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Highly Overrated But Still Good

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

THE FROZEN GROUND is an Alaska-set Hollywood serial killer thriller, based on a true story from the 1980s. It stars Nicolas Cage as a cop on the trail of serial killer John Cusack, and much of the narrative revolves around a former victim and the only person to escape the killer's clutches, played by Vanessa Hudgens. The icy locales always make for a decent cinematic backdrop, but I'm afraid I found the rest of the production largely uninteresting.The problem with this film is its familiarity. The subject matter is predictable and dragged out and you never feel the urgency or momentum of the situation, as you do in the true classics of the genre like ZODIAC or SEVEN. Cage downplays it for the most part, as does Cusack, but this means that by contrast Hudgens gives something of a histrionic turn that I found irritating. The story takes place in the usual grungy strip clubs and the like and is frequently dark and nihilistic, but this time around that didn't amount to a very enjoyable viewing experience for me.

This movie is not worth the time. I really wanted to enjoy it, I used to be a fan of Nicholas Cage and I was actually excited to give it a shot. But within 10 to 15 minutes the story line fell flat.The worst part of this entire movie is the person(s) involved that decided to use a shaky-cam. This cinematography for this film is not just laughable, it is nauseating and dizzying. It actually seems like there is a monkey jumping around on top of the camera(s) while it was being filmed. And at high points of tension in the film, the shaking even gets worse, it really is un-watchable simply because of that.If you are able to look past the vibrating camera-work and actually watch this film it just doesn't grab you. From what I understand this is based on a true story. Yet it just doesn't do justice to the victims or the officers that worked the case. The one redeeming person in the film, is actually Cusack. He comes across as believable, if you can catch a glimpse of him through that vibration. It is unfortunate because this story could have been told in a much better way.

I had not read reviews, I found this by accident at the rental shop, so I came to it with open mind. The approach was different enough that I found myself pulled into it, wanting to see this creep nailed and jailed.The young woman who played a victim of the serial molester did an amazing job of making you feel her frustration and fear. I was impressed with her performance. The scenes where she was ducking in and out of the seedy places in Anchorage were disturbing. It bothers me greatly to think there might be such a huge amount of traffic in drugs and prostitution. Too often a high percentage of the women are being used and abused. And often they are underage girls lead into that by people who use them as cash cows and do little for their welfare.The story moves along well, there is music perfect for the scenes that help you feel the tension at times and yet foreboding when the camera pans the wild Alaskan wilderness. Beautiful but a bit intimidating with its harshness.The movie does an excellent job of slowly building the tension as it nears the end. For a few agonizing minutes you do not know what will happen to the young frightened girl. Will the bad guys do her in? Will the cops find her in time? I won't tell you and ruin it for you.I recommend this movie for any above age 17. There is considerable nudity at the dance "studios" that might be a bit much for the younger teens. If you let the younger teens watch prepare them mentally that what they will see in the clubs is not behavior you want them to imitate.

Spoiler herein:I was apprehensive to see this due to Vanessa Hudgens having a leading role...and my instinct was right. The rest of the cast was stellar and she clearly didn't belong and had way too many lines which dragged this down. If only the charismatic Gia Mantegna (the girl who ended up being gunned down in the forest) was given her role this could have been an awesome account of a serial killer. Instead we're stuck with the annoying and charmless Hudgens having to carry the story which just didn't work for me. I didn't buy her act for one minute and there wasn't a moment in her performance that rang true.