Attack of the Killer Refrigerator

My review was written in November 1990 after watching the picture on Donna Michele video cassette.

Amateur horror films hit video in a bait & switch program, consisting of this short film plus "The Hook of Woodland Heights" and a laughably inept TV "making of" featurette to fill out the running time.

Misspelled on screen "Attack of the Killer Refridgerator", the 15-minute item is a poorly made mid-'80s student film about a fridge that gets mad after being "abused" at a party, where the heroes chip away the ice in its freezer compartment. Gory makeup effects ensue when it kills people, including exhibitionist filmmaker Mark Veau.

Accompanying slasher movie "The Hook..." is no better. And the BTS on the cassette of "The Hook" is an unwitting parody of such documentaries. There's precious little talent displayed by these tyro filmmakers.

It seriously has to be seen to be believed. Yes, the movie is about a refrigerator attacking a house full of people who previously abused it...in particular the one guy who chipped the ice off of its interior to cool down some drinks at a party. This, of course, is explained in a flashback...by the refrigerator. Yes, the refrigerator has a flashback. It's for gems like this that you should see the movie. How a stationary object, possessed or otherwise, would succeed in killing half a dozen people is beyond me, but it happens in this short film. I know, I know--it was a college film with no budget, etc etc; so props for the effort and all. But seriously...I guess you should really just see it for yourself.

If you like bad movies, this is the one to see. It's incredibly low-budget special effects (you'll see what I mean) and use of non-actors was what gave this film it's charm. If you're bored with a group of friends, I highly recommend renting this B movie gem. It's mulletrific!

It's ironic that literally twenty years after Michael Savino and I made "Frige" while students in college -- It gets all of this attention even to this day. Just a couple of interesting points: We had a $25 budget (for the smoke bombs etc.), It was shot on 1/2" video (before camcorders; separate deck & camera), No script (that's obvious) It was built around footage we shot for other projects, It was actually shot and produced in 1984 -- So this may very well be the first project shot and released on home video -- Ever; and we're pretty sure it was the first project with a $25 budget ever reviewed in VARIETY and FANGORIA. The soundtrack was created by spinning vinyl records at various pitch backward and forward through an analog audio processor made from an old reel-to-reel deck. The point I'm trying to make is this... We did this on our own time (not for any class) because of a love for film and video and the creativity it sparks. We never dreamed that twenty years later -- It would be used as a medium for discussion for good (and bad) filmmaking on something called the Internet -- And yes... we are now shooting a feature length "Killer Frige." Thanks!

That warning against chipping the ice in your fridge is there for a reason...

An amusingly stupid short in which a refrigerator does indeed attack and kill. Curiously, there's also a feature-length film with the same idea, The Refrigerator (1991). And evidently this short is going to be remade for a feature as well?

On video with The Hook of Woodland Heights (1990) (V), again, much more amusing than scary. These are also available on DVD now from the producers, along with another even lesser-seen short of theirs, Days Before Christmas.