Infestation horror, with a global warming message, regarding prehistoric parasites which are unleashed after a woolly mammoth is unearthed by melted ice on a Canadian Arctic island infecting a research team(..led by Val Kilmer as a famous ecologist known for his vocal outcry towards mankind's awareness and acknowledgment of our treatment of Mother Earth). The lives of students who accept an invitation from Dr. David Kruipen(Kilmer)and their helicopter pilot will become endangered once they land at the research center. Also, along for the trip is Kruipen's estranged daughter Evelyn(Martha MacIsaac). The students include Atom Galen(Aaron Ashmore), whose father is an oil man as ironic as it may seem, Federico(Kyle Schmid), with a phobia towards bugs of any kind, and Ling Chen(Steph Song). When the kids find a dead polar bear and the research cabin empty, they will soon discover to their horror parasitical "vertebrae" which enter the skin and lay eggs, multiplying at an alarming rate. Pilot Bart(Viv Leacock)is bit while posing over the dead polar bear for a picture and Ling is infected while having sex with Feddy(Federico's pet name)on the floor. When Kruipen's assistant Dr. Jane Sanders(Anne Marie DeLuise)returns from their camp worse for wear, the group will see firsthand what the parasites do to human hosts, as victims vomit as their insides become overrun by hatching eggs, with skin irritations soon evolving into open sores..it isn't too long before those infected are devoured carcasses spilling forth hundreds upon hundreds of parasites. Can those uninfected escape before the parasites get to them and was there an ulterior motive by Kruipen, frustrated by the unwillingness of an uncaring world towards helping their environment better itself after mankind's treatment over many years of pollution and other factors?
Not bad for it's type, "The Thaw" is pretty much still a terror tale whose threat are hatched bugs which could become a global nightmare if released from their isolated quarantine.
The cast is actually pretty solid, although Val Kilmer's part is relatively small. Instead Ashmore(Smallville)and MacIsaac's young characters are the center voices of reason/calm as Schmid's Federico loses control when it's confirmed that he is infected in his penis, and Song's Ling is steadily becoming more diseased..interesting choice, deciding instead to focus the developing story around young people, witnessing how they respond to a crisis of such magnitude. I will just say this, if you are terrified of the mere sight of creepy crawlies scurrying about, and into open wounds on the skin, make sure not to pop this bad boy in the DVD player.
"The Thaw" also features the unpleasant sight of how the flesh responds negatively to infection, including a decision to chop off an arm that doesn't end well for the recipient(..we see that it isn't so easy to lop off an arm with one swipe of a cleaver). "The Thaw", I believe, will accomplish it's goal to make your skin crawl..if that is what you so desire, check this flick out. Released by GhostHouse Underground.
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