Reviews & Ratings for
The Chilling More at IMDbPro »

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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Perfect trash, 20 May 2002

Author: Kastore from Chicago, IL

When I decided to try watching a movie about cryogenic zombies ("cryonoids"), I wasn't expecting a whole lot. That's exactly what I got, and then even less. Aside from a shortage of special effects (squibs?) and a severe lack of any acting talent, "The Chilling" also sports the absolute worst script I've ever seen made into a movie. I had to stop the tape numerous times during the first 45 minutes in order to repair the damage done to my intellect for witnessing such atrocious dialogue as there is found here.

Furthermore, the collection of characters is so formulaic and one-dimensional it's ridiculous: the corrupt doctor; his assistant, played by Linda Blair (we know she's his "assistant" because he repeatedly refers to her by that title); the recently-widowed businessman with a heart of gold who develops a romantic interest with Blair's character; his criminal son; the Blair character's alcoholic, abusive, unemployed boyfriend, whom we are introduced to in the most contrived use of a flashback; and, of course, the rough, tough, bearded security guard who becomes the hero.

Apparently, the preserving fluid which some cryogenics lab uses on its bodies is highly conductive, naturally resulting in disaster when all of the lab's containers end up outdoors in a remarkable sequence of events during a lightning storm (on Halloween night, no less). As for the zombies themselves, if you enjoy watching people in green latex masks walking around in aluminum foil suits, then "The Chilling" is the movie for you. The zombie action is very weak at its best; the zombies' primary killing method seems to be grabbing people by the shoulders and shaking them to death. The businessman and the security guard do most of the zombie fighting, including a highly suspenseful scene of re-freezing the undead with liquid nitrogen. Let me tell you, the steel mill scene in "T2" has got nothing on "The Chilling" in portraying an enemy getting frozen in his tracks like that.

How Linda Blair ended up stuck in the middle of this piece of dreck is indeed a mystery. True, her career didn't exactly skyrocket during the 80s (sadly), but this movie is an embarrassment for her. The script doesn't even have the decency to put her to any good use. The most that her character is given to do is shriek out things like "Here they come", "Do something", "Hurry!". The only thing I can figure is that poor Linda was compensated for her work on this film in rations of food. The hero is played by Grizzly Adams himself, Dan Haggerty. In this picture, he faces stiff acting competition from his beard and the security dog, and he does his best to outperform them both.

The only frightening part of "The Chilling" is the introduction which brings up the factual elements of cryogenics and suggests that "the film you are about to see could happen in your own community". As I was counting the number of times a few of the names are repeated in the closing credits, I was floored to suddenly see Lucasfilm get credited. Fortunately, it was only for the movie's sound production. 1/10.

9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
As least the box art looks cool..., 12 March 2003

Author: ecto216 from Long Island, NY

The combination of Dan Haggerty (Elves) and Linda Blair (Exorcist) is enough to make any horror fan excited about this movie. And once you see the cover art to this film of a frozen zombie coming out of their cryogenic chamber, you'll think you were in B-Movie Horror Heaven. At least that's the way I approached this film. But boy, was I in for a shock

I love horror movies. I love B-Movies as well. Nothing makes my day more than a cheesy little film about zombies, monsters, murderers, that sort of thing. But to say that this movie was lacking, is an understatement. This movie was pure trash. You'd think the zombies would look somewhat like what the cover-art of the box displays, but instead, you get actors with masks that are clearly sold at any Halloween display counter. Furthermore, the script is beyond pitiful. Our main character, Joseph, suffers the loss of his wife and son and seeks solace in the warm-hearted Mary, played by Blair. Not once do you see any sign of sadness or discomfort on the part of Joseph's character. Instead, we see the head of the cryogenic labs, a man named Dr. Miller, eager to get the dead bodies and experiment with their organs. There is no emotion or anything to make you believe you should give a damn about anyone in this film.

All and all, very disappointing. All the elements to make a great horror film were there. You had your zombies, your decent actors, and your story. But the lack of good writing and little if any sense of direction screwed this one up royally. Overall, 4 out of 10

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
So cheesy...so what...it's good., 1 January 2009

Author: Dain (ilostmyapples@yahoo.com) from United States

OK, we have all read our bad reviews about this movie. Lets get over it and move on. I'm a fan of cheese low budget gore to the extreme so this movie ( for a fan such as myself ) makes a lot of my collection feel like an ACTUAL movie. I love it. As I've said many times before, there is a special feel that I like to these low budget films, especially of the 80's films. The atmosphere in this movie was pretty creepy which was nice. The zombies wrapped in foil, okay..it's funny, but they did a pretty good job on capturing the overall feel of what a zombie film is suppose to have. It's not your average zombie film but enough to keep most zombie fans entertained. Pick it up and check it out. The least it could be is another one to add to your collection.

