Jack Frost (1997)

Directed by Michael Cooney [Other horror films: Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000)]

I’ve not seen this one since I was around 13 – 16 years old, and given I was 26 at the time of writing this, I was excited to finally see this one again. Jack Frost isn’t a great movie, and I didn’t think it would be, but I still had a pretty fun time with it, and while it occasionally gets a bit too silly for me, overall, I will admit to enjoying this one.

The killer snowman here reminds me a lot of Chucky from Child’s Play, which I suspect was intention on the part of the movie-makers. Not only is he a serial killer endowed with a new body, but he has consistent quips to go along with every kill, and generally seems a talkative guy. Sometimes, as I said, this gets to be a bit much (especially toward the end), but Scott MacDonald definitely had fun with this.

Personally, that does often make a difference to me. There are some movies in which it’s clear the cast has a blast making it, but that doesn’t always lead to the movie being good (likewise, there are movies that it seems clear the cast wasn’t invested, and that can badly damage a movie). However, when the story is decent enough and the cast is clearly enjoying themselves, it’s a great little feeling, and I think Jack Frost definitely has that.

Christopher Allport isn’t necessarily stellar here, but I do think he’s stable enough to commend. I do wish we had seen Stephen Mendel’s character punched at least once, as he was pretty good at acting the asshole, but to no avail. The same could be said for Rob LaBelle – he got a slight comeuppance, but it wasn’t near enough. Shannon Elizabeth has an early appearance here, two years before her role as Nadia in American Pie and four before Thir13en Ghosts, and it’s probably one of the more well-known scenes in the film. Let’s just say it looks chilly.

What really cracked me up toward the end was when we find out that Allport’s kid (played by Zack Eginton) put antifreeze into a Christmas snack for his father. I was expecting hot sauce or something, but it’s freaking antifreeze. I chuckled at that, because that kid is absolutely going to kill someone someday.

Toward the end, though, I do think things tend to run a bit slower. We’ve already seen what seemed to be the defeat of Jack Frost twice now, and he still comes back. I wish they had trimmed a bit of that (such as the scene where the gaggle of main characters were forcing Jack Frost into the furnace with hair-dryers – that, what with the music and Jack Frost’s dialogue, was just too silly), but it’s not really that detrimental a problem.

I wouldn’t call Jack Frost a great movie, or even a traditionally good one (fantastic introduction, though, that cracked me up), but I do think it’s a decent amount of fun, and though some of it is a bit much, I found myself quite enjoying this rewatch.

7.5/10

This was covered on one of Fight Evil’s podcasts, episode #26. If it tickles your fancy, listen to Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this one.