Stone Cold Curious
Ray Pelletier (Michael Rooker) and his wife Helen (Blanche Baker) have headed up to their cabin by the lake with their son David (Benjamin Foster) and his medical student girlfriend Gina (Amy Chang) for the annual vacation and for some ice fishing. But their peaceful vacation is soon interrupted by the realisation they are not alone as the annoying Steve Cote (Don Wood) and his son Stevie Jr. (Greg Finley) have arrived from the city and their arguing is disrupting the tranquillity. But that is the least of their worries when they discover that the reason behind the lack of fish in the lake is that there is a much larger predator beneath the ice and it isn't afraid of coming up through the ice to make them its prey.
Movies like "Hypothermia" strangely make my day because they are peculiar, interesting, curious, conflicted and that makes them a refreshing change from the mindless norm which gets churned out. Now don't mistake that for me saying that "Hypothermia" is a good move as in all honesty it isn't but between what it is about and the style it is conflicted and it is that which makes it entertaining as a reviewer.
What I mean is that "Hypothermia" is a creature feature, a giant fish type creature beneath the ice attacking those on the surface and it has a typical couple of characters with Steve Cote being an obnoxious know it all. But then the look isn't your typical exploitative creature feature, there is a more independent style to it with slow camera movements and almost an artsy side when it comes to taking in the frozen vista of the lake. It is a strange blend which often jars but it is that which makes it entertaining. And in a strange way the monster, the ridiculousness of it also makes it interesting although initially you will laugh when you see it.
This strange blend extends to the acting and characters as on one hand you have Michael Rooker as Ray and Rooker plays it straight which makes Ray quite easy to like but then you have Don Wood and he intentionally over plays Steve Cote as the sort of obnoxious character you might find in an Adam Sandler movie. It jars yet it makes what is a simple creature feature a lot more intriguing.
What this all boils down to is that "Hypothermia" ends up entertaining more because of its conflict in style and subject with it frequently jarring. But whilst intriguing the final movie is nothing special and sadly not the sort of movie you feel any need to revisit after watching it once.
