Freezer - Revenge served ice cold - DVD

Content: Actually, the engineer Robert Saunders (Dylan McDermott) just wanted to relax with his girlfriend in a bar to celebrate his birthday. But after being knocked out in the men's room, he now wakes up tied hand and foot in a cold room. With difficulty he manages to free himself from his bonds, but then two thugs of the Russian Mafia are standing in front of him and demand some money that Robert is supposed to have stolen. There seems to be a terrible mix-up, which the confused Robert can't clear up when the beautiful but cool Alisa (Yuliya Singir) appears, who at least understands his language. She makes it clear to him that he has little time to give them back the money, otherwise the cold room would become his icy grave. Then, when Robert also finds a badly injured police officer (Peter Facinelli) in the room who has been undercover investigating the Mafia, he realizes that his life really is hanging by a thread and that he will have to come up with something to still escape certain death by frostbite...

It's always difficult to tell a story set in a very limited location. It can work very well, as the Ryan Reynolds thriller Buried proved, for example. But there are also quite a few examples where the chamber-play-like nature was more responsible for boredom or a story that seemed too contrived. Freezer falls somewhere in between. Director Mikael Salomon (Band of Brothers) manages to build up a high level of tension very well at the beginning. In doing so, the initial idea brings back distinct memories of the intense opening sequence of the first SAW film. The cold room in which Robert is trapped feels very claustrophobic, and not just because of its constriction of space. Also the cold, which is getting more and more to the prisoner, is downright palpable for the viewer in some moments.

In such scenes Freezer is a very intense and successful thriller. Dylan McDermott proves perfectly cast as - if you'll pardon the pun - an extremely cool leading man. Given the unusual and dangerous situation he finds himself in, Robert seems a bit too calm and confident to be 100% believable. But McDermott can easily make up for this weakness with his engaging performance. More serious, however, is the fact that the story gets more and more lost in abstruse twists and turns and thus loses not only credibility, but also suspense. Without giving too much away it can be said that after a very successful 45 minutes a much weaker second half follows, which drags on and on and only has a few highlights to offer. Finally, the finale doesn't really come as a surprise, but somehow it's a lot of fun again, which is why the overall impression at the end is quite positive.

Freezer is really not a masterfully constructed thriller. There are too many illogical moments and too many lengths to keep viewers gnawing their fingernails off with suspense. But the positives are quite enough to provide solid entertainment with some very intense climaxes. If you don't expect more, you'll get your money's worth here. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The DVD's clean image pleases with an undercooked color scheme and good overall sharpness, which could have only been a little better in showing smaller details. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix spreads a coherent atmosphere, with some life breathed into the surround channels primarily from minor sound effects. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has a short behind-the-scenes look (approx. 3:26 in.), as well as interview featurettes with Dylan McDermott (approx. 2:08 min.), Peter Facinelli (approx. 1:41 min.) and director Mikael Salomon (approx. 2:24 min.) to offer in addition to the trailer. The extras are in the original English audio with no subtitle options.

Conclusion: Freezer - Revenge served ice cold is a thrilling cat-and-mouse game, which, however, can not fully exploit its potential, especially in the last act. Director Mikael Salomon tries to get the best out of his claustrophobic chamber play, but towards the end he gets lost too much in trying plot twists to really keep the tension up until the end. Still, the convincing acting of Dylan McDermott and some very intense moments make up for some of the weaknesses and ensure that Freezer has become a thoroughly watchable thriller overall. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp