"Bikini Girls on Ice" Blu-Ray Review - Written by Anthony T

Bikini Girls on Ice
Year: 2011
Director: Geoff Klei
Stars: Cinder Chartrand, Suzi Lorranine, Danielle Doetsch
Studio: Well-Go USA
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 82 mins

Plot Synopsis:

"Bikini Girls on Ice" on paper looks like the standard b-movie with hot women and blood going all over the place. Even with that, the film has managed to have a nice festival run. It picked up an award at the Traildance Film Festival, where it won best foreign Film and an honorable mention award at the Fright Night Film Festival. It has also played at various horror festivals like the Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, Big Bear Horror Film Festival and Freakshow Film Festival

The film is about a group of college girls that get stranded at an abandoned gas station, when their bus brakes down. There, they decide to have a car wash, since they can't get to their destination. But unknowest to them, a maniac killer lives there waiting for anybody that happens to end up there. Soon, the girls become scared and alone, as this maniac killer begins stalking and murdering them. Now left alone, the girls are forced to find way out of the abandoned gas station, before they end up on ice.

Film Review:

"Bikini Girls on Ice" is one of those films that isn't going to be on anybody's top ten lists, but it's a film that will please slasher fans. Co-writer and Director Geoff Klein does a good job making this film entertaining. The film has an old school eighties slasher feel, which helps this film not feel like your average low budget slasher. One of the things that Klein does well, he brings some tension to the scenes. I liked, how he makes builds it up through the dark scenery and the way he uses the film's score. It gives you that eerie feeling that something bad is going to happen. The other thing that I liked about his, the performances weren't annoying. For films like this, you tend to worry that the performances are going to be so annoying that it ruins the film. In this film, the performances are handled to the point that doesn't become a distraction. It's to Klein's credit that he keeps the major performances in line and makes the characters and the film fun to watch.

The screenplay written by Klien and Jeff Ross was good. One of the things that the writers do well, they allow time to develop the characters and get to know them. Some slasher films will try and mix the two. This film spends about a good fifteen minutes setting the characters, after the opening scene. It works very well, because I would gave a hard time caring about characters, if there wasn't any proper introduction. The other thing that I liked, the creation of the story. The writers make sure that the death scenes are creative and the way that they envision their characters. Both of those aspects makes the story entertaining, instead of watching a boring formulaic film. It's something that you want with a little film like this.

DVD Extras:

The extras here were lacking. The first thing on the disc is a three and a half minute behind the scenes featurette. This was horrible. One of things that I ask for this type of featurette is to making longer than the blooper reel. It's sad that it's very short. The featurette documents a couple of scenes that weren't important to the production of the film. I would've like to have heard an actor's perspective to the film, instead of relying on the director and writer commentary track. After, there's an eight minute blooper reel and the film's trailer.

Also on the blu-ray, there is an audio commentary track from co-writer/director Geoff Klein and co- writer/producer Jeff Ross. This wasn't listed on the blu-ray package, but it's a welcomed addition. The commentary track does a very good job going into the production of the films with Klein doing most of the talking. It goes into detail of the production from various facts about the production to some of the tricks that they used in shooting some of the scenes. It's a good solid track that makes up for the lack of an informative behind the scenes featurette.

Final Summary:

I was surprised that I had a good time with this, considering that it has the makings of a really bad movie on paper. "Bikini Girls on Ice" is a fun throwback to eighties slasher films.

Film Review Rating: Three and a half stars
DVD Extras: One and a half stars