The Frozen Ground – Interview with Director Scott Walker
Posted by Zach Roberts on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 · 5 Comments
The Frozen Ground
is now available on DVD, on-demand, and on iTunes. We here at The Mudflats can’t recommend it enough – it’s dark, well-acted and written, and features John Cusack in one of his best and most terrifying roles ever.
Shannyn Moore interviewed the director a while back in a must-listen-to interview. The director, Scott Walker (no, not that Scott Walker), explains how he extensively researched this Alaskan true-crime story, and fought to film it in Alaska.
Trailer for The Frozen Ground
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Filed under Alaska, Headlines · Tagged with Alaska, Anchorage, dvd, john cusack, movies, murder, nicholas cage, nick cage, on frozen ground, serial killer, Shannyn Moore, vanessa hudgens
I personally and helped apprehending serial killer Robert Hansen. He was arrested on Sept. ’84 at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center.
Anchorage Police Department-Homicide Divison
Lt. Paul Honeman-Field coordinator
Sgt. Dan Sullivan-Lead Homicide Detective
Paul John, now Paul Lincoln-Lead Homicide Detective Undercover
This is movie based on fiction, mainly for money.
Piracy is a good word to use.
Paul Lincoln(John)-Newtok, Alaska
This is a decent but grim movie. Particularly because it pulls no punches in that Cusack (Hansen) is no Hannibal Lector, i.e. cultured, charming (when not eating someone!), etc. but Hansen is a sturring self loathing social misfit who takes out his frustrations on people who ironically he considers subhuman (i.e. street walkers, and strippers) particularly, in the movie at least, the Hudgens character. In case a viewer of “The Frozen Ground” is left unsatisfied with the necessary compression of events, composite characters, etc. that are necessary to produce a movie of less than two hours in length “based on a true story”, and want to learn more about the real life serial killer Hansen and the case that inspired the movie one could do worse then read “Fair Game” (http://tinyurl.com/mqssp5z) by Bernard DuClos that was recently republished. Reading it as a companion to the movie will help the viewer of “The Frozen Ground” realize the liberties that were inevitably taken to make it suitable for the silver screen as well as understand elements of Hansen’s life and killing spree that the picture did not have time to delve into such as more of Hansen’s background (which early on indicated a propensity toward crime) and the backstory of the whole oil pipeline boom that produced the mafia controlled prostitution/strip bar scene that Hudgen’s character is entangled in.
I may see it if the library gets it, but not for a while. I can’t stand Nicolas Cage, and avoid movies he’s in.
When this movie became available “on Demand” I rented it. I was so disappointed. Zach Roberts comment “it’s dark, well-acted and written, and features John Cusack in one of his best and most terrifying roles ever.” is too broad and unsubstantiated by the film. I so looked forward to seeing this film. However, cinematically this film was just too dark. The actors spoke way too fast to understand the dialogue, and swallowed some of their lines. The plot, therefore, was not defined, nor was sufficient tension created to be convincing.
I do agree that “The Frozen Ground” should have had an opening in Anchorage. I cannot understand why the local support didn’t get a chance to celebrate their production. n
Is it just me, or does anyone else think it was a bit of a kick in the stones to not even screen the movie in the town where it was filmed?
I know the production team probably didn’t have a lot to do with distribution, but really? Wasilla was as close as it got.