Frostbitten (2006/Genius/Vampires/Sweden)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: C+

 

 

When Ingmar Bergman passed away, it was a big international news story because his films were so widely known.  It was also because his home country of Sweden is not known for much cinema beyond Bergman and art films involving his actors.  However, there are plenty of different kinds of cinema that and every other country produces, though we only see a fraction of it.  Anders Banke’s Frostbitten (2005) is an ambitious attempt to create a vampire film with some difference and impact.

 

It may not always work, but it has some interesting moments, even when it is derivative.  Part of the reason is simply the location of the northern territory of Sweden and its city of Norrbotten, which is scenic and interesting.  Even with its limits, it embarrasses the dozens of awful U.S. and especially indie vampire disasters of late and the twist is that the geographical location will be in darkness for 30 days in a row!!!

 

The cast and director are having fun with the Daniel Ojanlatva screenplay and From Dusk Til Dawn is the film this reminded me of off hand, but all are trying to show a real love of such films and fans will find this a must-see.  If you are interested in a vampire film with a difference, you might want to give it a look too.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image has some nice shots by Director of Photography Chris Maris and as I watched, I noticed an interesting look of color and composition, the cinematography was different from anything I had seen lately.  Why?  Was it digital enhancement?  No.  Was it the brand of film stock?  They used Kodak well enough with some digital work, but nothing out of the ordinary.  So could it be the scope format used?  The detail looked like Super 35mm work, yet something was different.

 

Research says it is in Techniscope, a format that has not been used in eons, but it is not listed as such in the credits that way.  If used as a general term (many films dubbed scope or CinemaScope do not use the oldest system) on the fly, this means each frame was a tiny 2-perferations of 35mm, which is narrow and leaves no room for error.  All in all, it is an asset for the film.

 

The film was exclusively a DTS theatrical release, but only a Dolby Digital 5.1 track is available on this disc.  Too bad, because the Dolby is limiting the dynamic range of what sounds like a very good soundmaster.  The Anthony Lledo score is not bad and the combination of the two shows Sweden can get serious and deliver high quality genre product technically.

 

Extras include bloopers, a behind the scenes featurette and deleted scenes.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo