The scariest film I have reviewed this Christmas called Jack Frost, and the other one was actually a horror film. Jack Frost (1998) sees Michael Keaton playing am musician dad who due to work commitments is not there for his son. On Christmas eve he plans to make it up to him, and travelling to meet his family he skids of the road and dies (yes, really). A year passes until the next Christmas, and then he returns as a snowman (yes, really) to finally make amends with his son. No, I’m not lying (yes, really).
Honestly, and it is going to sound weird after that intro, but one of this films biggest problems is just how generic it is. Now, the whole turning into a snowman thing, sure you can have that as being unique, but the main narrative is that of a deadbeat dad not being there and having to make amends. It’s a tale as old as time and one we have seen countless times before. Yes, they change it up with the whole snowman thing, and with the fact that Michael Keaton’s character fucking dies, but that isn’t at all a positive. Why is it not a positive? Well because it is terrifying. The way the snowman looks is just nightmare fuel, and when people first see him, they scream which is absolutely the correct response. Whatever charm and heart the film is trying to have goes out the window because you can’t look at that thing without being creeped out. One thing I will give the film is that Michael Keaton gives it his all for thew most part. Why he does this I don’t know, but he is always fun to watch. Unfortunately, they kill him off and turn him into a FUCKING snowman. I’m sorry but that is just mental. In a way I would like to recommend it purely for the weird factor of it, but once you get over that (if you can) the film just becomes generic and dull, so there is very little here to recommend. The cheapo horror film is genuinely the better of the two.
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