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January 1, 2020

A Binge too Far #8: Jack Frost duo (1997 – 2000)

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:
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).

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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