Blood Glacier Review

Blood Glacier (2013)

Cast: Gerhard Liebmann, Edita Malovcic, Brigitte Kren
Director: Marvin Kren
Country: Austria
Genre: Horror
Official Site: Here

Editor’s Notes: On June 19th for one night only, Blood Glacier will be screening at select Cineplex Cinemas nation-wide as part of Sinister Cinema. 

Let this film serve as a cautionary tale for climate change deniers. After all, we’ve already discovered ancient viruses freed by the melting ice, who’s to say we won’t find something worse… much worse. This is the simple, yet poignant premise of the inappropriately named Blood Glacier. Despite the films fairly egregious title, it is a serious, stone-faced look at the dangers of a rapidly changing, and therefore unpredictable, environment. Who knows of the horrors preserved for centuries under the ice? Well, you’re about to find out.

Let this film serve as a cautionary tale for climate change deniers. After all, we’ve already discovered ancient viruses freed by the melting ice, who’s to say we won’t find something worse… much worse. 

In this gritty eco-horror movie, a group of isolated scientists and one handy man are positioned high in the mountains to study the changing ice formations. One peculiar formation looks as though it’s not made of frozen water, but rather, frozen blood (hence the title). As it melts, it releases an invasive cell that latches onto host cells and mutates them into new life. The resulting creature is a top-hits collection of all the other organisms the cell has come in contact with along its journey. So, we’re talking goats with beetle legs or birds with fox heads. The new species then infect more hosts and add to the killer cocktail.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of the film, as well as the idea of an infectious, mutating creature, is very reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing. In fact, both films share a lot in common. Like The Thing, Blood Glacier also makes heavy use of practical effects. It’s not just the makeup used to achieve the gross-out body horror sequences, but also the creatures themselves that are, for the most part, practical creations. This commitment to classic monster movie making deserves a round of applause in and of itself. Though, perhaps they didn’t have the budget to pull off all the effects with jaw-dropping realism, it’s the thought that counts. Not only that, but even a poor rubber puppet has more reality on screen than a digitally painted creature. It’s refreshing to see people fighting against an actual physical beast, rather than a green dot.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of the film, as well as the idea of an infectious, mutating creature, is very reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing.

Perhaps the film’s greatest detractor is its bleakness. Especially with a name like Blood Glacier, you would assume a level of fun mixed in with the horror. The kind of absurd silliness found in films like Dead Snow, or even Sharknado. However, this film isn’t interested in having a laugh with its audience. It’s actually completely sapped of humour. A tragedy, since its premise seems ripe for at least a few moments of levity. Alas, they found no comedy in a goat beetle. No comedy in a creature that’s part goat and part beetle. They must have closed their eyes as soon as they wheeled the creature on set – and stopped referring to it as a goat beetle.

The most interesting sub-theme dragged through the murk of the gloomy drama that hangs between the characters, is the idea of motherhood. Without giving too much away, there’s a character who’s tortured by a decision she made to abort her child. However, as this mutating cell continues to spread and collect different genes from different people, she finds opportunity to exercise the motherhood she denied herself. This culminates in certainly the most provocative scene of the movie.

With some truly effective scares and gore to match, it’s a decent, grouchy little horror film. If only they saw the inherent comedy in goat beetles, it could have been a great, grouchy little horror film.