Tuesday 21 May 2013

Chill (2012)


(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, Janine Sarnowski.


I was SO excited and pleased to be given the chance to screen and review the final cut of upcoming horror film Chill. This is following my review of the one hour rough cut that I had the opportunity to check out earlier this year.

I guess the main question is did the movie as a whole live up to that great first hour? Well that would be a resounding YES!  In actual fact the second half of Chill builds on the mystery and suspense racheted up in the first hour (not to mention great character development) into a gory, action packed slasher fest. Not to say it doesn't prolong the overall mystery until the very end as it absolutely does. In fact the film does such a good job at churning out the twists, turns and surprises that I was regularly kept on my toes. There was one thing I thought I had figured out from the previous cut and I was actually right...but then there was so much else I didn't expect or see coming and I really do give the guys behind Chill their due for this.

As mentioned in the previous review the plot 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. The game is an interactive murder mystery which is notorious (and banned) on campus due to the unsolved killings of a group of students playing the same game years before. As Jared sets up his 'Chill revival', his 'cast' assemble, ready to play the game - unfortunately so does a mysterious killer, intent on making bloody history repeat itself.

I cant say enough about some of the great acting and brilliant characters in Chill. In fact this time around I really fell in love with the character of Maddison (Angelia DeLuca). She is just a great, fun character with layers to her personality which I really appreciated. I spent a great deal of the film enjoying her sarcastic comments and slightly mean spirited sense of humour to then be rooting for her to escape the killers grasp when she proved herself to be a caring human being. Go Maddie.  Brad Arner as Jared and Roger Conners as Kyle were great as the sparring best friends and many of their spats are just hilarious. Roger Conners really pulls out some fighting spirit as the film spins towards it dark finale. I LOVED 'Chi Chi' (Bella Sin) and also the journalist Kelly Masters character (Erinn Bakun).


The film is especially well made for an indie production. The cinematography is particularly great and this is demonstrated very well when the opening credits start to roll and we follow Kyles journey from the college to a local library. I cant tell you how impressed I was with the writing also - great one liners, great humour and perfect interactions between the varying personalities locked together in what will soon become a fight for survival. 

A well written, acted and produced horror mystery which I can promise will keep you on your toes throughout -you really need to keep up to date on the progress of Chill's release. Here is a link to the official Facebook page - get liking the page and stay up to date! When your chance comes to see the film - TAKE IT.

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