BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
FrogGlace
In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
Micah Lloyd
Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Asad Almond
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Nigel P
A Swedish teen vampire comedy horror film isn't a huge genre, and it is always good to find something that tries something a little out of the ordinary.Sharing certain similarities with '30 Days of Night', the main thrust of this film reveals what happens when a group of teens mistake pills of what appears to be condensed vampire blood for narcotics. Instead of getting high, the teens develop vampiric tendencies.A film involving 'teens' usually scares me more than any monster, with relentless memories of the cat-walking petulant pouters often found being sliced by Freddie Krueger (or similar) over the years. But these Swedish juveniles are an appealing group, with little of the overbearing bravura of their Hollywood counterparts. The character of Sebastian, in particular, creates effective mayhem when visiting his girlfriend's parents after having taken a tablet, and is trying to make a good impression whilst fighting off the effects of his increasing vampirism (her father is a Priest, which doesn't help).In the end, the vampires appear to be running rings around the increasingly outnumbered police force, and remind them that here in Lappland, dawn is a whole month away, a reference to Sweden living in permanent darkness half the year round – perfect conditions for the undead.
quende
I watched this movie without expecting too much since I had heard that it's not very good and since I didn't expect too much I wasn't very disappointed either. Why I watched it anyway was because it's the first Swedish vampire movie and being Swedish of course that's exciting and the other reason was that it was shot in my old hometown and I wanted to see if I recognized any of the locations. Which I did, the school scenes were shot at my old school.So what can I say about this movie? That it had a lot of potential and could have been very good if done in another way. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be scary, gory or funny and that's the main flaw. If the focus had been on either making it a really scary horror movie or a vampire comedy I think something good might have come out of it. But it didn't because Frostbiten is a weird mixture of horror and comedy which unfortunately isn't working.I also feel that the location isn't used as good as it could have been. Northern Sweden during the winter is cold and dark with snow, snow and more snow. There's also lots of wilderness and big forests. The perfect setting for a really creepy horror movie. But did we see any of that? No. Most of the film was set indoors with the climax of the film being another teenage party turning into a blood bath, which is terribly unoriginal. That could have worked if the focus was on comedy but since it wasn't (at least I don't think it was) it just turned cliché.And the acting? Well some of the actors did good but for every good one there was one terrible. And the accent? I used to live in the northern Sweden and the way most of the actors talked and tried to imitate that accent is NOT the way people actually talk up there! If you're not from the northern Sweden you probably won't be bothered by that but if you are you'll find it silly and annoying.So what was good about this movie? Well since I'm Swedish I can't trash a Swedish vampire movie completely. For me the thing I liked best about it just is that it's Swedish because there are no other movies like this here. As far as I know this is the first ever vampire movie made in Sweden and because of that it deserves a watch. It's quite entertaining as long as you don't expect too much of it. Another good thing was the special effects. I have nothing to complain about there.Do I recommend this movie? Sure. Just don't expect to be scared or laugh a lot. It's OK in it's own way but nothing mind blowing.
gavin6942
During World War II, the Swedish army (under the direction of Hitler) is fighting the Russians, but is forced to retreat and hide in a cabin. Within the cabin lies a buried secret: a vampire named Maria. Sixty years later, the vampire menace returns to Sweden when a group of teenagers accidentally ingest tainted blood. Blood-thirsty teenagers? Oh my!Let me get something out of the way so we can end the discussion right now: this film is not the Swedish version of "30 Days of Night". You would think so when the back of the box emphasizes this is a very northern town with thirty days of darkness, and there's vampires. But it's not anything like that other movie. This one was filmed first and has no connection to the graphic novel. And, with the exception of one line in the film, the fact there are thirty days of darkness isn't even relevant to the plot (it takes place over maybe three days, always during "night shift" anyway). So, just ignore all that... because if you're waiting for Ben Foster, you won't find him.This film excels with the backstory. I really enjoyed how they tied the SS into the vampire legend, because connecting Hitler to evil is always a nice touch. But what I found even more interesting was how since this was from Sweden's point of view, the SS wasn't so much "evil" as it just happened to be a group of soldiers like any other country. Nazis with human traits -- wow, what a concept! Either way, it really gave a great background for what was to come later.I was curious about some of the humor. I enjoyed it (this is just as much a black comedy as it is a horror film, not far removed from 1980s teen films), but I wonder if Sweden is living in a time warp. One person uses the "falling and can't get up" joke, which is probably obscure to anyone younger than twenty-five. And they make cracks about the drummer from Def Leppard. Hey, I do it, too... but a band that reached its peak twenty years ago is a hot topic? Weird.More conventional humor exists, such as using a body chart as a dart board (the bullseye is the spleen). And this film offers what is the greatest weapon to use against vampires I've ever seen (at least as far as I can recall): a garden gnome. I have never thought to have a garden gnome as a weapon in a film, but I'm very thankful these guys did, because it sealed the deal on deciding between whether this was a good film and a great film. It's a great film.The main character is a hot chick by Swedish standards (the character Saga, played by Grete Havnesköld) and another character, Cornelia (Nour El-Refai) is okay, too. Saga's role as the heroine was a nice one -- she is the focus of the film, but isn't some great vampire slayer or trying to save her boyfriend (she's single, guys). She is the heroine simply because she is able to survive... at least longer than most of her friends. What set this film out from other vampire films for me was the great transformation sequence, showing a boy get the endless thirst. The following changes (allergy to garlic, dislike of Sun and crosses, no reflection) were cool, too, but the scene where he simply cannot control his thirst was amazing. I guess the talking dogs were alright, too, but I feel like something more could have been done with that (where's Zoltan when you need him?).They do a thing with "vampire vision" which didn't bother me as much as usual, because they kept it to a minimum. The vampire eyes in the dark could have been removed. And, you'll rarely hear me say this, but the cgi was okay. Seriously. I'm a puppet guy, a rubber suit guy... but I think the computer work here was pretty decent. Although I could tell it was a cartoon, it was better than a lot of the stuff I see today (compare the wall-climbing scene here to the one from "Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes" and you'll think this one is platinum quality). So ,good work.No nudity (sorry guys) but plenty of blood. Blood spraying, blood drinking, blood smeared on walls, animals mutilated... so that's not a concern. You'll get enough blood to satisfy yourself.I really enjoyed this film beginning to end. From the opening previews (1970s English horror films) to the closing credits, this is what I want to see more of: blood, hot chicks and a good black comedy with teenagers who actually look and act like teenagers. You know, like the 1980s and not so much like the 1990s (sure, Sarah Michelle, I believe you're in high school. Riiiiiight). Unless you have a strong aversion to subtitles, give this one a whirl. Best thing to come from Sweden since Ingmar Bergman.
kosmasp
This movie starts with a flashback. A flashback were they talk German, but evidently you can hear (if you're familiar with the German language), that the actors are not Germans themselves. Just a trivia fact, for the beginning.Because this doesn't hurt the movie, after the flashback you get to the present time and the movie kicks off. And that means it really get's going! It then starts out more as (teen-)comedy, just to evolve into a horror-comedy. The transition is pretty good and many jokes work, but unfortunately in the end (literally), the movie falls short. It just seems, that they run out of ideas or money ... or both, but this movie does not feel like it's finished. It's a shame then, because this could've been so much better, but it's still good!