THE CHILL FACTOR (1993) Blu-ray
Director: Christopher Webster
Arrow Video USA

Satan hits the slopes in the nineties regional slasher THE CHILL FACTOR, on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Three snowboarding couples – premonition-prone Jeannie (Dawn Laurrie) and cocky Tom (Aaron Kjenaas, UNTAMED HEART), Tom's catty sister Karen (Connie Snyder) and med student Chris (David Fields), linebacker Ron (Jim Cagle) and "black pussycat" Lissa (Eve Montgomery) – head out to remote Black Friar Lake to settle a bet between Chris and Tom about whose snowmobile is the faster by racing across a frozen lakebed. Things turn tragic when both skid out of control and Tom is thrown into a tree. With the sun setting and a blizzard stirring up, the group must find shelter to keep Tom warm and treat his injuries. They stumble upon a boarded up lodge that turns out to have once been a Dominican summer camp for children. While Ron heads out into the wilds to find help, the others pass the time between checking on concussed Tom by playing with a Haitian Ouija Board-type game called The Devil's Eye used to talk to the dead. Unfortunately, they make contact with something else that possesses Tom and starts healing his injuries with each death of one of his friends who have all wondered off to explore and find out about the series of Satanic killings forty years before that lead to the camp's shutdown.

One of a three picture deal that launched the Wisconsin-based Windsor Lake Studios built by British producer Christopher Webster (HEATHERS) – the other two being TRAPPED ALIVE (on Blu-ray from Arrow Video) and INHERITOR (not as yet on DVD or Blu-ray) – co-produced with Alexander Kogan's Films Around the World, THE CHILL FACTOR belongs to a small subgenre of snowbound horror films. The film, however, has less in common with the likes of THE SHINING or GHOSTKEEPER (or even the later SHREDDER which was a more conventional slasher set in a supposedly haunted ski chalet) than with HELLRAISER which Webster produced: from the claustrophobic setting to the damned character healed by the deaths of others. Produced for roughly $400,000, the film is set largely within the dark interiors of the lodge with effects consisting of a SUPERSTITION-type shadowy figure and some low-rent telekinetic death scenes with little onscreen gore apart from a well-executed icicle eye impalement (possessed Kjenaas does manage to convey some creepiness without any prosthetic make-up). During the last twenty minutes, the film takes on a more darkly sexual turn only hinted at earlier by a gratuitous incestuous subplot, and a last minute snowmobile chase generates a little excitement but the film does not live up to the potential of its atmospheric setting. Casting director Barbara Claman (THE CHANGELING) incessantly narrates the film as the older Jeannie but sounds more like a middle-aged chain smoker than a little old lady looking back on her life.

Released direct to video on VHS by David A. Prior's A.I.P. (Action International Pictures) Home Video and on laserdisc by Image Entertainment as DEMON POSSESSED – with artwork that suggests more of a WITCHCRAFT-esque softcore sequel than anything true to the film – THE CHILL FACTOR comes to Blu-ray in a 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen from a 2K scan. Viewers familiar with Arrow's Blu-ray of the concurrent production TRAPPED ALIVE will know what to expect with the overall darkness of much of the film which appears to be intentional since the Windsor Lake Studio was professionally-equipped. Arrow claims that the LPCM 2.0 mix is stereo but only the score seems to have much separation while the sounds of skidding snowmobiles and some telekinetic mayhem is pretty much centered with the dialogue. Optional English SDH subtitles are included.

The film is accompanied by an audio commentary by special effects artist Hank Carlson (ARMY OF DARKNESS) and horror writer Josh Hadley who had both previously appeared on Arrow's Blu-ray of TRAPPED ALIVE. Carlson rehashes the origin story of Webster's Wisconsin studio, his job as the studio's effects artist assisting the contracted artists during the shoot while working all other areas during pre-production and a lot of learning by doing. He had previously helped Chicago hire Jeffery Lyle Segal on the earlier film but here had to take more of the responsibilities on completing Segal's effects when the other man had to take on the role of principal make-up artist and hair stylist after the original artist left the production. He also discusses the sub-zero shooting conditions, his opinion that director Webster did not show off the make-up to good effect, the snowmobile stunts – coordinated by champion snowmobiler Chuck Decker and his brother who appear briefly – and also points out the supporting bits by production coordinator Bekki Vallin (who went onto more mainstream work like HOFFA and THE CHAMBER) and producer Mark Armstrong (BLOOD HARVEST). Hadley also points out some of the stories inanities like the racial remarks during the opening sequence and the incest subplot.

Also included is Carlson's VHS Workprint (83:56) of the film which features the original opening sequence, lacks narration, foley, music, and ADR (Armstrong's real accent can be heard in his one scene) but otherwise seems identical to the finished film. For a VHS workprint it is in far better condition than some of the examples we have seen digitized to DVD and Blu-ray even when upscaled. "Portrait of a Make-up Artist" (15:03) is an interview with makeup artist Segal who recalls working with Stuart Gordon during his days at the Organic Theater and was supposed to be the head of make-up effects on RE-ANIMATOR but admits that he did not know enough at the time. He recalls doing effects on HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER and being responsible for casting Michael Rooker, and suggests that it was the belated release of that film that brought him to the notice of Webster. "Lights! Cameras! Snowmobiles!" (13:02) is an interview with production manager Alexandra Reed (MINDWARP) who recalls the early days of the studio, Webster's passion for horror, and a lot of learning by doing including her own job, as well as anecdotes about the shooting in harsh weather conditions like Kjenaas's allergic reaction to the make-up and how they could not afford to burn down a building on location but one of the camera assistants turned out to be accomplished with foreground miniatures which are seamless here.

"Fire and Ice" (11:21) is an interview with stunt coordinator Gary Paul (WISHMASTER) who recalls collaborating with Webster and the Decker brothers on how to make the snowmobile scenes more exciting and being amazed at the resources of the studio coming from Los Angeles. "Ouija and Chill" (25:28) is an interview with effects assistant Carlson by horror writer Hadley that covers much of the same information from the commentary while also discussing some of Carlson's later credits with K.N.B. Effects Group and how different levels of low budget production compared. Also included is a still gallery (4:30) and the original home video trailer (2:00) titled DEMON POSSESSED and giving away all of the film's major plot points. Not provided for review were the reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Marc Schoenbach or the collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Mike White only included with the first pressing. (Eric Cotenas)

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