|
Blood Snow
In 1846, so Wikipedia informs me, 87
Eastern pioneers known collectively as the Donner Party set out for
California. Befallen by a series of mishaps and short on supplies, the
group was forced to endure a hideous snowbound winter in the Sierra
Nevada. The situation grew so dire that certain of the group were
forced to eat several of the tastier, less robust members in order to
survive. Only 48 of the party ever made it to California, presumably
under the caveat that they gloss over the cannibalism in their
retellings of the event.
Enter Blood Snow (known in the
States by the arguably less evocative title Necrosis), the fourth
outing from independent US filmmaker Jason Stephens. The year is 2009,
men no longer wear beards the size of badgers and the phrase ‘by jeezums’
is heard with markedly less regularity. What hasn’t changed however is
the propensity for groups of people to become snowbound in cabins high
up in the Sierra Nevada.
Stephens has assembled an eccentric
ensemble cast that upon first glance shouldn’t actually work. Vying for
screen time are James Kyson Lee, better known as Hiro’s friend on TV’s
Heroes, George Stults (from schmaltzy drama 7th
Heaven), ‘indie scream queen’ Danielle De Luca (Naked Fear)
and B-movie veteran Michael Berryman. Somehow it all comes together,
and as the bodies pile up and the ghosts of the Donner dead start to get
really vicious Blood Snow shapes up into a pretty efficient
thriller.
Short on historical accuracy and big budget
special effects (think sausages for innards), the film nonetheless
proves a competent and cleverly shot horror flick. Tiffany fans will
also likely approve of the use of ‘Winter’s Over’ during the end
credits.
Audio
Jonathan Price’s score pulls out all the
horror stops; jagged keyboard arpeggios, moody strings, spooky little
kid voices, etc. Much like the screenplay itself it can get a little
corny at times, but it gets the job done. The two-channel audio is
surprisingly robust and proves quite effective.
Video
A nice clear 16:9 anamorphically enhanced
widescreen transfer, with no grain or defects to speak of.
Special Features
The Ovation edition is bare bones. The
Region 1 disc contains a Director’s Commentary, trailer and BTS
featurette. And a 5.1 soundtrack, incidentally.
Summary
Essentially The Shining meets
Dead Snow without the redeeming presence of either Jack Nicolson or
a horde of undead National Socialist zombies, Blood Snow still
manages to hold its own. It’s a very American film; few outside the US
would recall the Donner expedition of 1846, or, for that matter, the
music of Tiffany. Thankfully however the film’s central themes of
paranoia, psychological fragility and bloodthirsty cannibal ghosts are
universal. |
