Old-School Reviews: Frozen Alive

Alot of build-up...but not much actual pay-off.  Today's Film is Frozen Alive, a 1964 Film about Science, Murder and the Police.  I'm actually up-selling this one.  The Film tells the tale of 2 Scientists trying to prove that you can deep-freeze a person for long periods of time with no side effects.  I guess Ted Williams saw this one.  When a death occurs, the Police blame one of the Scientists.  Unbeknownst to them, however, he has just been....title line.  Before I begin the Review, I need to note one thing.  The Film clocks in at around 63 minutes (with Credits)- which is Jaws in Japan length!-, but the DVD Cover says that it runs 81 minutes.  Liar!  So why is this one such a letdown?  To find out, read on...

These 2 have completed the Trial Phase of the Freezing Experiment- on Chimpanzees- and know that it works.

It is worth noting for the Casual Sexism on display here.  The Woman is referred to as 'the weaker sex' because she is nervous presenting their work before the World Health Organization!  Dicks.

Meanwhile, the Doctor's Wife is having an affair with this German guy while they are working.

Their Boss at the WHO won't let them move forward.  If you need extra incentive to know that he's bad, the Boss looks like Thomas Edison.

The couple try to make things up and she even agrees to stop drinking.  It is a miracle!

That night, the Doctor returns with a bad idea: start the Human Trials with himself.  When has that always gone wrong?

While he's away, the Wife meets up with her boyfriend to break things off.  For no logical reason, she fake-salutes with his gun and shoots herself!

The Darwin Awards were born on this day!

The next Morning, the Police think that the Husband did it.  After all, his prints were on the gun (from the other day), while the Boyfriend wiped his (since he didn't have a license for it).  The man's comrades explain that he is not available, since he was frozen today.

The remaining 10 minutes or so (yes, the Film is this oddly-paced) are based around the Police asking questions and the Doctor's associates trying to revive him properly.

Since we hate tension, the boyfriend finally calls the Police to tell them what happened.

Oh and the revival process works smoothly.  Time to start freezing your Uncles!  The End.

Seriously, I thought that this was building up to something more interesting!  It has all of the aspects that sound like they would build up to something big.  It doesn't.  It is a shame because none of it is really bad.  The Acting is good, the Film is shot well and the Writing is overall quite good.  The Characters feel natural enough and I can't complain about any of the technical stuff.  The problem is that the Film builds and builds...and then just stops.  A number of things could happen in a Story like this.  For example, he's thawed out and has to solve the case.  He's frozen for months while his comrades try to clear his name.  He's frozen for years and tries to start anew.  Any of these would have been more interesting than the anti-climax we got.  Oh well.  I did learn a lesson in Gun Safety than someone else I know needs to learn though...

Next up, I cover a Film that I have been curious about for years.  Is it good or terrible?  Stay tuned...