The Chilling (1989) User Reviews

As least the box art looks cool...

[ecto216 · 4/10 · 12 March 2003]

The combination of Dan Haggerty (Elves) and Linda Blair (Exorcist) is enough to make any horror fan excited about this movie. And once you see the cover art to this film of a frozen zombie coming out of their cryogenic chamber, you'll think you were in B-Movie Horror Heaven. At least that's the way I approached this film. But boy, was I in for a shock

I love horror movies. I love B-Movies as well. Nothing makes my day more than a cheesy little film about zombies, monsters, murderers, that sort of thing. But to say that this movie was lacking, is an understatement. This movie was pure trash. You'd think the zombies would look somewhat like what the cover-art of the box displays, but instead, you get actors with masks that are clearly sold at any Halloween display counter. Furthermore, the script is beyond pitiful. Our main character, Joseph, suffers the loss of his wife and son and seeks solace in the warm-hearted Mary, played by Blair. Not once do you see any sign of sadness or discomfort on the part of Joseph's character. Instead, we see the head of the cryogenic labs, a man named Dr. Miller, eager to get the dead bodies and experiment with their organs. There is no emotion or anything to make you believe you should give a damn about anyone in this film.

All and all, very disappointing. All the elements to make a great horror film were there. You had your zombies, your decent actors, and your story. But the lack of good writing and little if any sense of direction screwed this one up royally. Overall, 4 out of 10

Night of the Frozen Living Dead

[udar55 · 3/10 · 21 July 2008]

I'm all about the walking dead, but my mind is still unsure of the walking, frozen dead. Sadly, THE CHILLING didn't help me make up my mind. This is really slow with nothing happening for the first 45 minutes, making me hit the "film enhancement" button several times. By the time the well designed zombies show up, it is too late and the director (two are rumored to have filmed this) has no idea how to shoot them. Haggerty, Blair and Donahue all look tired/embarrassed/recovering in some fashion. I will give the film credit as it predates the T2 ending with villains being frozen by liquid nitrogen. The Shriek Show DVD offers an extended promo reel from back in the day that runs 8 minutes long and I would actually recommend that over watching the flick in its entirety.

Great example of summer movie...

[kohl_caked · 5/10 · 28 July 2005]

So, it was corny... extremely corny. I loved this movie, though. It has been given horrible reviews by pretty much everyone who has seen it. This, however, has been one of my favorite corny horror movies for many years. It is worth many laughs.

The zombies in it are the most creative I have seen in any horror movie, and I have seen a lot of them. The whole idea and plot are trite, but I think that it embodies the B movie... right down to Linda Blair playing a main character.

In short, and I know this was already short... watch this movie or I'll make you watch it.

Perfect trash

[Kastore · 1/10 · 20 May 2002]

When I decided to try watching a movie about cryogenic zombies ("cryonoids"), I wasn't expecting a whole lot. That's exactly what I got, and then even less. Aside from a shortage of special effects (squibs?) and a severe lack of any acting talent, "The Chilling" also sports the absolute worst script I've ever seen made into a movie. I had to stop the tape numerous times during the first 45 minutes in order to repair the damage done to my intellect for witnessing such atrocious dialogue as there is found here.

Furthermore, the collection of characters is so formulaic and one-dimensional it's ridiculous: the corrupt doctor; his assistant, played by Linda Blair (we know she's his "assistant" because he repeatedly refers to her by that title); the recently-widowed businessman with a heart of gold who develops a romantic interest with Blair's character; his criminal son; the Blair character's alcoholic, abusive, unemployed boyfriend, whom we are introduced to in the most contrived use of a flashback; and, of course, the rough, tough, bearded security guard who becomes the hero.

Apparently, the preserving fluid which some cryogenics lab uses on its bodies is highly conductive, naturally resulting in disaster when all of the lab's containers end up outdoors in a remarkable sequence of events during a lightning storm (on Halloween night, no less). As for the zombies themselves, if you enjoy watching people in green latex masks walking around in aluminum foil suits, then "The Chilling" is the movie for you. The zombie action is very weak at its best; the zombies' primary killing method seems to be grabbing people by the shoulders and shaking them to death. The businessman and the security guard do most of the zombie fighting, including a highly suspenseful scene of re-freezing the undead with liquid nitrogen. Let me tell you, the steel mill scene in "T2" has got nothing on "The Chilling" in portraying an enemy getting frozen in his tracks like that.

How Linda Blair ended up stuck in the middle of this piece of dreck is indeed a mystery. True, her career didn't exactly skyrocket during the 80s (sadly), but this movie is an embarrassment for her. The script doesn't even have the decency to put her to any good use. The most that her character is given to do is shriek out things like "Here they come", "Do something", "Hurry!". The only thing I can figure is that poor Linda was compensated for her work on this film in rations of food. The hero is played by Grizzly Adams himself, Dan Haggerty. In this picture, he faces stiff acting competition from his beard and the security dog, and he does his best to outperform them both.