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Great example of summer movie..., 28 July 2005

Author: kohl_caked from Spring, TX

So, it was corny... extremely corny. I loved this movie, though. It has been given horrible reviews by pretty much everyone who has seen it. This, however, has been one of my favorite corny horror movies for many years. It is worth many laughs.

The zombies in it are the most creative I have seen in any horror movie, and I have seen a lot of them. The whole idea and plot are trite, but I think that it embodies the B movie... right down to Linda Blair playing a main character.

In short, and I know this was already short... watch this movie or I'll make you watch it.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Night of the Frozen Living Dead, 21 July 2008

Author: udar55 from Williamsburg, VA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I'm all about the walking dead, but my mind is still unsure of the walking, frozen dead. Sadly, THE CHILLING didn't help me make up my mind. This is really slow with nothing happening for the first 45 minutes, making me hit the "film enhancement" button several times. By the time the well designed zombies show up, it is too late and the director (two are rumored to have filmed this) has no idea how to shoot them. Haggerty, Blair and Donahue all look tired/embarrassed/recovering in some fashion. I will give the film credit as it predates the T2 ending with villains being frozen by liquid nitrogen. The Shriek Show DVD offers an extended promo reel from back in the day that runs 8 minutes long and I would actually recommend that over watching the flick in its entirety.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Cool movie...I was in it., 24 May 2009

Author: Ridge Lipovac from United States

Well well, I didn't even know this movie was listed on IMDb.

Yes it is a cheesy b movie and yes I was in it, and so were a bunch of my friends from our acting class... so that is why it gets a 10. It was tons of fun to do and other friends of mine get a kick out of seeing me in it.

It is a shame they spelled my last name wrong on IMDb... I will have to go back and check the credits.

Just look for the Loomis Guard...Kipovac that's me (I shoot the bad guy that is holding the shot gun)

So grab a beer, (or several! You'll need them) and enjoy the movie (the beer makes it better).

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Tepid, 25 March 2013

Author: Uriah43 from Amarillo, Texas

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Located in Kansas City, "Universal Cryogenics Laboratory" is owned and operated by a person named "Dr. Miller" (Troy Donahue) who is using the promise of cryogenic research to further his own selfish interests by harvesting organs instead. After he has obtained what he wants he has the bodies placed in a cryogenic pod without anybody knowing anything. Unfortunately for him, when a lightning storm knocks out the power and then further electrifies the cryogenic pods, zombies (of a sort) emerge. Now, some would argue that technically these creatures are not "zombies" in the traditional sense of the word. The reasons being that they aren't caused by a virus or created by voodoo. Instead, they are the result of an unusual set of circumstances and as such should be referred to as "animated corpses" similar, in that regard, to "Frankenstein". Regardless of what a person wants to call them they seek out humans and kill them. Now, as far as the picture goes, I enjoyed the performance of Linda Blair (as "Mary Hampton") and Dan Haggerty (as "Sgt. Vince Marlow"). But the plot of the film itself seemed too basic and superficial for either of them to really distinguish themselves. Everything—the action, the suspense and the horror—seemed tepid. And as a result I can only recommend it to "zombie" and/or "animated corpse" enthusiasts. Whichever the case may be.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Would God approve of this...or is it Satan's movie?, 28 July 2012

Author: Scott LeBrun (Hey_Sweden) from Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This viewer is sure most people would tend towards the latter judgement. After a priceless opening text that educates us a little on cryogenics (yet is ultimately tongue in cheek), we get into the story of the living dead inundating a cryogenics lab. A bad storm creates a power outage at the lab, and the head security guard (Dan 'Grizzly Adams' Haggerty) thinks he's doing the right thing by transporting the tubes containing the dearly departed into the open where it's cooler. However, lightning strikes the tubes, and reanimates the bodies. Add to this a subplot about the nefarious head of the facility (Troy Donahue) selling human organs on the black market, and one has the recipe for a clunky and dumb B picture. Now, this viewer loves B genre pictures, good and bad, but this requires more patience than usual to get through, as it just doesn't deliver much, and doesn't offer us much that we haven't seen before. That said, I think it can only be a *good* thing to see the shambling corpse of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Hey, any distinction is worth mentioning. Directors Jack A. Sunseri (also the producer) and Deland Nuse (also the cinematographer) do what little they can with their material, and create some fun little moments here and there on the valuable "so bad it's good" level. However, they're also stuck with some unbelievably amateurish and unconvincing acting in pretty much all of the supporting roles. Jack De Rieux as nice guy businessman Joseph Davenport Sr. is a particularly big offender. Ever perky, ever lovely Linda Blair (as the evil doc's assistant (Don't worry, she wasn't in on it!)), Donahue, and Haggerty gamely put on poker faces throughout, and it is nice to see Haggerty become something of a hero after his earlier mistake. Makeup effects are substandard, but who really would expect anything different from a regional production obviously done on a low, low budget? Unfortunately, all of this just isn't as much fun as it could and should be. If one is a fan of Blair, she definitely did some better things during this period. At least at the end we get updates on all of the major players, and it does close out the picture with some real humour. Four out of 10.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
I want to know how to kill it! That's all I want to know!, 26 February 2012

