Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Wind Chill Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 25, 2023

Gregory Jacobs' "Wind Chill" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The supplemental features on the release include archival audio commentary with Gregory Jacobs and screenwriters Steven Katz and Joseph Gangemi; archival featurette; and original trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. Have you heard this expression before? There are a couple of different variations of it, so you probably have. Most people claim that it was John Lennon that thought of it, but they are wrong. The always very informative site QuoteInvestigator.com provides plenty of factual evidence that the expression was in circulation at least two decades before Lennon supposedly introduced it. However, ultimately its origin is unimportant. What is important is that it has been tested many times over the years and is true.

But what about death? If life and death are inexorably linked, meaning that the latter cannot occur without the former, then why is this famous expression excluding death? Because life is an ongoing experience, while death is not? This is a somewhat valid point, but the duration of the former does not dismiss the existence of the latter. Both are part of the same cycle, which according to the expression is in progress while you are making other plans. Naturally, the cycle could also end while you are busy making other plans, couldn’t it?

Gregory Jacobs’ film Wind Chill makes this exact point, but with an interesting twist, which is an expansion of the logic that is highlighted above. I will elaborate on it at the bottom of this article.

Christmas Time. A college somewhere in frozen Pennsylvania. Girl (Emily Blunt), who wants to go back home to Delaware but does not have a ride, decides to use Guy (Ashton Holmes), who has a car and is heading in the same direction but needs someone to share the travel expenses. Girl contacts Guy and they arrange to meet. When classes end, Girl heads to the spot where Guy is supposed to wait for her, the two have a few quick exchanges and then hit the road.

Soon after, Girl learns from Guy that he is not a random person who also happens to be going home to Delaware. In fact, Guy is not even from Delaware. He is heading to Delaware because he likes Girl and desperately wanted to be with her. Guy then learns from Girl that she walked out on another admirer who could have taken her to a warm and sunny location thousands of miles away from Delaware. After they stop at a gas station, despite being visibly annoyed by Guy and his romantic setup, Girl allows him to carry her on his back because she has done her nails and cannot yet put her shoes on.

Determined to recover from the shaky start of the planned romantic trip and impress Girl, Guy gets off the highway and takes a scenic shortcut, covered with thick snow that makes it impossible to maintain proper speed. Not too long after that, while doing his best not to waste precious time and safely pass an incoming truck, Guy loses control of the car. Guy and Girl survive the ensuing crash, but the car gets stuck in a massive pile of snow with a broken tank leaking gasoline.

In the hours that follow, Girl and Guy begin improvising to stay alive in the brutally cold weather. For a while, they are successful, but in the wee hours of the night, after the car has died and become colder than a restaurant freezer, their nightmare begins evolving in a most unusual way.

Even though Wind Chill visits a territory that has been explored by countless horror thrillers, it is that kind of conventional genre film. Indeed, all of the darker and spooky material in Wind Chill is actually a façade for a very good character study that ultimately validates the expression at the top of this article. However, the validation comes with an intriguing speculation that questions the classic definition of death. I will not reveal exactly how the speculation is introduced, but its purpose is to make you ponder the possibility that death could be an ongoing experience, too. If it is, then dying becomes as unpredictable of a process as living and therefore susceptible to various anomalies.

Jacobs demands a lot from Blunt and Holmes because they spend more than two-thirds of Wind Chill inside or around the damaged car discussing how they have misjudged each other and reevaluating their mortality. But both are terrific.

Dan Laustsen, who lensed the French megablockbuster Brotherhood of the Wolf, easily proves that sometimes less is in fact more and infuses Wind Chill with spectacular atmosphere.

Wind Chill Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wind Chill arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

Wind Chill looked very good on my system. It is true that very large sections of the film are quite dark, so imperfections become extremely difficult to spot, even if you look for them, but this is not why I liked what I saw. The overall quality of the visuals is very good. Some could look a little fresher, slightly more vibrant as well, but I do not think that these adjustments would make a significant difference in 1080p. A few encoding optimizations can be introduced to strengthen darker areas where some extremely light blocking attempts to sneak in, but the same areas are dark enough to hide these imperfections. Image stability is excellent. I did not notice any surface anomalies either. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Wind Chill Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

I viewed the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I thought that it was excellent. During the crash scenes -- there are a few -- dynamic intensity and surround effects were great. The strong winds, sudden and random noises were very effective, too. All exchanges were clear, sharp, and very easy to follow. I did not notice any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Wind Chill Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Frozen Set - this archival featurette takes a closer look at the conception and production of Wind Chill. Included in it are clips from interviews with director Gregory Jacobs, screenwriters Steven Katz and Joseph Gangemi, producer Pete Czernin, Emily Blunt, and Martin Donovan, among others. In English, not subtitled. (18 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by director Gregory Jacobs, and screenwriters Steven Katz and Joseph Gangemi. The commentary covers a lot of ground, from the original idea for Wind Chill to the casting and production processes, the thematic and stylistic overlappings that occur throughout the film, the depth of the confessions that emerge along the way, some unique lenshing choices that were made, etc.

• Trailer - presented here is an original U.S. trailer for Wind Chill. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Wind Chill Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wind Chill offers a convincing validation of a very popular expression, but adds a twist that expands it in an unexpected yet entirely logical way. It does work as a horror thriller too, so it is quite the versatile little film. I had a terrific time with it. Imprint Films' release is sourced from a good master and has a couple of interesting archival bonus features. It is Region-Free. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.