Geleira Sangrenta

I didn't know anything about "Blutgletscher" (aka "Blood Glacier") prior to finding it in the horror section. And my love for the horror genre and the movie's DVD cover made me pick it up and give it a chance.

For some odd reason I ended up with an English dubbed version of "Blutgletscher", which was a an insult to the original German language. Why? Well, because the dubbing was so questionable and dubious that it was atrocious to listen to. And without the option to switch to German, I was forced to suffer through laughable dubbing work because I really wanted to watch the movie. The English speaking voice over cast that was doing the dubbing had no conviction, no heart or spirit in their voice work, so it was unfathomably monotone, dull and lifeless, and it didn't match the characters on the screen one bit. It was like watching a dubbed Hong Kong movie from the early 1980s.

"Blood Glacier" is definitely inspired by Carpenter's "The Thing" and there is a number of similarities between the two. Whether or not this was intentional, I have no idea. It could be an homage or pure coincidence. I can only guess.

Director Marvin Kren actually managed to set up a fairly good atmosphere in this movie, and again very reminiscent of Carpenter's "The Thing". But oddly enough, it worked well enough in favor of "Blutgletscher". Just a shame that the horrible English dubbing was destroying it effectively with its laughable dubbing work.

As for the acting in "Blutgletscher", then I will say that the people were doing good jobs, and it was nice to see a cast ensemble of all unfamiliar faces. But again, their performances were toned down by the atrocious dubbing audio layer.

There is some pretty interesting creature design in the movie, and the creatures do look rather convincing and realistic, which really works very well in favor of the movie, especially when it is a horror movie of this type of setting.

The special effects in "Blutgletscher" was quite good and realistic and it helped to add to the overall movie, giving it flavor and more enjoyment for the audience. And the make-up effects were also quite good, and came off as rather realistic and good looking. So thumbs up to the special effects department who worked on this movie.

Visually then this movie turned out to be rather interesting. There were some very nice scenes and shots throughout the course of the movie, and the cinematography was definitely in good hands.

The music used in "Blutgletscher" was also quite good, very fitting for the atmosphere of the movie. It was well enough composed to be serving as background music, but at the same time be audible enough to instill an unnerving layer to the visuals portrayed on the screen.

"Blutgletscher" is a rather entertaining movie, especially if you enjoyed the otherworldly element that was in "The Thing", because it is also present here. However, it does not have the same quality to it to render it a classic like "The Thing". But all in all, an entertaining movie with a good story and good effects.

Really, how many movies feature ibexes, let alone a mutant ibex-fly that gets a drill in the noggin by a feisty granny? This may entice you to watch "Blood Glacier" next time you see it in the Netflix lineup of terrible, terrible horror/scifi movies. If you dimly remember having heard about this Alpine tale of terror, it's worth a six-pack and a bag of chips.

While beautifully photographed, offering amazing views of bleak ice and mountains, this movie hasn't got a clue what it wants to do. Convince you of global warming? Scare you with mutant hybrid creatures that look like stuffed animals you'd win at a carnival? Tear your heart out with thwarted love and dog death? Make you laugh uproariously at the absolutely insane behavior of "smart" scientists? Teach you not to cry while eating bananas? BG is all this, and more.

Throw these movies into a blender: The Thing, Alien, Day of the Animals, Old Yeller, Sound of Music, and that moldy oldie from the 50s, Night of the Blood Beast (the very first movie to speculate that humans make great hosts for birthing alien infants). Turn on blender. Wait about 80 minutes. Pour out your scifi smoothie and wonder how this ever got made. Take a drink of your liquid every time someone says "rabid fox", which in German sounds like "rabbit fuxes". Tack on one of the strangest endings you'll ever see and wonder if someone slipped LSD into your movie smoothie. No kidding.

Pray there's no sequel. Four stars for insanity. One star for Tinni, the best goshdarn dog actor in the world. One star, because ibexes. Six is the magic number for this smelly sausage of a movie that features someone walking around a glacier in dirty underpants.

Enjoy the schadenfreud!

BLOOD GLACIER is an eco-horror film with a definite vibe similar to that of John Carpenter's THE THING. Is it as good as Carpenter's classic? Well, no, but it's not bad.

At a remote outpost in the Austrian Alps, a team of climatologists uncover the titular phenomenon. Terror ensues when the effects of the glacier begin to take their toll on the local wildlife, causing bizarre, highly-dangerous mutations.

The human characters are mostly forgettable, except for Gerhard Liebmann, who plays Janek, the Kurt Russell-type antihero of the story. Also, Brigitte Kren is memorable as the no-nonsense Minister. She has some of the best lines, including the hilarious, "Stop eating that banana while you're crying!".

The mutant / hybrid monsters are fairly well-realized, using both practical and CGI effects. So, if you can overlook some goofiness, this should provide a decent evening's entertainment...

Scientists collecting data on climate change in the Austrian Alps discover a strange organism that attacks the local fauna, resulting in vicious hybrids.

With its remote sub-zero setting and hideous genetic mash-ups, comparisons between Blood Glacier (AKA The Station) and John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) are inevitable, but really there is no contest: Carpenter's film isn't perfect, but it more than delivers with its amazing special effects; on the other hand, the extras on the DVD of Blood Glacier include a gallery of impressive pre-production sketches, but the film fails to make good on the promise of weird and wonderful creatures, most of its monsters only seen in fleeting glimpses (and what we do see isn't great, which is probably why they remain hidden for most of the movie).

Blood Glacier also suffers from a raft of thoroughly unlikable characters that are nigh impossible to care about: the only death that has any impact is that of Tinni the dog. The movie's mountainous scenery is great, but breath-taking vistas only count for so much - Blood Glacier's stunning cinematography cannot compensate for the weak script (they never explained why a girl was running down the mountain in shorts and a vest), dreary pacing, and a lack of memorable mutations.

3.5/10, generously rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

Went in to this after reading many IMBD reviews that compared it poorly to John Carpenter's "The Thing" (a masterpiece of horror and most importanly suspense) so my expectations were low. Even poorly made copies of the original ( and yes I know Carpenter's version was a remake but so much better than the original, a rare thing itself) can be entertaining. So I went in with an open mind, willing to forgive and not make comparisons .

Unfortunately this movie has zero suspense, bad acting ( although you can't really blame the actors given the purile banal script, no one could pull that off seriously). Pseudo-scientific explanations that a second-grader would doubt, characters reacting moronically to further the plot, and a seriously dissappointing ending.

Also, if you read some of the reviews that propone that the special makeup/creature are good, prepare to be dissappointed. Sub-par and usually shot in low light so you can't see how crap they are.

Giving this a 3 out of 10 and tht's generous.