The Chill Factor (1993) User Reviews

Cheap but atmospheric oddity

[drownsoda90 · 5/10 · 6 August 2019]

"The Chill Factor" follows a group of snowmobilers stranded at an abandoned religious camp where they uncover a strange ouija-like game, and proceed to unleash demonic spirits that start taking hold of them one-by-one.

This utter oddity was filmed in the late-1980s but went unreleased until several years later when it surfaced on video under the title "Demon Possessed." Make no bones about it, this is a low-budget flick, and has all the hallmarks of a cheap horror flick: Bad acting (especially from the extras), silly gore effects, and a plot that seems to have been invented on the fly (a voice-over narration from an apparently chain-smoking grandmother attempts to tie up the loose ends). Even with its pitfalls, however, I found myself enjoying "The Chill Factor" for what it is.

The film's greatest strength is that it's quite atmospheric, and recalls other snow-set horror films such as "Curtains" or "Ghostkeeper," which feel like distant cousins. Conceptually, the plot has potential, and is just weird enough to be attention-grabbing; the execution, however, is not quite up to speed, but one can see the seeds of something ominous buried underneath all the ineptitude. I won't attempt to make a case for "The Chill Factor" being a good film, because it isn't, but it is so bizarre and so wonky that one cannot help but get somewhat absorbed in it. There are a handful of decent death sequences, and the finale boasts a snowmobiling showdown that is ridiculous but somehow not out of place.

"The Chill Factor" is worth a watch for horror purists who enjoy cheapjack possession horror flicks; it melds the demon film with the slasher, and packages it in a late-'80s aesthetic that is as perplexing as it is amusing in all its weirdness. 5/10.

Don't get your hopes up!

[Stevieboy666 · 4/10 · 27 April 2020]

Supernatural type slasher set out in the snowy wilderness. Three couples find themselves in a spot of bother when out racing on their snowmobiles one has a serious accident and they take overnight refuge in what looks like a creepy, abandoned summer camp. They discover an unusual type of Ouija board and soon an evil spirit takes hold of the injured man. This scenario did remind me somewhat slightly of Evil Dead, only that is a horror classic and this one certainly is not. The first part of the movie is taken up by snow mobiles etc, gets a bit slow. The opening scene is one of the worst bar fights I have ever seen. Looks like they roped in some of the locals judging by the serious lack of acting ability. The killings are OK but none are very gory, there is some sex but this movie is tame enough for a UK 15 certificate. I think The Crap Factor would be a more appropriate title, however I still prefer this to the bulk of 21st Century horror movies though. There is a creepy musical rendition of the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice", that was pretty cool. AKA Demon Possessed.

A review from 1993 . . .

[Coolestmovies · 5/10 · 2 January 2023]

This capsule review was published - in an actual newspaper, remember those? - on October 15, 1993, when it was first released on home video by AIP Video (not the same as American International Pictures, by the way) four years after being made:

• - - - -

DEMON POSSESSED (R) - AIP Video: EVIL DEAD's 'spam-in-a-cabin' routine and WITCHBOARD's ouija board antics are mixed to not-bad effect as six snowmobiles (this has to be the world's first snowmobile horror flick) take refuge in an abandoned children's camp where they are systematically chunked up by an in-house shadow demon (or something like that). Shot in 1989 as THE CHILL FACTOR, this ultra-low-budgeter falters a bit in the logic department (especially when an otherwise eerie narration doesn't connect with the film's Twilight Zone ending), but showcases some tame-but-effective gore and a cast and crew of ambitious amateurs.

• - - - -

Short stuff, for sure. When I reviewed this in '93, my weekly column focused on direct-to-video titles, particularly schlock like this, which could routinely be found filling up shelf space in video stores (especially mom 'n pop shops) but which was rarely reviewed outside of the back pages of horror mags, assuming you had access to them, and big-city fanzines, assuming you had access to those (the internet, still in its infancy, was essentially useless in this regard). Now, 30 years later, I'm tagging this old review to an IMDb listing in which most of the other reviewers have the advantage of Arrow Video's supplements-laden Blu-ray edition of Chill Factor. As they say, things were different back then, but the spirit of stumping for (or dumping on) b-movies hasn't changed much at all. We're just conditioned by the likes of Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin et al to believe that all of these films - no matter how crappy and opportunistic - are somehow unheralded classics deserving of special editions loaded with supplements and collectors' booklets. It does get to be a bit much, but if it introduces new fans to old junk, what's the harm?

Don't believe the hype!

