Frozen Alive (1966)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fantastic!

Best movie ever!

Absolutely Fantastic

Made and set in Berlin under a veteran British director with a largely German cast and crew (the stern presence of Walter Rilla is always a sure sign during this period that we're watching an Anglo-German co-production) and a characteristically noisy Germanic jazz score; the title 'Frozen Alive' suggests an early film on the then hot (if you'll pardon the expression) subject of cryogenics: a word never actually used in the film itself. Unfortunately it proves disconcertingly similar to the previous year's 'The Mind Benders' (1963), which showed far less interest in the potentially fascinating subject of sensory deprivation than - as with this film - the marital problems of the scientist at the centre of the narrative.Delphi Lawrence is, however, a blast as Dr.Overton's glossy blonde wife - supposedly a famous fashion journalist, and with distinctly Germanic dress sense -  first seen pouring herself the first of many, many drinks with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth as she also pours out her heart to her long-suffering German lover (Joachim Hansen). The film's production values, photography and pacing feel more like a TV production of the period; and even at just 75 minutes it feels wearisomely drawn out (such as a bizarrely irrelevant sequence in a bar with Joan Overton and her lover watching a fire-eater, of all things). Occasionally the film cuts back and forth between Overton in his lab and his wife's drunken maunderings as if something sufficiently dramatic is happening that actually calls for such emphatic editing; and even Ms. Lawrence begins to outstay her welcome when she starts waving her lover's gun about as if it's a toy - although it results in a wonderful death scene; both ludicrous and then moving as it finally sinks in on the poor woman just how completely she's screwed up...After meandering for so long, the film then suddenly rushes headlong towards an extremely abrupt conclusion - as if director Bernard Knowles has finally realised that if it's going to be sold as science fiction, 'Frozen Alive' needs some laboratory footage to include in the trailer and on the posters. Wolfgang Lukschy (reunited with his recent 'Fistful of Dollars' co-star Marianne Koch), as Inspector Prenton goes out of his way to be as boorish and unprofessional as only the detective in a German crime film can be (while his sidekick provides one of the film's occasional flashes of mellow humour by actually showing an interest in what the scientists are getting up to and ruefully pleading with his boss "Can't I watch, sir?" when instructed to watch the door while Overton is defrosted).Apart from Ms. Lawrence, the other Brit in the film is the veteran actor John Longden as the avuncular Professor Hubbard, making his final film appearance 35 years after starring in Hitchcock's 'Blackmail' (1929).

Well it's a great title for a B-movie, but this simply has to be one of the dreariest and dullest films of all time – a film that even comes close to rivalling the obscure Filipino flick THE THIRSTY DEAD in terms of sheer awfulness. Although the title makes it sound like an engaging little thriller and the advertising sells it as a science fiction movie, in reality this is a boring little crime thriller from West Germany. Now, I'm all for German films from this period – the '60s krimi adaptations of Edgar Wallace stories were atmospheric and excellent – but this flick totally misses the ball, coming across more as a stilted soap opera rather than anything else.British director Bernard Knowles was a celebrated cinematographer in his day, shooting movies for Hitchcock, before turning his hand to direction with many television series during the 1950s. Unfortunately those TV episodes seem to have rubbed off in terms of this talky, plot-free mess. After an inordinate amount of time, a leading scientist decides to test his new suspended animation gear on himself, only for his wife to accidentally shoot herself at the same time. The police, naturally, suspect the scientist of murder...The problem is that this storyline doesn't actually happen until the hour mark – and before then we get talk, more talk, and some dialogue thrown in too. The script is unappealing, the characters unendearing and the actors frankly awful – there's more ham here than on your local chiller shelf at Tesco's. Delphi Lawrence as the drunken wife is the worst culprit, while other cast members veer between wooden and hammy. There's absolutely nothing in the way of action in the entire movie and the ending, while rushed, manages to feel dragged out in itself. This really is a non-starter of a film, with the short running time – 75 minutes – easily feeling like three times that amount. It took me three goes to finish watching FROZEN ALIVE and I consider myself somebody with a good attention span, so my advice is to give this one a miss...

Amiable Mark Stevens and scientific partner, the enigmatic Marianne Koch combine to tackle malignant diseases through cryogenics, but their experiments on apes are just a prelude to their ultimate test on a live human being which Stevens himself undertakes shortly following a murder in which he's implicated in absentia. Koch attempts to resuscitate Stevens to answer the allegations under the watchful eye of a Detective (Lukschy) and an independent observer (Lohde), concerned she may sabotage the experiment to protect Stevens from punishment. Capable German-US-British cast deliver realistic dialogue and create a genuine tension that is based less upon the primary plot (cryogenics) and more on Delphi Lawrence's character as Steven's almost perpetually inebriated wife, jealous of his working relationship with Koch, seeking solace in the scotch bottle and that of her old flame and work mate Joachim Hansen. Lawrence's performance dares to be bold and obnoxious, and while sometimes intense, doesn't become melodramatic. I thought her performance injected a maturity that was a welcome diversion to what could have become a simple science experiment gone awry picture.While the momentum is not always fluent, the pace sometimes stilted, and the suspense often telegraphed too early, the acting compensates to some degree, Stevens and Koch enjoying a on-screen rapport that serves the narrative well. My only significant criticism is the overly-simplistic conclusion - the elements are present for a firecracker ending, but it's resolved too quickly and conveniently to do the rest of the movie justice. Should have been better, but in my opinion still superior to the average 3 rating it currently attracts.

