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Jack Frost (1997)
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Oh, it can be rough being a fan of schlock-horror. When people who don't know me all that well come over and sift through my DVD collection, I always feel a bit uncomfortable, not knowing how they'll react to, say, the number of DVDs I own with "blood" somewhere in the title. Although it's a little disappointing that so few others share my passion for seeing people get eaten, there's one low-budget horror film I own that without fail grabs the attention of all who get so much as a fleeting glance at the cover art -- "Jack Frost". No, not the one with Michael Keaton with such witty barbs as "You da man!" "No, I da snowman!" There aren't too many movies featuring serial killer/rapist snowmen, and for fans of this...uh...all-too-neglected subgenre, "Jack Frost" is a must-buy.
Plot? Let's see -- flesh-and-blood serial killer Jack Frost, captured by an unwitting sheriff in a backwater town, is being transferred for execution, but along the way, the van collides with a truck carrying a load of untested genetic acid (and if it's entirely untested, why ship several thousands of gallons under such dangerous conditions?). Jack is treated to a face-full of the stuff and melts away into the snow below...seemingly dead...only to be reborn as (cue ominous music) Jack Frost, killer mutant snowman! Making good on his claim to tear the sheriff's world apart, Jack nimbly and quickly begins offing the townsfolk, leading to a pretty sizeable pile of unexplained homicides before moving in on the sheriff and his family (including his 'special' son, who is more disturbing than any killer mutant snowman could ever be). After some 'representatives' from the genetics company that produced the acid pop into town, it's up to the sheriff, his Adrienne Barbeau lookalike secretary, Agent Manners, and a scientist bearing an uncanny resemblance to Jay Thomas to stop the one-line-spouting mass of styrofoam before any more innocents fall into his icy grip of death. All this...and the lovely Shannon Elizabeth in her first movie role!
Video: Simitar is often criticized for the poor video quality of its DVD releases, but that's definitely not an issue here. "Jack Frost" actually looks great. The only quibble I have is that it's not anamorphic, though the image is letterboxed. The traditional laundry list -- colors are vibrant, fleshtones are accurate, blacks are strong, there's no grain, no noticeable edge enhancement, and next to nothing in the way of dust or similar flaws. For such a low-budget film on a bargain-bin disc, I was quite impressed with the quality, and I don't have any of my usual complaints to make at all. Big, big thumbs up.
Audio: "Jack Frost" sports two audio tracks -- a Dolby Pro-Logic track along with a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The 5.1 mix isn't anything more than average, but that's hardly a damning comment. The range is pretty good, though mostly with the music and dialogue. Some of the effects end up sounding pretty flat and unimpressive. The rears are mostly used to add atmosphere and to give the score an added punch, and there really isn't much in the way of directional effects, though there are a few. The audio is nothing to rave about, but it does the job, and how many discs in this price range offer a 5.1 mix anyway?
Supplements: Biggest disappointment -- the lack of the lenticular animation found on the VHS cover art! "Movie factoids" are the closest thing to an extra on "Jack Frost", although parental lock is listed as such on the back of the case. Like other Simitar discs, "Jack Frost" has that awful, hideous, gut-wrenching, generic menu screen you've come to know and despise. The scene access is also a bit disappointing, as there are only 8 chapter stops total.
Conclusion: "Jack Frost" is the street vendor hot-dog of horror. It's inexpensive, the materials in it are cheap, and people either find the finish products very appealing or entirely repulsive, with no middle ground whatsoever. "Jack Frost" isn't an unintentionally awful movie of the 'so bad, it's good' variety; I got the definite impression from watching it that this was more or less the movie Michael Cooney set out to make. It still holds up pretty well even after seeing it 12 or 13 times, and with a retail price of $14.98, there's no reason not to buy it. Highly recommended -- borderline 'collectors series'.
Plot? Let's see -- flesh-and-blood serial killer Jack Frost, captured by an unwitting sheriff in a backwater town, is being transferred for execution, but along the way, the van collides with a truck carrying a load of untested genetic acid (and if it's entirely untested, why ship several thousands of gallons under such dangerous conditions?). Jack is treated to a face-full of the stuff and melts away into the snow below...seemingly dead...only to be reborn as (cue ominous music) Jack Frost, killer mutant snowman! Making good on his claim to tear the sheriff's world apart, Jack nimbly and quickly begins offing the townsfolk, leading to a pretty sizeable pile of unexplained homicides before moving in on the sheriff and his family (including his 'special' son, who is more disturbing than any killer mutant snowman could ever be). After some 'representatives' from the genetics company that produced the acid pop into town, it's up to the sheriff, his Adrienne Barbeau lookalike secretary, Agent Manners, and a scientist bearing an uncanny resemblance to Jay Thomas to stop the one-line-spouting mass of styrofoam before any more innocents fall into his icy grip of death. All this...and the lovely Shannon Elizabeth in her first movie role!
Video: Simitar is often criticized for the poor video quality of its DVD releases, but that's definitely not an issue here. "Jack Frost" actually looks great. The only quibble I have is that it's not anamorphic, though the image is letterboxed. The traditional laundry list -- colors are vibrant, fleshtones are accurate, blacks are strong, there's no grain, no noticeable edge enhancement, and next to nothing in the way of dust or similar flaws. For such a low-budget film on a bargain-bin disc, I was quite impressed with the quality, and I don't have any of my usual complaints to make at all. Big, big thumbs up.
Audio: "Jack Frost" sports two audio tracks -- a Dolby Pro-Logic track along with a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The 5.1 mix isn't anything more than average, but that's hardly a damning comment. The range is pretty good, though mostly with the music and dialogue. Some of the effects end up sounding pretty flat and unimpressive. The rears are mostly used to add atmosphere and to give the score an added punch, and there really isn't much in the way of directional effects, though there are a few. The audio is nothing to rave about, but it does the job, and how many discs in this price range offer a 5.1 mix anyway?
Supplements: Biggest disappointment -- the lack of the lenticular animation found on the VHS cover art! "Movie factoids" are the closest thing to an extra on "Jack Frost", although parental lock is listed as such on the back of the case. Like other Simitar discs, "Jack Frost" has that awful, hideous, gut-wrenching, generic menu screen you've come to know and despise. The scene access is also a bit disappointing, as there are only 8 chapter stops total.
Conclusion: "Jack Frost" is the street vendor hot-dog of horror. It's inexpensive, the materials in it are cheap, and people either find the finish products very appealing or entirely repulsive, with no middle ground whatsoever. "Jack Frost" isn't an unintentionally awful movie of the 'so bad, it's good' variety; I got the definite impression from watching it that this was more or less the movie Michael Cooney set out to make. It still holds up pretty well even after seeing it 12 or 13 times, and with a retail price of $14.98, there's no reason not to buy it. Highly recommended -- borderline 'collectors series'.
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