[zpluscinema · 8 October 2002]

Whoa, whoa, wait a sec, this is actually a really cool movie. Maybe it's because I've seen hundreds of poopy horror flicks and my standards are lower, but if you're a true horror fan, you should have low standards, too! Of all Evil Dead inspired horror fare, this has got to be one of, if not the, best. It's got a good (original, well-thought out) story and compelling characters, two things lacking in most modern horror films. Okay, yes, it has the whole cabin-in-the-woods thing going on, but it uses the set-up well, for twists and turns and flashbacks and all kindsa crazy stuff you don't always find in the demon subgenre. If I was Leonard Maltin, which I am not, I would give this two and a half stars. Fer reals, yo. AIP 4eva!

not too shabby

[ethylester · 3/10 · 7 April 2004]

As far as acting go, this movie was the pits. HOWEVER, the story is slightly original because the characters get around on snowmobiles and are stuck in blizzard-like weather. I am always happy to see snow and freezing, bundled up actors instead of bright sun and greased up, bikini clad actors. There is too much California weather in movies, I must say, so this is a nice change. And you could tell that the snow and northern woods were real and not made up on some California ski slope.

It was also pretty creepy how they added the Christian memorabilia into the plot. A giant statue of Jesus on the cross or a crying face of Jesus are both really creepy. Much more creepy than a made up Satanic demon or something, which most movies usually use when dealing with the occult. Although, I don't understand what Jesus has to do with the occult, but it still added a lot of overall insanity/craziness. When people have Jesus things all over the place, sometimes you feel like they will act without thinking because Jesus told them to or something. This is the feeling I got from the old camp in the woods.

However, the "devil eye" ouiji board thing didn't seem to fit. They should have kept with the Jesus theme instead of entering Haitian voodoo into it. That seemed to come out of nowhere.

Tom, the character that gets in the snowmobile accident, had a funky look about him. When he has sex with the ladies and they show his snarly face, I thought it was pretty gross and hard to watch. Good job with the ugly faces.

Did anyone notice that nearly every person in this movie has giant, oversized front teeth like rabbits?

The waitress at the bar in the beginning was really life-like and typical. I thought she was a neat character, though a bit over-acted.

I could have done without the old lady voice narrating it. That was too much unneeded cheese. It would have been better without it.

Overall, terrible acting but a good story that keeps you wondering what is going to happen and succeeds in using effective props/sets. And they get an extra point for using real snow.

1990's rental fun

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 16 July 2019]

Have you ever wondered, "What would happen if The Exorcist and the Winter Olympics came together in a 1980's VHS rental horror film?" Good news. Arrow Video has brought back this barely seen film, originally known as Demon Possessed, for your viewing pleasure.

This movie produced and directed by Christopher Webster (the producer of Hellraiser, Heathers, Meet the Applegates, The Inheritor, Mindwarp and more, but this is his only directorial credit) with a screenplay from Julian Weaver (The Inheritor and another recent Arrow Video release Trapped Alive). Here, they've created the only hybrid snowmobile racing/Evil Dead ripoff hybrid that I feel has ever - and probably will ever - be made.

For a group of young couples - no less than two people and the narrator explain to us that it's a big deal that one of them is mixed race - a snowmobiling trip has turned tragic when one of them is launched into a tree during a race. Looking for shelter in the cold, they discover an abandoned summer camp filled with religious artifacts and an Ouija board. If you're thinking, "This seems like a bad idea," you've watched too many slasher films.

I've never seen a movie before where someone races a demon on a snowmobile. And if you're a fan of movies where someone gets an icicle in their eye - shockingly, there is no IMDB list of this - you should probably check this out. Upon further research, the only other icicle to the eye movies I can come up with are Die Hard 2 and Jack Frost, although an icicle kills someone in the remake of Black Christmas.

Yet another terrible campy horror movie

[acidburn-10 · 4/10 · 8 February 2022]

Upon viewing this supernatural slasher movie, I went into it completely blind as I've never even heard of this movie before and decided to take a chance as sometimes you can come across something great, an underrated gem if you will. But unfortunately this isn't a lost classic by any means, it's a cheesy underwhelming demon flick with very few redeeming qualities.

The plot is very familiar was it follows a group of friends on snowmobiles take refuge in an old- abandoned summer camp after one of them gets into an accident and once there they realize the place was once used by a satanic cult who leaves a demon board there for the group to play with and summon a demon that begins to kill them off on by one.