There's a Monty Python sketch called "The Adventures of Ralph Mellish", in which the mind-numbingly ordinary routine of a file clerk's morning commute is paired with feverishly dramatic narration and an ominous score. But the joke is that despite all the build-ups, nothing exciting happens to Mr. Mellish: By the side of the road, there's no dismembered trunk of a man in his late 50s ... no head in a bag ... nothing ... ("not a sausage", as our wacky friends across the water put it).It was a hilarious premise for a short comedy skit, but for this excruciatingly dreary 75-minute-long West German import (one hesitates to call it a "drama") it blows economy-size chunks.Dr. Frank Overton and colleague Dr. Helen Wieland have just been awarded a prize for their successful experiments in suspended animation via cryogenic freezing, using chimps as subjects. They believe the process is ready to be tested on humans, but the higher-ups are reluctant.Dr. Overton's wife Joan feels neglected because her husband's been working those long hours at the lab. The fact that he's spending them with hottie Dr. Helen (and that she can see Helen has a major crush on oblivious Dr. Frank) doesn't help, either.So Joan has taken to drowning her sorrows in drink, while stepping out with her old flame, journalist Tony Stein. "Aha!" you say: "Jealous lover murders her in a fit of passion, then tries to pin it on the scientist." No such luck. Joan finds an old Colt .45 pistol while drunkenly rummaging through a desk in Tony's flat. Tony tells her to leave it alone: it's an unregistered firearm. He could get in big trouble as well as embarrass his uncle (who's some kind of high muckity-muck in the department) if the police found out about it. When Tony -- who's just been given a tight deadline for an article -- finally gets fed up with her and kicks her out so he can get to work, Joan sneaks the pistol out in her handbag.She then staggers over to the lab for a shrieking showdown with Helen (although she doesn't quite work herself up to pulling the gun on her rival). Frank manages to calm Joan down, and takes her home. When Helen -- in what's either a stunningly clueless or a nastily passive-aggressive move -- calls up Frank to reassure him that Joan's embarrassing scene is all forgotten now, Joan finds out who's on the phone and flies into another jealous, hysterical rage. She threatens to kill herself with Tony's pistol.Over the phone, Helen hears Frank order his wife to give him the gun, then she hears a shot, and a scream. After a moment, Frank returns to the phone, tells Helen everything's OK now, and hangs up.So did Joan really kill herself, or did Frank shoot her by accident (or accidentally on purpose) while trying to take the gun away? Will we wait til Act Three to find out what actually happened? Not in this film, buster! We quickly learn that Joan's OK: Frank took the gun away from her, while she was still in shock over having just missed accidentally shooting herself. (She thought it wasn't loaded.) Frank removes the ammo clip, sees it's empty, replaces it and tells Joan the gun's "safe" now. Oddly, Dr. Frank is familiar enough with semi-automatic pistols to know how to eject the clip, but he neglects to check if there's a bullet left in the chamber (there is) or even ensure that the safety's on (it isn't). After a tearful reconciliation with Joan, Frank decides to return to the lab and take the experiment to its final stage, by freezing himself for the weekend. He promises Joan that after he's revived, they'll go off on a second honeymoon.Meanwhile, Tony's missed his pistol and comes looking for it, shortly after Frank leaves. Joan tells him their affair is over; she's going away with Frank. Then she finally manages to fatally shoot herself, once again by accident. (Ok, I'll admit that's tragic irony, in a sort of Darwin Award-ish way. Or maybe this was intended as slapstick humor, from the country which gave the world Dachau and Buchenwald.)Tony panics and bugs out without notifying the police. Meanwhile, back at the lab, unsuspecting Frank has himself quick-frozen. (FOR SCIENCE!!!)The next day, after the maid discovers Joan's body, the police show up at the lab with some very pressing questions. Especially after Helen reluctantly informs them of that incriminating little phone conversation with Frank.So, is our hero going to escape once he's defrosted, and prove his innocence while eluding the police, a la "The Fugitive"? Look, this film is only 75 minutes long, and the majority of these have already been chewed up by this irrepressibly drab and awful plot. While Frank's being revived, Tony's guilty conscience prompts him to call up the police and tell them the truth. So Frank's suspected of murder for considerably less than ten minutes of screen time, and cleared of it even before he's been thawed out.Hitchcock could have learned a thing or two from this director.There's a tiny morsel of something suspense-like embedded in the final moments of this dog, as Frank apparently got freezer burn (or something) and it takes a bit of a struggle to revive him. Unfortunately, by this point the viewer's interest is definitely DOA.There. In just a few minutes (unless you're a very slow reader) I've saved you from a fate far worse: squandering an irreplaceable hour and fifteen minutes of your life on this anti-thriller.