The only frightening part of "The Chilling" is the introduction which brings up the factual elements of cryogenics and suggests that "the film you are about to see could happen in your own community". As I was counting the number of times a few of the names are repeated in the closing credits, I was floored to suddenly see Lucasfilm get credited. Fortunately, it was only for the movie's sound production. 1/10.

The Little Horror Film That Could

[shaneschoeppner1 · 28 January 2012]

The Chilling is, as far as I know, the Alpha and Omega of cryogenic zombie films. It's a somewhat original idea, and it's a testament to the filmmakers that they did as well as they did with the material, considering that this was an ultra low-budget affair, with it's share of turbulence during production. Linda Blair stars as Mary Hampton, the assistant to successful Dr. Miller (Tab Hunter), who owns and operates a cryogenic facility. Here, wealthy families pay big bucks to have their deceased loved ones frozen for future resuscitation. Compassionate Mary feels that it is a good place to work, with a solid, respectable mission; that is, until she suspects Miller of deceiving his clients and selling body parts for profit. On Halloween night, security guard Vince (Dan Haggerty) is on duty when lightning from a terrible storm fries the clinic's power generator. When he can't reach Dr. Miller for advice, he moves the containers that house the patients outside into the cold. Before you know it, lightning strikes the metal containers and the cryogenically suspended patients are turned into burned, blood-thirsty zombies. A wealthy client, Joseph, whose son and wife are two of the clinic's patients, begins an affair with Mary. Together with Vince, as well as Mary's violent ex-boyfriend, the group must face the horror of The Chilling. Linda Blair continues her slew of 80s horror cinema here, fighting zombies for the first time in her career, and also quitting a film for the first and only time in her career. It seems apparent that the dispute was over money. A photo double was brought in and appears in the last fifteen minutes of the film, until a clip shot prior to Blair's departure is inserted at the last minute to keep her in the movie until the end. Oddly enough it works, and gives the film a touch of Ed Wood-ness, quite like the work he did with deceased Bela Lugosi in Plan 9. Overall an entertaining horror movie, bolstered by the star power of Blair and the acting chops of Haggerty and Donohue. The Shriek Show/Code Red DVD looks surprisingly good for such an obscure film, and it's loaded with extras, including Behind the Scenes of The Chilling, outtakes, and two trailers.

I liked Troy Donahue

[corley-todd · 5/10 · 14 June 2010]

I became Jack Sunseri's attorney just before this movie's "Grand Opening" at Oakland"s very grand Grand Theater. So my first view of the picture was on the big screen, which has got to be a different experience than seeing it on video.

I got a kick out of Troy's role which I think he did with tongue-in-cheek. Linda appeared not to be very into the picture.

Some have complained about the Zombi's being wrapped in foil but that is how they were wrapped when they went into the freezer units.

The idea was good and Jack should clean it up and try again if he is still in the game.

Jack did a pilot for TV which was much better than "Teletubbies", staring Dana Plato and a very funny cast. It should have made it.

This movie should be frozen...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 17 April 2011]

Alright, well I had no idea this movie was from 1989, I just saw the DVD cover, and it looked interesting enough. Anything with zombies usually has my attention right away. So I picked this movie up and went home to watch it.

Now, cryogenics is not a bad thing in a movie, but in this? Wow, what where they thinking? I thought that it was common knowledge that when you freeze something it is preserved in its present state. Yet, however, the bodies in this movie were decaying and rotten when they came out of the cryo tanks. What was up with that? Were the tanks not properly closed? Leaking? What was up with that...

The movie took well over 35 minutes before anything real interesting happened. And during these 35 minutes you are just sitting around waiting for something to happen, and you are acquainted with a bunch of dull and personality-depraved characters.

Okay, lightning strikes and it is one in a how many thousand chance of happening? I am not sure, but for lightning to strike over 11 times in the same place in a 5 meter radius that is just ridiculous. When that scene took place, the movie went downhill, and it went downhill fast!

Alright, moving on to the revived frozen dead, or zombies (let's call them what they really were). Some of the masks actually looked decent enough. But why where they all a murky color of brownish-green? And what was up with the glowing eyes? I just didn't get that. Moving on, how come some times the zombies were only able to stagger and walk with a limping gait, but other times they were able to run and jump? Pick one and stick with it, wow! Still not done here with the zombies, the sound they were making? Again, wow! It sounded like a young elephant in pain or a horse in labor. It was terrible.

The cover had Linda Blair on it, and right enough for that, sure her name is legendary for her role in "The Exorcist", but come on, that was back then, and her name was on the cover here just to lure people in.

For a horror movie, then "The Chilling" is really boring and uneventful. And I am sure for a 1989 movie, it wasn't even really scary back then. I remember having seen horror movies from the 80's that were far more scary; "C.H.U.D." for example.

