Wuchak RELEASED IN 2013 and written & directed by Scott Walker, "The Frozen Ground" is a crime thriller based on the true story of Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen, who raped, tortured and killed numerous young women from 1971-1983. Vanessa Hudgens plays a 17 year-old prostitute who successfully escaped from Hansen (John Cusack). Nicolas Cage plays the trooper who establishes a relationship with her as he zeroes-in on Hansen. This has elements like "Kiss the Girls" (1997), "The Flock" (2007) and "Hardcore" (1979). If you like those crime thrillers, you'll appreciate this one. The Anchorage locations are perpetually overcast, but breathtaking and foreboding. Cusack is notable as the average-looking killer and Cage is stalwart as usual. The events take place in 1983 when anchorage was booming due to the pipeline and the ensuing sex industry. The scenes depicting the sleazy underbelly of the city (at that time) are well done and convincing. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 45 minutes and was shot entirely in Alaska. GRADE: B

mobilealusa Miss Hudgens should have won an award. Simply outstanding performance. Mr. Cusack, as always, delivers a 10. Mr. Cage, while not always at the top of his game, nails his part in this movie. Great script and terrific directing. It's nice to see a true story treated as it should be.

dixiedragon Erring on the side of caution I marked spoiler however, the alleged killer is revealed at the beginning of the movie so it's not really a spoiler. Not much that I can add that has not already been said …however I want to give kudos to actor Vanessa Hudgens who plays a young street prostitute and victim of serial rapist and killer Robert "Bob" Hansen aptly played by John Cusack, who is ultimately pursued with the fervor that all victims deserve by Jack Halcombe played brilliantly by Nicolas Cage. Hudgins whose best work prior to this was mediocre at best, BECAME Cindy (the prostitute). Just a fine fine job of acting, a joy to watch even though her role was so desperate and dark. You BELIEVED her. From the barely audible story about her uncle to her ordeal at the hands of Hansen. She WAS Cindy, not someone pretending to be Cindy. Big Kudos. Despite the director's best efforts they did not do a good enough job of background to call this a character driven piece although without the excellent job done by all the plot which is slow at times would have fallen flat.The Alaskan State Troopers, local police and National Guard worked with tireless determination to bring this psychopath (who enjoyed a quiet peaceful church going, pillar of the community, life with a wife and 2 children) to justice for the deaths of dozens of young women. Early on they reveal the killer, then build the plot around their pursuit. He is cagey, sneaky and leaves no trail behind – he is spic and span clean. Does a good job of showing that psychopaths are deeply misunderstood by the public as some of our greatest leaders – in the political, economic, and scientific worlds – are by definition psychopaths. Cusack does a great job of portraying the singular, focused, dedicated pursuit of his criminal mind while living a parallel life of the utmost decency.In my opinion, Halcombe (Cage) was ALSO a psychopath – I don't know if it was intentional by the screenwriters or if it simply fell into play this brilliant side by side comparison of how being a psychopath can lead to a life of dedication to justice or it can lead to a life of depravity. Halcombe was singularly dedicated to catching his prey (Cusack), working his way through the darkly seedy underworld of prostitution, the sale and trade of women as commodities, the soul stealing depraved world of human trafficking with tireless focus, determined not to fail in bringing his criminal to justice where others had failed costing dozens more lives – all while living a life of normalcy with his wife and child.As "true" stories go, the writers and directors did an excellent job here working with what they had – 2 hours to drive home these characters, and the plot – the pursuit of enough evidence to prosecute and CONVICT Bob (Cusack). Unlike most "true" stories they did not take a lot of literary license but were definitely shackled by what would and would not be suitable for a movie. However, these characters (including Halcombe) are MUCH deeper and the protagonist (Bob/Cusack) was not just a psychopath, he was deeply depraved from an early age. You also don't see the back story of how we via our thirst for energy, for oil, and building the Alaskan pipeline, opened the door for the dark criminal underworld to secure roots in such a previously pristine environment. (On that note, the cinematography was just awesome!) I strongly suggest reading Fair Game by Bernard DuClos whose research for his book was astonishingly rich and thorough.

jb_campo I liked Frozen Ground. It is a pretty good movie. Cage delivers his typical downplayed character. John Cusack was very good as the alleged bad guy. The lead woman actress who played the young prostitute was very good too. The story does its best to keep you guessing, and they leveraged the stupidity of the young girl to ratchet up suspense as best as possible. This is worth a view.Not sure if the town was filmed in the real Anchorage, but the airplane scenes and snowy mountain vistas were impressive, if but to convey that out here, if you're in trouble, ain't no one gonna find out, which unfortunately resonated throughout the film.Makes me think thrice about wanting to visit Anchorage though.