Horror Movie Review: Jack Frost (2022)

Jack Frost (not that one) aka Curse of Jack Frost has an air of familiarity to it. Coming from Jagged Edge Productions and featuring a story from Craig McLearie and starring genre-regulars Sarah T. Cohen and Nicola Wright. Although Liana Failla does make her directorial debut here.

We’ve seen and reviewed a lot of movies that come under the Jagged Edge Productions. A mixed bag of movies that rotate and utilise a select number of writers, directors, and actors. Meaning, the more of them you see, the more they begin to meld together. Similar styles, familiar setups and story beats, reoccurring characters, and more.

It’s both comforting and off-putting because the quality in movies does vary.

Jack Frost sits somewhere in the middle. A dark supernatural story with little in the way of holiday cheer, a strong backstory to the villain and good performances from the cast. However, the movie runs out of steam early on and ends up transforming into a disappointing rethread of slasher movies we’ve seen time and time again. Even if the Christmas theme makes it more enjoyable.

A long time ago, the evil Jack Frost and Santa Claus went to war. The former would end up losing, having his body dismembered and hidden across the globe. However, Jack’s disciples were many and they have been looking to resurrect him ever since. Eventually gathering all his body parts expect his hand, which allows a young woman named Lesley to do battle with him and win.

Jack Frost was defeated but it’s only a matter of time before he tries to come again.

It’s actually a really good introduction. Setting up Jack Frost as the ultimate villain and giving him a weighty backstory and strong motivation.

We then jump to 50 years later and Lesley (Sylvia Clegg) refuses to celebrate Christmas, fearing the return of Jack Frost. Her family have just kind of played along, up until now. A family friend is visiting, and she’s never had the experience of a family Christmas, so they have decided to make it special for her. Much to the annoyance of Lesley.

Of course, this will turn out to be a mistake as Jack regains his power and sets out to get his revenge. If he can just get his final body part back, he will be whole again and the entire world will be covered in a permanent Winter darkness.

A very game cast, a strong villain that has the banter and quips to rival Freddy Kruger, impressive imagery, and imaginative kills. All of this is what keeps Jack Frost ticking along nicely. Even when the story begins to splutter and cough as it runs out of steam.

The less interesting parts of the film, namely the family drama, is just about made bearable because of the cast. However, the whole experience is improved whenever it focuses on the villain of the piece.

Ok, he’s not going to become a horror icon or anything, even if there’s a sense that they’d sure like that to be the case. He’s given plenty of life by actor Stephen Staley, and the cheesiness of his on-screen appearance having a rock soundtrack, is delightful. However, the slasher formula he slips into, as it goes on, doesn’t hold enough supernatural weight to keep things interesting. Even if the low-budget is used impressively well and the holiday-themed deaths do entertain.

The strong acting, likable characters and titular villain aren’t enough to overshadow the slow parts, but there is fun to be had here. Even when it isn’t lighting up the screen, there’s enough holiday horror going on to keep most lightly entertained.