A horror film set at a ski resort, Frozen makes smart use of a realistic premise — at least until the wolves come out.

Frozen

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Three snowboarders become trapped on a chairlift at an empty ski resort. They soon realize that the power is not coming back on, that the mountain will be deserted for the next five days, and that no rescue team is coming. An icy blizzard hits, and the trio must choose between awaiting an unlikely rescue (and possibly freezing to death in the process) or getting out of the chair, which turns out to be a much more dangerous option than they suspected.

With its minimal cast, single location and frightening premise, Frozen is an admirably stripped-down and direct suspense chiller. The nightmarish predicament the characters find themselves in is entirely relatable because it's exactly the kind of thing many skiiers worry about the first time they sit in a chairlift.

There are three potential hurdles that a film like Frozen must overcome in order to be a tight, effective thriller. The first is that the dangerous situation must come about in a plausible way. No problem there; a series of unfortunate but realistic coincidences put the characters in jeopardy. We believe that it's possible.

Next, the characters need to be interesting enough for an audience to care about their plight. Again, Frozen scores points, giving us good performances from Emma Bell, Kevin Zegers and Shawn Ashmore as the three trapped friends. They shift between sassy nonchalance, growing fear, self-pity, misdirected anger, bravery, compassion and regret in an admirably human way.

A film like this also needs to maintain its sense of realism in a consistent way. Sadly, this is where Frozen loses its grip, as the film is peppered with moments that simply ring false. Even if you buy the premise that a busy ski resort is infested with vicious man-eating wolves, you'll probably raise an eyebrow or two at some of the more questionable decisions made by the doomed skiers. Still, it's a fine attempt, and Frozen comes very close to getting it right.