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Frost
R2 - United Kingdom - Entertainment One Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (20th January 2014). |
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The Film
 ***This is an A/V and extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Evil lies beneath... Filmmaker Gunnar (Björn Thors) arrives at a remote glacier camp on the outskirts of the Arctic Circle to meet up with physiologist Agla (Anna Gunndís Guðmundsdóttir) to make a documentary about the research being conducted there. The next day they discover the camp mysteriously abandoned and their co-workers gone without a trace. As darkness descends and the camp is shaken with ear-splitting shrieks and violent flashing lights, the couple bravely venture out into the vast nothingness frantically following a trail of blood in the snow in the hope that it’ll lead them to their missing colleagues, unaware of what they’ll find at the other end…
Video
Entertainment One release the Icelandic found footage horror "Frost" onto DVD in the United Kingdom in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer has been anamorphically enhanced, but overall, the quality of the transfer is not particularly inspiring. As is usually the case for the increasingly popular found footage sub-genre, the quality is often purposely poor so to make it feel we are viewing actual lost footage. However, these films that are based in more current times, do not need this faux feel to it as much, as many people now have access to digital cameras, even if not always high quality ones. With "Frost", we get a digital outlook, with the usual shaky camera movement and fake blockiness from the camera being handled roughly. Detail is generally good, but blacks are occasionally not quite deep enough. The vast array of snowy backgrounds look decent, and avoids any sort of blooming, keeping a good level of clarity throughout. There is no damage to the transfer itself such as scratches or dirt - just the damage that has been placed purposely for the tense feel of the feature. The disc is PAL, and the feature runs 78:53.
Audio
Two audio options have been included here; Icelandic Dolby Digital 5.1 and Icelandic Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. For obvious reasons, I opted for the 5.1 track, which was a little bit of a let down. As seen in other found footage movies such as the "Paranormal Activity" franchise, surround activity is kept minimal with all dialogue kept to the front channels. This is to give the feel of watching a found tape, but sometimes the environmental noises such as the swirling wind can be slightly off-putting. Channel separation is good, but not great, and directionality adequate. I've certainly heard worse tracks, but more could have been done here. On the plus side, there's no damage to the track and I noticed no background hiss. English subtitles have been included, and they are optional.
Extras
The main extra feature available on this release, is a short making of featurette (9:23). In Icelandic with English subtitles, it is generally made up of behind the scenes footage which shows the conditions the cast and crew had to deal with during filming. It also shows the cast and crew larking about a bit, and manages to actually avoid all informative details possible, so although it is an entertaining ten minutes, we do not actually learn anything about how the movie was made. Other than the featurette, we have some start-up trailers: - "The Escape Plan" (1:58) - "We Are What We Are" (2:20) - "Outpost III: Rise of the Spetznaz" (0:59)
Overall
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