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Ice Blue

Chilled to the core. There’s NO other way that this chiller leaves its audiences.

White knuckled and extremely consequential, Ice Blue – directed by first time filmmaker Sandi Somers – has already bowled over audiences in the film festival circuit. Now, thanks to October Coast, it has a chance to reach a wider audience with its VOD debut this week.

"The dread here is palpable and it doesn’t feel very comfortable . . . which makes this film a standout thriller"


 

Perhaps it is the expressive opening shot, but there is something very unsettling about Ice Blue. The look on the lead’s face as she turns to face the camera is extremely haunting as is the film’s lasting effect. Ice Blue is poetic and as tonal in its sounds, for sure, but there is a twisted spirit at its core that feeds off of quiet moments like when the pump organ is being used while Arielle (a very strong Sophia Lauchlin Hirt) gets a few moments away from her chores.

Written by Jason Long and starring CW’s Batwoman Michelle Morgan (Diary of the Dead), Sophia Lauchlin Hirt (Bad Times at the El Royale), Charlie Kerr (Cadence), and Billy MacLellan (Star Trek : Discovery), the atmosphere gets cranked up while the temperatures get turned down as one long gone mother mysteriously returns to a home that is knee-deep in its own isolation.

But she only visits Arielle and she asks that the girl not tell her father about her arrival. Weird. Something is amiss here and Arielle isn’t one to leave well enough alone. {googleads}

This remote Canadian farmhouse is nothing but chore after chore for the poor girl. Raising beavers is hard, hard work. Sure, it is all for her father’s business, but it’s a physically demanding life that she’s stuck inside and John (MacLellan) is now seeing a new woman, so the help is limited when it does arrive.

And then one day Christian comes to town. He’s a bad boy, but he sets his eyes on her. Suddenly, complications arise – especially since John’s new woman is Charlie’s aunt (Dawn Van de Schoot) – and Arielle, herself, keeps having these dreams about water. Something is coming. Combine that with the surprising return of her long-estranged matriarch and the family farm will never again be the same and Arielle can’t help but fan flames of jealousy as her idyllic relationship with her father is forever impacted.Ice Blue

It’s time to take a pick axe through the past and that’s exactly what Arielle sets out to do. With mysteries mounting, Ice Blue doesn’t rest; there’s a lot happening and perhaps it is too much, but the film keeps its twists and turns dangling in front of its audience. Some will grow frustrated with this as the tension never lets up, others will enjoy the game as John’s secrets spill out onto the cold, cold ground. There is more at work here than it seems and that is important when considering just what this chiller is doing when it comes to solving the biggest mystery of all: who to trust and who to believe.

Cinematographer Nick Thomas is to be commended for shooting this chiller (filmed in Alberta) in the manner that he has. Every frame moves with purpose in helping its ghosts find their way across a very scattered puzzle. The dread here is palpable and it doesn’t feel very comfortable . . . which makes this film a standout thriller.

Ice Blue is now available On Demand from Indiecan Entertainment.

4/5 stars

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Ice Blue

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor:
Available on Blu-ray

Screen Formats:
Subtitles
:
Audio:

Discs:
Region Encoding:

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[tab title="Film Details"]

Ice Blue

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
104 mins
Director
: Sandi Somers
Writer:
Jason Long
Cast:
Michelle Morgan, Billy MacLellan, Sophia Lauchlin Hirt
Genre
: Horror
Tagline:
The truth can be deadly.
Memorable Movie Quote: "So, what's this Christian boy like?"
Distributor:
Indiecan Entertainment
Official Site:
Release Date:
November 5, 2019
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:

Synopsis: When home-schooled Arielle's long-estranged mother mysteriously returns to their isolated family farm, it drives a wedge into her seemingly-perfect relationship with her father and reveals a chilling, dark past.

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Ice Blue

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