Chill (2012)

(Online Screener Copy)

Directed by: Noelle Bye and Meredith Holland


Written by: Meredith Holland (additional writing by Noelle Bye and Roger Conners)


Produced by Noelle Bye, Roger Conners and Meredith Holland


Stars: Roger Conners, Brad Arner, Angelia DeLuca, Kelly Rogers, David Gilmore, Erinn Bakun, DJ Remark, Mike Kafury, Jason Orr, Wednesday Vinson, Ash Katt with Bella Sin, Rick Montgomery Jr. and Janine Sarnowski.


I was really pleased to be given the chance to screen and review a rough cut, early version of upcoming horror film Chill, an independent movie gathering a fair bit of excitment from fans.

When I was sent the link to view the movie I was informed of a few things which I am going to share in order to be completely honest about the version of the film I saw. Firstly the film was the first hour of the movie only and is still in need of a full score and some other tweaks such as colour correction and other audio corrections.

The main thing the first hour of Chill did for me, or rather TO me, is make me hungry to see the film in full. See Chill is a bonafide mystery slasher which builds extremely well before starting to take out its characters. This means we get a well plotted story instigating curiousity as to what is really going on and it also allows key characters to make a strong impression. For me that means there are some characters I would genuinely NOT want to see die and likewise some who just have to go! I would also say the film is presented very well, it's nicely shot and doesn't look overly cheap, and remember this is an indie.

Plot wise the film centres on college student Jared (Brad Arner) who coerces his best pal Kyle (Co writer and producer Roger Conners) into helping him stage a web broadcasted game called Chill which is kind of like a fake online murder mystery. However Jared's reasons for this is due to his interest in the killings of a group of students who played the same game years before - and were subsequently found dead. As Jared sets up his 'Chill revival', his 'cast' assemble, ready to play the game - unfortunately so does a mysterious killer, apparently keen on making bloody history repeat itself.

There were a lot of things which made me want to see the climax of this film. Many of the actors did a great job, in particular Brad Arner as Jared and Roger Conners as Kyle. I also extremely enjoyed the character of Bella 'Chi Chi' (Bella Sin) and was very interested in the introduction of the Kelly Masters character (Erinn Bakun). On top of this, the mystery involving the original murders along with the new spate of killings genuinely draws you right in. I think horror fans are going to really enjoy attempting to guess the maniacs identity. Something else that I hope fans dig, as the integration of comedy into horror can be a tricky business, is the funny bantering and one liners spewed out by many of the characters. I found a lot of scenes funny and I hope fans take the same thing away from it.

Finally I will say you really should keep up to date on the progress of Chill. Here is a link to the official Facebook page where you can become a fan and also be on the look out for news. When I have seen the full film after its out I will be re-reviewing so also be on the look out for that. Checking out Chill was a great little surprise for the new year.