Chiller (1985)

Chiller (1985) ** (out of 4) Wes Craven's made for TV flick is frozen from the get go and never goes anywhere. In the film, a man returns to life after being frozen for ten years and guess what he does? If you guessed he goes on a killing spree then you've just saved yourself 80-minutes. Just looking at the film you can tell Craven didn't have much hope in the film because you can't see any of the typical Craven trademarks. The story itself is rather lame and it's nothing new so there's not much to get excited over. There isn't any gore since this was made for television but there's also no suspense, no humor and no good performances. Paul Sorvino has a small role but even he's sleepwalking.

A young man(Michael Beck)has been under cryogenic stasis for approximately ten years when his tube malfunctions. His mother Marion(Beatrice Straight)is dead-set on seeing her son revived from the dead and is persistent that surgeons try to re-animate him with far more modern procedures and medical technology than they had the previous ten years he was in his death sleep. They do succeed, but this comes with a price..he emerges without a soul, merely a cold-blooded human monster with his own carnal cravings in mind. He's a threat to everyone around him because Miles is no longer the young man people once knew. Marion can not be convinced because of her blind loyalty and love..that long ten-year wait for your son's life brought back to fulfill the lonely void can keep many a person from what's obviously right in front of you. Miles fires trustworthy exec, Clarence(Dick O'Neill) who has kept the Creighton business afloat over the years since the passing of Marion's husband. Miles claims he just doesn't need Clarence anymore even though he lacks mere months until retirement. Miles moves Leigh Kenyon(Laura Johnson)into a made-up position so that he can sexually abuse her while paying the woman handsomely. He also cuts off the business' charity ties to save finances..including Reverend Penny's(Paul Sorvino)church. Miles also lustfully gazes at cousin Stacey(Jill Schoelen)from his room as she swims. It's only a matter of time before Miles turns homicidal..but, it's the fact that he has no conscience or reason which makes him a deadly threat to anyone who stands in his way. Not even mother Marion can halt Miles from pursuing his carnal appetites.Interesting look at what could happen if you bring a loved one from the dead..Craven is obviously limited by the television medium. I'm sure if he directed this as a theatrical film, the violence would have certainly been more potent. Miles' reign of terror is still quite chilling because Beck is so menacing in the title role. When he smiles, pure evil shows in abundance. Craven gets some terrific supporting performances from an able cast, especially Straight(who I thought was marvelous, as the mother hell-bent on seeing her son alive even though the consequences are disastrous)and Paul Sorvino as the minister who is shaken spiritually by the return of someone from death. The best scene in the film could be when Miles informs Penny that there is nothing but darkness when you close your eyes in death. The "crisis of faith" angle is an interesting one even if this aspect doesn't get developed much. There's a real tense scene where Miles drags Penny's carcass down the road, holding a devious grin on his face. I don't think the film(probably because of time constraints among other things, and limited funds)gets enough time to fully realize the great premise it has, but I thought the film was fairly entertaining. It's always nice seeing Schoelen, even in a much limited role. This is Beck and Straight's show, however, playing polar opposites..his evil against her good intentions. That tragedy of a mother having to put a stop to her son's evil ways is the center of the film's success I think. Good little movie, but could've been great. There's a terrific special effects sequence from Stan Winston..as Beck returns from a coma, underneath his skin are "pressure bubbles" which pulsate. It's really a cool scene and quite unnerving.

"Wes Craven's Chiller" is the latest addition to my collection of "Dollar Store DVDs," and at this point I think I'm going to have to seek professional help for this addiction, because I don't know how many more of these sub-par films I can stand before my brain explodes...Anyway, "Chiller" may have a famous name director, Wes Craven, in the driver's seat (the back of the DVD I bought makes sure to mention that this film is "from the director of Scream and Red Eye!") and an interesting enough premise but the execution suffers due to its made-for-TV origins. It seems that rich old Mrs. Creighton's heart was in the right place when her beloved son Miles fell ill with a terminal disease, and she had him cryogenically frozen at an experimental lab until a cure can be found. Ten years later, Miles' tube malfunctions and he's thawed out a little early; fortunately, medical science has progressed enough that he is successfully revived. UN-fortunately for the rest of the characters, he's a little, um..."different" after his resurrection, though nobody can convince Mama of this for nearly three-quarters of the film's length. The family dog hates him (so it suddenly disappears), his teenage cousin is scared of the way he leers at her while she's swimming in the pool, and when he takes over the family corporation his underlings are shocked at his cut-throat business practices (the scene in which he forces the kindly old senior partner into a fatal heart attack in a stairwell would probably make Gordon Gecko of "Wall Street" proud). Eventually the family's priest (Paul Sorvino, in a mostly thankless role) realizes that while Miles spent a decade between life and death, he lost his soul (cue creepy music) and it's up to Mama to do something about it before more lives are lost. Though "Chiller" is only about 75 minutes long, it feels a LOT longer than that. The few bright spots for me were seeing a young Jill Schoelen (the young scream queen later seen in "The Stepfather," "Popcorn" and Robert Englund's take on "Phantom of the Opera" before she disappeared off the face of the Earth) and the final battle in the walk-in freezer between Miles and Mama Creighton. It should be noted that the DVD I watched (released on the Digiview label as a double feature with a 50s version of Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart") is absolutely god-awful... the picture is grainy and dark, the sound alternates between overly loud or inaudible, and the cheesy synthesized music, which probably sounded creepy in 1985, comes across as dated and annoying now. I was also left with this nagging question... whose soggy, defrosted legs are those that we see at the beginning of the movie, shambling around amongst the cryo-tubes? It's never addressed!!For a buck, "Chiller" was an OK night's entertainment, but truthfully, unless you feel the need to see absolutely everything that Wes Craven has ever had his hands on, I'd say that you could live a long and happy life without bothering with this one. You got it, "Chiller" should've been left in deep freeze where it belongs.

With this endeavour, director Wes Craven will not, in all probability, please many enthusiasts of his other films, the majority of which involve a good deal of violence and bloodletting, but he does a workmanlike job with this account of storage cryogeny which goes awry. Wealthy Marian Creighton (Bernice Straight) has kept her son Miles (Michael Beck) in cryogenic suspension for ten years since his death from a liver disease, and when a computer failure results in his sudden thawing, his mother decides upon immediate liver transplant surgery for him, a procedure not available at the time of his demise. Although this surgery is successful, and Miles resumes his former station as CEO of the family corporation, an issue arises as to how one might know of the possible lack of his spirit, or soul, whereas the other two elements of life, body and mind, have plainly been restored. The destructive behaviour of Miles is such that his mother and her clerical friend Reverend Penny (Paul Sorvino) begin to doubt that they should thank a higher power for delivering Marian's son to her, and a metaphysical inquiry becomes dominant in the film. Beatrice Straight gives, as ever, an excellent performance in her role, Paul Sorvino is tastefully nuanced as the troubled prelate, and Michael Beck obviously savours his part as the fulsome Miles, but Craven cannot seem to distance himself from his cinematic terror bromides, most of which become red herrings for a scenario which largely focusses upon ontology.