Author: sol from Brooklyn NY USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

***SPOILERS*** Former blond 1960's teenage heartthrob Troy Donahue looking at least 15 years older then he really is, at 52, plays the crazed and greedy Dr.Miller who runs a cryogenic center outsider of Kansas City city limits. Conning his clients that he's keeping their loved ones in cold storage until a cure is found for what put them there Dr.Miller is really involved in the black market human organ trade selling off the frozen stiffs body parts for tens of thousands of dollars to the highest bidders.

It's when on Halloween night a lightning storm hit the center and struck the steel containers containing the bodies of the frozen, with liquid nitrogen, cryogenic clients that they suddenly became "Zombiifies" and came back to life. It's Mr.Miller's assailant Mary Hampton, Linda Blair, who was suspicious of what her boss was really doing with the stiffs he was handling when she noticed that one of them bullet riddled bank robber Joe Davenport Jr, Ron Vincent, wasn't in the container meant for him. Joe Jr together with his mom Mrs. Ilene Davenport, played by Suzanna Camp in a non speaking non breathing and non living role, were put on ice by Joe Davenport Sr, Jack Derieux, in order to have them brought back to life in he very near future. As things turned out they came back to life a lot sooner the he as well as Dr. Miller expected them to! But not as living and breathing human beings but walking and cannibalistic dead zombies dressed in what looked like aluminum astronauts or space suits!

With the cryogenics zombies running amok it's the center's it's the handsome, with a full head of hair and beard that Bruce Willis would envy, security guard Sgt. Vince Marlow, Dan Haggerty, who takes it upon himself to stop them. While all this is going on Dr. Miller with his secret illegal human organ operation about to be exposed tries to get all the evidence, names addresses phone numbers and money transactions, of his crimes out out the center and burn them is himself attacked by the zombies and placed into a steel cryogenic container and frozen stiff for future study. It's later revealed that Dr. Miller's body was later donated to science in the study of Mad Cow Disease which he was suspected of having!

***SPOILERS*** As it turned out in what brought the zombies back to life a jolt of electricity it's the opposite that put them back in their place, dead & buried, liquid nitrogen! With Vince Mary & Joe Davenport icing them into suspended animation with the some two dozen fire extinguishers available to them at the center. Mary Hampton later realized what a fool she was by working for the by then late and frozen Dr. Miller and being involved unknowingly in his crimes against humanity as well as,in trying to bring the dead back to life, nature. And she ends up making amends for what she did by marrying Vince Marlow who turned out to be the hero of this turkey of a movie! Happy Thanksgiving!

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
The Little Horror Film That Could, 28 January 2012
Author: shaneschoeppner1 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The Chilling is, as far as I know, the Alpha and Omega of cryogenic zombie films. It's a somewhat original idea, and it's a testament to the filmmakers that they did as well as they did with the material, considering that this was an ultra low-budget affair, with it's share of turbulence during production. Linda Blair stars as Mary Hampton, the assistant to successful Dr. Miller (Tab Hunter), who owns and operates a cryogenic facility. Here, wealthy families pay big bucks to have their deceased loved ones frozen for future resuscitation. Compassionate Mary feels that it is a good place to work, with a solid, respectable mission; that is, until she suspects Miller of deceiving his clients and selling body parts for profit. On Halloween night, security guard Vince (Dan Haggerty) is on duty when lightning from a terrible storm fries the clinic's power generator. When he can't reach Dr. Miller for advice, he moves the containers that house the patients outside into the cold. Before you know it, lightning strikes the metal containers and the cryogenically suspended patients are turned into burned, blood-thirsty zombies. A wealthy client, Joseph, whose son and wife are two of the clinic's patients, begins an affair with Mary. Together with Vince, as well as Mary's violent ex-boyfriend, the group must face the horror of The Chilling. Linda Blair continues her slew of 80s horror cinema here, fighting zombies for the first time in her career, and also quitting a film for the first and only time in her career. It seems apparent that the dispute was over money. A photo double was brought in and appears in the last fifteen minutes of the film, until a clip shot prior to Blair's departure is inserted at the last minute to keep her in the movie until the end. Oddly enough it works, and gives the film a touch of Ed Wood-ness, quite like the work he did with deceased Bela Lugosi in Plan 9. Overall an entertaining horror movie, bolstered by the star power of Blair and the acting chops of Haggerty and Donohue. The Shriek Show/Code Red DVD looks surprisingly good for such an obscure film, and it's loaded with extras, including Behind the Scenes of The Chilling, outtakes, and two trailers.

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