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| The titular killer snowman from Jack Frost (1997). |
This
column is reserved for (somewhat) popular films that I had not seen previously,
but this time I made an exception and re-visited the Jack Frost duo (1997 – 2000) for the purposes of the Christmas
spirit. Because, you know, who doesn’t love a murderous snowman?
Reviews:
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| Jack Frost (1997) VHS box art. |
Jack Frost (1997)
During a
snowy winter night, the titular serial killer [Scott MacDonald from Jarhead (2005)] is transferred from
prison to medical facilities in order to become a guinea pig of a scheduled
experiment. Combining the forces of the weather and his own evil nature he
manages to kill the guards and escape, but a terrible accident mutate him into
a snowman creature. He is now after the people that caused him his troubles and
will murder his way into destroying them.
Based
upon a story by Michael Cooney (who also penned the screenplay and directed)
and Jeremy Paige, this is boasting hilarious one-liners and it combines the
Christmas spirit with inventive snowman kills. It is actually so much fun that
I couldn’t help thinking that Troma would love to have done a movie like this.
Also starring Shannon Elizabeth, who later became famous via American Pie (1999).
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| Jack Frost 2... (2000) DVD box art. |
Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman
(2000)
Jack
Frost (the voice is provided by returning Scott MacDonald) returns in order to
get revenge from the people that wronged him and this time he has for support
his little snow children as well that are as much murderous.
Writer/director
Michael Cooney returns with an insane sequel in which the kills become even
more inventive than those of the original. Some primitive CGI are employed as
well (mostly in the form of mutant snow children) but the main work is still
achieved by the aid of good old-fashioned practical effects (something that was
becoming a rarity already in early 2000s low budget genre cinema). The snowman
looks more menacing than the first time around which is mostly due to its
appearance resembling the original film’s poster which was not the case in the
first film. The end result resembles an homage to Critters (1986), Child’s
Play (1988), and The Blob
(1958), and as such it is very welcome.
Conclusion:
While
nowhere near as good as I remembered them from when I first watched them almost
twenty years ago, the Jack Frost
(1997 – 2000) films are a worthy addition to b-movie outrageousness and more
than fun enough to guarantee an entertaining one-view experience. There is a
sequence during the sequel’s end credits that left the door open for another
sequel that would feature a gigantic snowman, and that was indeed the intention
of Michael Cooney, but – much to our disappointment – the plans failed to
materialize.
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