of the film slowly builds to a feverish pitch from this point on. I won't go into any of the details, but it is clear that very strange doings are going on in the woods beside the road.

I was happily surprised by the level of intensity this film managed to generate and retain throughout. I really had no idea how the story would play out in the end until the film's final moments, and for that I have to give the director, writers, and actors all kinds of credit. Wind Chill simply refuses to ever let you get comfortable in your role as a viewer, and that makes it quite a rare commodity in today's horror market. It's also the only film I can think of that utilizes the philosophy of Nietzsche as an integral part of the story. This is truly one of those "we need more like this" horror films.