I was shocked to discover that this movie came out in 1993, as the look and feel of it looks more like something from the mid 1980's, but all that aside there's some enjoyment out of this such as the snowy setting and the camp itself looks great with some interesting exterior shots and the kills are quite creative with some pretty decent special effects, but everything is let down by the inept script and the amateur acting. What's also baffling is the strange voice over narration that pops up from time to time, which feels like it comes right out of nowhere and an awkward subplot that strangely never gets developed and quickly gets forgotten.

Overall despite a promising idea, the filmmakers fail to do anything special with it and instead just becomes yet another terrible campy horror movie that isn't cheesy enough to be entertaining.

Pointless and irritating.

[ennisandlousylay · 4/10 · 26 December 2014]

The movie itself is not terrible. I have seen far worse horror films. The problem is that Chill Factor seems to revolve around the women getting nude. Which I am all for but there is no nudity in the film. So you get to watch girls undress and show nothing. The only reasoning I see in doing something like this is to irritate men. This film definitely succeeded in irritating me. It is not badly made for a b movie but I do not understand why you would constantly want to tease your audience. Either make a horror movie that delivers the nudity or keep your cast clothed. I would skip this tease of a HORROR film if I were you. You have been warned.

Rampant Racism, Hard to Stomach

[mariajonasfahlsing · 1/10 · 24 July 2014]

Within the first 15 minutes of the movie, we hear ignorant white people casting aspersions about African Americans twice. The first comes from a patron in the bar who makes fun of a white man for dating a black woman. The second comes from the woman's own boyfriend when he says, "I fell in love with the only black woman who sings off key." This kind of talk makes me sick! Although I realize that this movie was made in the 90s and seems to be set in the 80s, there is really no excuse for such blatant racism. I wanted to turn the movie off at this point, but I want to write a fair review, so I am going to try to watch the whole debacle without throwing up from sheer offensive language.

It irritates me to no end that the characters keep referring to their snowmobiles as "sleds." Those words are not synonymous and mean entirely different things!

Oh, my goodness these people are so whiny and obnoxious. They cannot keep cool or calm in a crisis and do nothing but snap at each other and swear loudly which only breaks down the lines of communication further.

Bad special effects, terribly cheesy soundtrack (if I hear that awesomely 80s country song again, my ears will literally bleed), forgettable characters, a narrator who sounds like he/she (I can't tell) smoked 3 packs a day from birth, and a non-ending (rather, the movie just stops with no real explanation as to what happened or why), I am so glad that this awful flick is over.

COLD BLOODED KILLING

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 6/10 · 4 August 2019]

The age of the mom and pop video store was a time when almost anything that could be made for a minor amount of money was taking place and rushed to the shelves to satisfy a customer base willing to plop down money for anything new. It was a time that I've talked about before, a time when horror films were being made that featured some terrible effects, mindless plots and plenty of skin and gore. Not all of these movies were bad but then again most weren't that good. Take THE CHILL FACTOR.

Narrated in the present a woman tells her story of a group of friends off for a weekend of snowmobiling. They stop in a tavern where they eat, drink and talk to the local friendly barmaid/owner. She tells them that if they're going out to make sure they get back before dark and to avoid Black Friar Lake and she'll tell them all about the place when they get back.

The group heads out, the testosterone inspires two of the guys to race and one of them ends up tossed from his snowmobile and into a tree severely damaging him. Looking for shelter they come across the main building that once housed a summer camp. Filled with religious icons and covered in dust no one had been here for some time. Injured enough that he can't be moved, one of the members decides to race back and get help before it gets too dark.

As the others scout out the building they come across what resembles an Ouija board. Jeannie, our narrator, tells them that this is a Devil's Eye board and also lets them know that her mother was a gypsy fortune teller. They beg her to show them how it works in spite of her repeated pleas that it will only offer them danger. Of course she eventually caves in and the door is then opened for malevolent spirits to once more walk the earth.

It isn't long before the members of this small group begin being killed off one by one. The wounded member suddenly makes a miraculous recovery but we know this is only because the demon spirits are attempting to possess him. And while we know that at least one of these friends will survive (our narrator), we don't know if any of the rest will or what she will find by the end of the film.

Other than the equipment rentals used to make the film most likely the biggest budget went to renting the snowmobiles for the film. The sets aren't bad but kept enough in darkness enough that we don't really see much. The acting is better than many low budget flicks but nothing that would stand out or make you think anyone involved would go on to bigger and better things. I can tell you up front that none of them did and the most roles any of them show at imdb is 6. For most this was their only experience before a camera.

