Director: Marvin Kren.
Starring: Gerhard Liebmann, Edita Malovcic, Brigitte Kren, Hille Beseler and Peter Knaack.
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 98 minutes
Synopsis: Scientists working in the German Alps discover that a glacier is leaking a liquid that appears to be affecting local wildlife.
While the cover art of Marvin Kren’s sci-fi horror pricked up my ears with the claim that it’s reminiscent to John Carpenter’s paranoia-fuelled masterpiece THE THING, I feel it’s probably a genre film closer in tone and plot of Peter Hyams’ unmitigated disaster A SOUND OF THUNDER (which was based on the classic short story by Ray Bradbury). That’s not say BLOOD GLACIER (or THE STATION as it is known in its German homeland) should be put in the same woeful bracket. Hell, no! Kren’s film is tense, taut and at times terrifically acted. Liebmann especially excels as the self-destructive Janek, unable to let go of his past – but those expecting a full on monster mash may be a little disappointed.
The plot follows a group of scientists studying the changing environment of the German Alps, who discover a mysterious red substance seemingly frozen inside a glacier near to their mission station. With the imminent arrival of an important ministerial backer to their project (along with a person from Liebmann’s past complicating things further), their decision to collect samples for investigation and testing will threaten all of their existence and change the very essence of what mankind knows about evolution.
BLOOD GLACIER’s strongest aspect is the skillful suspense. They don’t have the budget to show big battles against computer-generated beasties and even the old-school practical effects are small in comparison to something like the still jaw-dropping surprises of THE THING. Instead, the film keeps the attacks minimum, hidden in the shadows or fast-paced and leaving you to think “What the f*ck was that!” It’s more of a character-driven exercise in the horrors of experimental science-fiction and that it’s probably best leaving things you don’t fully understand well alone!
The central stand-out set-piece is a rather simple one in terms blood and gore. However, it’s memorably infectious with some poor soul having been attacked and stung on the face from one of natures new creations, only for it to then spread and offer a purifying surprise. Just remember, we were all spotty teenagers at one point.
As we get under the skin of a number of these characters (and yes, that also means in the literal sense in one stomach-churning scene), Janek and his former lover especially, it soon becomes apparent there is a complicated relationship between the two that’s more than just who got the dog (perhaps another nod to Carpenter’s classic that it’s obviously hoping to emulate) during their breakup. It’s something that is not entirely explored in great depth but the ambiguity, come the demented, yet surprisingly sentimental finale, only aides the curiosity in terms of just how far the two are willing to go to assure their “family” works second time around.
[usr=3] BLOOD GLACIER is released on DVD from the 27th January.
