The frozen ground: Chillingly engaging

The frozen ground
Staring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens
Rated: 7/10
It was the 70s through the 80s that a bumbling DEA office failed to round up one of the deadliest serial killers in American history — Robert Christian Hansen — a hunter who killed numerous of women by shooting them as animals after torturing and raping them and then flying them into the frozen Alaskan wilds to chase them down and kill them.
Though, in the end, he was convicted for 421 years without parole, his reign of terror has been captured awesomely by first time director Scott Walker. There is nothing in the tightly edited movie to enhance the drama and yet there is this chilling feeling freezing you up all through. Besides Cage who plays to perfection the relentless sleuth on the killer’s trail, the film has a gripping story shown through the eyes of Hansen’s only victim who managed to survive and finally gave evidence to put him behind bars. Apart from the fact that enough research has been done to make every move a statement in itself, there is also the impeccability lent to the show by Cusack’s under-toned histrionics. The dark, frozen ambience adds to the fear factor. A must watch. 
Source: Sunday Pioneer, September 1, 2013

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