And yet it isn't the worst movie ever made or even among the top ten. It's actually not bad in spite of everything. Some might rank it among those terrible movies that are so bad they're good but I found it to be decent if nothing else. Is it one I'm likely to pull out from time to time? No. Is it one I would suggest to mainstream renters of movies? No. But I would suggest it to those friends I have who enjoy a good low budget horror film and can accept it for what it is.

Arrow Video has done more for this movie than the original backers did. To begin with it's being offered on blu-ray with a 2k scan from original film elements. And the extras are more than one would expect from a small film like this. They include a new audio commentary track with special effects artist Hank Carlson and horror writer Josh Hadley, a new interview with makeup artist Jeffrey Lyle Segal, a new interview with production manager Alexandra Reed, a new interview with stunt coordinator Gary Paul, a still gallery, the original VHS trailer, a reversible sleeve with original artwork and newly commissioned artwork by Marc Schoenbach and for the first pressing only a collector's booklet with new writing by Mike White.

Wow. It's Atmospheric.

[DavyDissonance · 3/10 · 18 March 2020]

Some people who ride snowmobiles end up in a cabin to become victims of some satanic thing. The Chill Factor is a movie that laughably tries so desperately to be serious and boy can you hear it through its serious narration from a woman that sounds like she smoked one too many cigarettes. In the long run, it a boring, slow paced and nauseating piece of whale s···. It takes 53 minutes for the horror sequences to manifest and we end up with only 3 good kill scenes and that's it. Oh, and it's Ouija board horror so that's another indicator that this is a s···hole film. A few good kills and some minor political incorrectness doesn't help this ass of a film. It's a waste of money and time.

'This ice-blooded killer will wrap you up snugly...in a body bag!!!!'

[Weirdling_Wolf · 9/10 · 20 November 2019]

'The Chill Factor' aka 'Demon Possessed', while initially receiving a decidedly chilly, 'blink-and-you-will-miss-it' debut on VHS in back in '93 was honourably salvaged from undeserved slasher obsolescence with a beautifully restored Blu-ray presentation in 2018. The dazzling Arrow edition is a welcome improvement over the rather inauspicious-looking DVD-R bootleg!

The viewer bemusedly discovers via a soothingly monotonous prologue that during a fatefully frosty sojourn with fellow snowmobiling chums, blonde-mopped orator, Jeannie (Dawn Laurie) had been very much in love with her dreamily handsome collegiate beau, Tom (Aaron Kjenaas). Reciting blandly that '...the year 2000 was just around the corner, and maybe we were all a little crazy! I was young, and I was pretty, and I could drive a sled better than any of them!' This exquisitely prosaic opening gambit might seem incongruent to some, but for reasons bizarre I enjoyed it immensely!

Following some enjoyably acid sniping, our querulous clique of speed-crazed snow-bunnies discover their daredevil Snowmobile race has brought them fatefully to an eerily desolated, ice-bound expanse known as Friars Lake. To compound their miseries night falls especially inclemently forcing them to seek shelter in a spookily abandoned chalet. None of these snowbound adrenaline junkies could ever have imagined that the coming storm would be occult-born, and the terror tempest unleashed within this isolated, eminently Slasher-worthy lodge would freeze their blood into plasma popsicles!

What bloodily ensues is some evilly icy, Ouija-spawned, Satanically slashing murder mayhem. Director/producer Christopher Webster takes a curiously dry, largely humourless, yet appropriately glacial approach to all the celluloid carnage. It is this apparently deliberate lack of irony which frequently lends the wonderfully kooky, low-budget slasher some additionally dramatic gravitas few might have expected.

While the 'actors' performances are earnest enough, their lack of subtlety frequently allows for unintentional levity, but overall the standard of filmmaking is solid. 'The Chill Factor's' three snow-glistering highlights are the spirited, demon-raising soundtrack by, John Tatgenhorst, the exceptional lighting by gifted DOP, Joseph Friedman. Friedman's expert lensing maximizing the lurid crimson punch of splashy SPFX by no less credible makeup artist, Jeffrey Lyle Segal, and the chillsome, sinisterly spooky, cabin interiors have an atmospherically Raimi-esque quality.

A neat, suspenseful, but sadly underrated horror flick

[bfan83 · 6/10 · 16 July 2009]

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**!! Demon Possessed is about six friends who are snowmobile racing in the remote Northwoods of Illinois. One of them is injured in the race, and this causes the other five friends to take shelter in an abandoned camp that once housed a secret religious cult, with their severely injured friend. One of the group finds an old Ouija Board from Haiti(?!) and conjures up a demon that ends up possessing their injured friend, Tom. Soon the group's ranks begins to dwindle as the possessed Tom starts to brutally kill of his friends.

