[Trailer Removed at the Request of Voltage Pictures]
A trailer (which contains some NSFW content) has emerged online for Frozen Ground, teasing the battle of wits between Nicolas Cage and John Cusack - who are reuniting some 15 years after they co-headlined the hit action flick Con Air.
The trailer establishes a morose tone by opening with an unsettling Biblical quote ("Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midsts of wolves"). It then reminds us that Frozen Ground is based on the true story of Robert Christian Hansen, a serial killer who murdered between 17 and 21 women near Anchorage between 1980-83. We then get a glimpse at Cusack as Hansen, assembling the necessary tools for his grotesque deeds (bullets, shotgun, knife).
We're also offered a brief glimpse at Nic Cage and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) as a couple of Alaskan state troopers, before the trailer reveals former-High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens - venturing further into adulthood by playing a striptease pole dancer, who becomes Hansen's next target. A couple of flash cuts later offer a quick shot of Hansen picking up and murdering another young woman, leaving her skeletal remains in the thawing mud for Cage to recover.
Cage is uncharacteristically buttoned-down in the Frozen Ground trailer, even as he interrogates local strippers about when they last saw Hudgens. We soon learn she has been kidnapped by Hansen and watch her scrambling to escape his clutches, even after he takes her to a remote location somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness.
Meanwhile, Hansen does his best to not arouse suspicion by hiding in plain sight, continuing his everyday life as a respectable family man and even making Cage a friendly offer to help catch "the Green River killer." Of course, as Cage starts to put the puzzle piece together, his own life may be in danger (as the not-so-subtle circular shot near the trailer's end indicates).
Frozen Ground marks the feature-length debut of New Zealand filmmaker Scott Walker, whose only major credit to date is the dark fantasy short Ordan's Forest. The film's handheld cinematography and dank visual style compliments its unpleasant subject matter, though there are some questionable editing choices (not to mention, weak acting from Hudgens) in the trailer that suggest Walker's debut might not be a stellar one.
Nonetheless, Cusack seems solid as Hansen, while it's nice to see Cage in a role where he can be taken more seriously than in some of his recent acting choices (Season of the Witch, Trespass, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance). The supporting cast also includes Katherine LaNasa (Big Love), Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill), Kevin Dunn (Transformers), and 50 Cent.
We'll let you know when Frozen Ground snags a U.S. theatrical release date, as the previously-set November 30th date (currently listed on IMDb) is no longer accurate.
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Source: Shock Till You Drop