Austria · 2013
1h 38m
Director Marvin Kren
Starring Gerhard Liebmann, Edita Malovčić, Hille Beseler, Peter Knaack
Genre Horror
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At a climate research station in the Alps, the scientists are stunned as the nearby melting glacier is leaking a red liquid. It quickly turns to be very special juice — with unexpected genetic effects on the local wildlife.
Village Voice by Alan Scherstuhl
It's all rather familiar, but the key image of a glacier glazed over with something like gore proves majestic, and tension throbs throughout a scene of a scientist following his dog into a blood-veined tunnel inside that glacier.
Unfortunately, this low budget chiller is unable to capture the same kind of awe and terror that made "The Thing" so powerful, although its attempt to be more character-based and emphasis on practical effects is somewhat admirable. Somewhat.
The film straddles a very awkward line between creature feature, conspiracy thriller, and domestic drama, all without novelty or suspense.
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
In an era of predictably tweaked horror premises and haunted-house flicks with 10-dollar titles, a doggedly straightforward monster movie like Blood Glacier can feel refreshing, if not exactly fresh.
Marvin Kren’s enjoyable if ephemeral horror movie gets by for a while on its dopey premise.
Director Marvin Kren delivers a lot of cheap scares, but the film doesn’t approach the dread-soaked suspense of the 1982 version of “The Thing.”
The film’s monsters are so unconvincing that director Marvin Kren has no choice but to hide them as much as possible via rapid-fire editing and violent shaky-cam, relying on his actors to fill in the gaps with hysterical screaming.
The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold
Sometimes genre-based filmmakers don’t know how to make their material fun without making fun of their material, but that’s not a failing of Mr. Kren’s.
RogerEbert.com by Simon Abrams
Blood Glacier is too sleepy to do anything with its guano-stirring premise. Yes, there are crazy-go-nutty monsters in the film, but you seldom get to see them as they sadly are not the focus of Blood Glacier.
A first-time drug mule in custody tries desperately to prevent his body from giving up its lethal cargo.
If You Love Something, Never Let It Go.