Wind Chill

Ropey, derivative and very, very boring horror-thriller.

Almost always, you can expect the worst when a studio dumps a film without advance screenings. But the well-crafted thriller Wind Chill, with rising star Emily Blunt, is the very rare case where somebody (in this case, Sony) goofed.

Well before day breaks, it's the movie's plot (which would have made for an outstanding Outer Limits episode) that has come to seem stuck in an endless loop.

Wind Chill, for all its flaws, is an often spooky and imaginative ghost story that contains a genuine creepiness.

A moody, spooky tale, rendered with laudable economy.

Wind Chill blows into increasingly nightmarish and ludicrous territory, introducing frostbitten ghouls, priestly apparitions, a nasty cop, and a cycle of hallucinations.

...a refreshingly adult horror effort that boasts a pair of phenomenal lead performances.

Imagine a campfire story told by Jack London after downing a bottle of Jack Daniels. The chilly atmosphere would be in full force but the plotting might be a bit punch drunk.

After a great set-up, we're left stranded by the side of the road, wishing the filmmakers had come up with a conclusion at least somewhere close to as good.

At the very least, it's an old-fashioned ghost story with half a brain -- and that's got to be worth more than a casual glance.

As clunky as it is emotionally unconvincing.

The passage to ex-rental DVD bins will be swift for this lethally pretentious bit of low-rent schlock.