Years ago, I used to live in Sacramento, California, but spent part of my week working up in Incline Village, Nevada (near Reno). During the winter, this commute would occasionally involve driving through crazed snowstorms where my visibility was limited to ten feet. My car felt like a metal cocoon surrounded by malevolent and freezing elements.
There was something rather humbling about the whole experience. The power of nature and all that rot….
These memories were brought back while watching “Wind Chill”.
The plot starts off similarly to the Riley Sager novel “Survive the Night.” A college student, played by Emily Blunt, wants to get home during her winter break from college. On a bulletin board, she sees an offer from someone going to her hometown—it turns out to be a nebbish young man played by Ashton Holmes.
As the drive proceeds, it becomes clear not everyone is on the up and up. But that tension is soon replaced by a greater one. When they take a scenic route on a snow covered highway, they get swiped by a hit and run driver, and their car is stuck. Night falls, and they have to figure out how to stay warm and alive for the night.
As if that’s not a big enough problem, they are then visited by ghostly apparitions. Something has happened on the stretch of highway, and it is collecting souls.
Made 2007, the film reminded me that it wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t have ubiquitous phone service or world maps on our devices. (“Wind Chill” has a unique twist, in that the characters’ fortunes turn toward the better at one point because they are living in the pre smart phone era.)
I was bored during the middle section of the film. There’s a lot of scenes of people stuck in a car, bantering about the sexual politics of their day.
But it picked up. Some events are genuinely poignant.
The female lead is played by Emily Blunt, a name I’m familiar with but can’t really associate with anything. Martin Donovan—one of those “I know I’ve seen him before” faces—is chilling (ha ha) as one of the menacing apparitions.
The score was minimal but quite
So, nothing spectacular here, but entertaining enough.
