Frozen Alive

Frozen Alive is an odd mishmash of science drama, murder mystery and soap, but the narrative never really reconciles any of the threads. Moreover, when the frozen solid 'action' finally arrives, the pace is so slow that you may think that your screen has frozen. In this context, the creakiness of the film often makes it feel like a film made much earlier than the 1960s. Perhaps it was made earlier and kept in suspended animation? Anyhow, 1960s low-budget potboilers are often fun, but I'd recommend that if you get the chance to see this frozen-based caper, let it go.

Amiable Mark Stevens and scientific partner, the enigmatic Marianne Koch combine to tackle malignant diseases through cryogenics, but their experiments on apes are just a prelude to their ultimate test on a live human being which Stevens himself undertakes shortly following a murder in which he's implicated in absentia. Koch attempts to resuscitate Stevens to answer the allegations under the watchful eye of a Detective (Lukschy) and an independent observer (Lohde), concerned she may sabotage the experiment to protect Stevens from punishment.

Capable German-US-British cast deliver realistic dialogue and create a genuine tension that is based less upon the primary plot (cryogenics) and more on Delphi Lawrence's character as Steven's almost perpetually inebriated wife, jealous of his working relationship with Koch, seeking solace in the scotch bottle and that of her old flame and work mate Joachim Hansen. Lawrence's performance dares to be bold and obnoxious, and while sometimes intense, doesn't become melodramatic. I thought her performance injected a maturity that was a welcome diversion to what could have become a simple science experiment gone awry picture.

While the momentum is not always fluent, the pace sometimes stilted, and the suspense often telegraphed too early, the acting compensates to some degree, Stevens and Koch enjoying a on-screen rapport that serves the narrative well. My only significant criticism is the overly-simplistic conclusion - the elements are present for a firecracker ending, but it's resolved too quickly and conveniently to do the rest of the movie justice. Should have been better, but in my opinion still superior to the average 3 rating it currently attracts.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Bernard Knowles; Produced by Ronald Rietti and Artur Bruaner, Presented by Harold Goldman, released as "Frozen Alive" by Feature Film Corp. Of America. Screenplay by Evelyn Fraser; Photography by Robert Ziller; Edited by Steve Collins; Music by Eric Spear. Starring Mark Stevens, Marianne Koch, Delphi Lawrence, Wolfgang Lukschy, Joachim Hanson, Albert Kessler and Walter Rilla.

Anglo-German straight sci-fi film made in the English language, notable for the fine acting and attractive presence of Marianne Koch, who co-starred in "A Fistful of Dollars" around this time. The plot of a scientist freezing apes and humans experimentally is too often sideswiped by romantic subplots.

American star Mark Stevens ("The Dark Corner") stars in this German sci-fi flick as an American scientist, Frank Overton, working for the World Health Organization. He and his associate Helen Wieland (Marianne Koch) are performing experiments on chimps, putting them in deep freeze for a while and then resuscitating them. At roughly the time that Frank gets the bright idea to become a human guinea pig, something unexpected happens that lands him in trouble.

Screenwriter Evelyn Frazer and director Bernard Knowles don't have as much fun with this premise as one might hope they would. "Frozen Alive" is a classic case of "more talk than action", focusing on the personal problems of the characters (Overtons' wife Joan (Delphi Lawrence, "The Man Who Could Cheat Death") is resentful and an alcoholic) and not spinning a particularly interesting yarn. It's fairly static, and lacking in style, and one can see that this was done on a low budget. It starts to get better in its last half hour with its amusing twists of fate. Its opening credits are a gas, as the music segues from traditional ooga-booga sci-fi music to much more jazzy stuff.

The characters are reasonably engaging; nobody here is particularly dislikable. Stevens may be slumming, but he gives the material a straight faced go. Buffs will automatically realize that Koch and co-star Wolfgang Lukschy were also utilized in the legendary Spaghetti Western "A Fistful of Dollars" around this time. Joachim Hansen ("The Boys from Brazil"), Walter Rilla ("Day of Anger"), and John Longden ("Quatermass II") are among the solid supporting cast.

"Frozen Alive" is nothing special, but does offer a mild amount of fun.

Five out of 10.

As someone already said, this is a silly melodrama. It's more about a triangle with two scientists and the drunken wife of one of them. The fact that they are performing experiments in suspended animation using low temperatures is really not an issue. It is secondary to the efforts of the man to continue to live with this unstable women. At least her character is pretty believable. She is pathetic and unpredictable. The man is more than patient. The subplot has to do with the determination to perform these experiments on human subjects, which is met with resistance by the head of the lab. Even that is poorly portrayed and uninteresting.