Welcome to Knockout Horror. It’s Christmas Eve 2024 so Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to anyone who is celebrating over the next few days and weeks. I had really hoped to finish our Festive Frights feature off with something decent but that’s a bit of a tough ask given the general quality of Christmas horror movies. Instead, we will have to make do with Gregory Jacobs’ 2007 supernatural horror Wind Chill.
This movie follows the story of a young woman (Emily Blunt) as she hitches a ride home to Delaware with a fellow student (Ashton Holmes). After a tense and uncomfortable first hour, or so, the pair take a detour down a supposed scenic route. Not realising that they are about to find themselves trapped on a road that is haunted by spirits of the deceased. If you are looking for more festive horror, take a look at our Awful Advent Category for much more.
An Interesting Concept
The premise of Wind Chill is fairly interesting. I am a big fan of road trip movies and the similarly car confined Christmas horror Dead End is one of my favourite horror movies of all time. The claustrophobic vehicle setting makes for dialogue heavy movies but the character building can lead to some genuinely compelling interactions and stifling tension. When done right, it works very well indeed.
Wind Chill aims to tap into some of that potential tension straight away. Not the horror movie kind of tension you might expect, though. It’s more of the interpersonal kind that comes from two characters with distinctly different personalities clashing over minor things. I suppose this type of conflict is needed to drive the story along. After all, it takes awhile to get to the spooky supernatural goings on. We need something to fill the void.
Quite Dull
The problems start fairly early on, however. The characters, here, aren’t all that interesting and they are relatively underdeveloped. “Boy” is a bit of an awkward dude who, very clearly, has an ulterior motive for offering “girl” a ride. “Girl” is an obnoxious, self important, asshole who is both abrasive and a bit off-putting. The first third of the movie consists of tought interactions between the pair and little else. These characters aren’t all that likable and really aren’t all that easy to invest in, either.
The festive themes take a back seat; acting, predominantly, as a tool of character motivation, a soundtrack and a conversation piece. Instead, the bulk of the dialogue consists of two characters hashing out their immediate issues with each other’s personalities and the intricate unpicking of personal problems and social inadequacies.
Their relationship being so, immediately, frayed leads you to guess as to how things will go down. The predictable rollercoaster of emotion that comes from two people experiencing a harrowing situation together doesn’t exactly make for too many thrills. The character development is slow and formulaic. Leading you to, at times, question just how much crap “Girl” is willing to accept to avoid feeling like she is entirely alone in her ghostly predicament. A part of me feels like this movie has already aged pretty poorly as far as certain character actions go. With “Boy’s” motivations seeming more creepy and concerning than cute and endearing.
Speaking of Which
The supernatural shenanigans are fairly basic and follow a well worn path of horror movie paranormal story telling. The usual, camp fire-esque, tales of a location that is plagued by ghosts and haunted by a malevolent spirit is something that has been done a million times before. Wind Chill isn’t exactly original but it can be, occasionally, quite satisfying. If you are a fan of paranormal horror movies then there is a solid chance you will enjoy the second half of this film.
Gregory Jacobs shows some noteworthy restraint when it comes to weaving a story. Taking a significant amount of time to bask in the claustrophobic confines of the snowed in car and relate the tale of ghostly goings on slowly and carefully. Wind Chill can be, at times, rather tense and quite atmospheric.
The location looks great; it is, clearly, an actually snowed in road which makes a world of difference, aesthetically, and both actors do an admirable job of relating the difficulty of the situation. The few trips outside of the car are a visual treat and Jacobs uses the heavy snow and pitch black darkness to keep the exterior equally as claustrophobic as the interior. You never quite know what is hiding in the snow storm and that works to the film’s advantage.
One thing I find difficult to ignore is just how messy and convoluted the story is. It feels as though it jumps around repeatedly. Certain plot points are not made all that clear and messy editing leads to a few moments of genuine confusion. Speaking of which, the direction and editing is a big problem. Some shots are terrible, some of the cuts are spasmodic and continuity is all over the place. Some of the scenes are, frankly, jarring for their disconnection from the scene before. I admire the attempt to do things a little differently but it rarely works all that well.
Should You Watch Wind Chill?
I think Wind Chill is worth watching. It’s an, often, tense and atmospheric ghost story that feels very satisfying, in parts, and is atypical thanks to its claustrophobic location and small cast. Unfortunately, the story telling is a little messy and poor editing and direction hamper the movie’s progress. It’s easy to get a bit lost thanks to poor cuts and some of the shots don’t work at all. Still, very much worth a watch as something a little different. Especially if you enjoy tales of ghosts and spirits.