Granted, Demon Possessed is very much inspired by "The Evil Dead," but they are a few things that actually make this pretty darn creepy on its own. First, the constant religious symbology raises the goose flesh on my arms! Second, the location of the camp is so isolated and far from civilization that it gives the movie a sense of hopelessness, especially for the group of characters trapped there. And three, as one character finds out before her untimely demise, is that the religious order who used to occupy the camp actually committed satanic sacrifices. The idea of a Catholic run retreat who dabbles in Satanism is even more frightening, in my opinion, than just a group of friends finding the Necronomicon and unleashing demons.

The acting is nothing to brag about, but at least the characters and their backgrounds were sort of fleshed out. It made me sympathize with them and their ordeal. The movie has some pretty decent kills. Death by barb wire, when one character "accidently" drives into it, death by a rotating ceiling fan, another character gets a rather large icicle in the eye, another character is "hanged" by a net, and of course, the guy who gets possessed. He sustains a rather nasty head injury.

The ending is chilling and action-packed, but I'll let you see that for yourself. To the best of my knowledge, "Demon Possessed" has never been released on DVD, and it's somewhat hard to find. But it's worth tracking down if you enjoy low budget, independent horror films. I'm sure you can track down a copy of it on amazon or ebay.

Straight to the good parts

[dvdman-1 · 2 January 2002]

Ok, so this isn't the greatest movie around so here is a list of the good parts:

No real nudity, although there is a lot of underwear shots.

Killings include: Driving into barbed wire fence A hanging Icicle in the eye Demon possession 1 body blown up Sliced throat by ceiling fan

Bottom line: If you keep your finger on the fast forward button, this is an okay movie.

Do you like snowmobiling?

[selfdestructo · 7/10 · 29 March 2022]

How about snowmobile races? Snowmobile accidents? Well, that's a sizeable portion of this film. Oh yeah, there's a horror movie in here somewhere.

6 kids are really into snowmobiling in northern Wisconsin, and two of them challenge each other to a race. The race ends in a near-fatal crash for Tom, and his buddies drag him to a secluded cabin to take shelter and try and get help. Turns out it was the former home to a satanic cult. One of the ladies finds a Ouija board (or "Devil Eye"), and the gang summon a demon who takes over poor old Tom.

I basically live for these unearthed-from-obscurity slashers that Arrow produces. This particular one has an interesting history, in that it was produced at Windsor Lakes Studios, this fully functioning, self-contained movie studio... in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Which fascinates me. I know they did 6 horror movies there in the 80's and 90's (maybe there's more?). One of those movies is Trapped Alive (also put out by Arrow), which, frankly, I enjoyed a lot more, but it was also that movie that drew me to this one.

You can't fake how cold it is up there, or that the snow and frozen lakes aren't real. This is a great environment for a horror movie. And the snowmobile stunts and action were good, too. The story is of a demon who picks kids off one by one, with a pretty amusing demon/girlfriend snowmobile chase to cap it off. And his death is real satisfying!

Plenty of sexual shenanigans at the cabin, and... zero nudity (well, they toss you some side-boob). The final girl had a nice body, too. I thought they really dropped the ball there -- A slasher made in the 1980's. (But technically not released until 1993, under the name Demon Possessed).

The Arrow Blu-ray includes several awesome interviews, a work print of the film (sourced from VHS), an audio commentary, stills, and a trailer that I think spoils all the money shots. I love it when they roll out the red carpet on these little oddities.

AWFUL!!!!

[cheeseboy80 · 23 September 2000]

This movie was extremely awful. The cover looks cool. I will never again do that rent a movie just for the cover, they probably spent more money on the cover than the movie itself. The acting, storyline, and everything else is painfully awful. Everything you expect in a B-movie. This movie wasn't too bad, it's funny. It's just plain BAD!!!!!

I give this film 0 out of 10

Satan's School For Snowmobilers...

[azathothpwiggins · 17 September 2021]

A trio of young couples is on a snowmobiling holiday when one of them is seriously hurt in an accident. Desperate for shelter, they happen upon an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere.

After noticing religious artifacts everywhere, they decide to play a "wheel pf fortune"-type game (think: Ouija board) they've found. Bizarre occurrences and deadly "accidents" soon follow.

THE CHILL FACTOR is a slow-moving supernatural horror movie with a few ghoulish set pieces. While the characters are pretty vapid, they're not annoying enough to ruin everything. Gorehounds will find sustenance here, especially during the death-by-icicle sequence!

If you have a taste for the occult and don't mind a bit of gruesomeness, then this might hit the spot...