"The Chilling" might be worth giving a chance if you are a fan of Linda Blair, but otherwise, there is nothing interesting to be had from this movie. Except for the ending perhaps, that was the lamest ending I have seen in ages.

The Dull and Bloodless Art of Cryogenics, with Linda Blair

[Coventry · 2/10 · 13 December 2009]

As to be expected, there's a pretty good reason why this film is so obscure and unknown in spite of dealing with the always-popular premise of zombies and starring the 80's B-movie queen Linda Blair, namely: it sucks! "The Chilling" is trying enormously hard – way too hard – to be a story with depth and factual background, whereas it should have just been a light-headed and gore-packed horror flick about frozen zombies. It takes an incredibly long time before anything remotely interesting or significant happens. There's a lot of drivel about cryogenics, which I learned in my physics class is the study of products and their behavior at extremely low temperatures. So naturally, in this film a bunch of people are studying the behavior of human corpses when deep frozen. Needless to say this is extremely boring, until two dim-witted night watchmen decide, during an electric power failure, that it's a good idea to put the metal-constructed cool cells outside at the heights of a thunderstorm. The coolers are struck by lightening, obviously, and the bodies spontaneously defrost and come to live to go on a murderous zombie rampage. "The Chilling" is a boring and surprisingly (for a late 80's effort, at least) gore-free horror film that doesn't even use up a quarter of its potential. All the painful attempts to build up an atmosphere of suspense and eeriness fail tremendously and I can't think of any reason why the zombie-attacks had to be so bloodless. Even in spite of the low budget available, they could have done better. The set pieces, make-up effects and costumes are pitiable. The research lab, for example, looks like a proper apartment flat whilst the zombies couldn't look less menacing with their green faces and foil-wrapped outfits. How Linda Blair managed to get involved yet again in such an embarrassing low-budgeted horror flick is a complete mystery. She's attracted to lousy B-movies like bees are to honey.

cryogenic zombies; OK idea very poorly executed; cheap and dull

[FieCrier · 2/10 · 10 February 2005]

Woof! Pretty boring, and they might as well have shot it in black and white, it was so colorless.

The movie starts with rolling text explaining cryogenics, and asking whether god or Satan is behind it. There are some protests outside a cryogenics lab. Some people rob a bank, and many of the robbers and guards get shot. The father of one of the robbers (I think) arranges to have his son frozen. There's a lot of jumping around in the beginning from scene to scene introducing characters without us knowing how they relate.

There's a power outage, and the cannisters containing the frozen people get struck by lightning, and they emerge as zombies. They're all wearing silver mylar-like suits, and their skin is dark green and wrinkled (no idea why they look so bad - being frozen evidently didn't preserve their looks), and they have silver eyes. They go around killing people, sometimes lurching like zombies, sometimes moving like normal people.

Linda Blair keeps showing up every once in a while, to what purpose I'm not really sure. I think her character works at the cryogenics lab, but she's not very important to the plot, and her role is very small.

The movie ends with some freeze frames with text captions that tell us what happened to the characters next, which are pretty silly.

Hilariously awful zombie romp.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 2/10 · 13 March 2003]

"The Chilling" directed by Deland Nuse and Jack A.Sunseri is one of the worst zombie flicks I have ever seen.Why Linda Blair("The Exorcist","Witchery")appeared in this stinker is beyond me.The plot is really dumb:the frozen bodies at a cryogenic lab are revived after lightening strikes and turned into cannibalistic zombies.The characters are completely one-dimensional and stupid,the zombies look horrible and there is no gore.Avoid this cheap piece of trash like the plague.My rating:1 out of 10.

Would God approve of this...or is it Satans' movie?

[Hey_Sweden · 4/10 · 28 July 2012]

This viewer is sure most people would tend towards the latter judgment.

After a priceless opening text that educates us a little on cryogenics (yet is ultimately tongue in cheek), we get into the story of the living dead inundating a cryogenics lab. A bad storm creates a power outage at the lab, and the head security guard (Dan 'Grizzly Adams' Haggerty) thinks he's doing the right thing by transporting the tubes containing the dearly departed into the open where it's cooler. However, lightning strikes the tubes, and reanimates the bodies. Add to this a subplot about the nefarious head of the facility (Troy Donahue) selling human organs on the black market, and one has the recipe for a clunky and dumb B picture.

Now, this viewer loves B genre pictures, good and bad, but this requires more patience than usual to get through, as it just doesn't deliver much, and doesn't offer us much that we haven't seen before. That said, I think it can only be a *good* thing to see the shambling corpse of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Hey, any distinction is worth mentioning.

Directors Jack A. Sunseri (also the producer) and Deland Nuse (also the cinematographer) do what little they can with their material, and create some fun little moments here and there on the valuable "so bad it's good" level. However, they're also stuck with some unbelievably amateurish and unconvincing acting in pretty much all of the supporting roles. Jack De Rieux as nice guy businessman Joseph Davenport Sr. is a particularly big offender. Ever perky, ever lovely Linda Blair (as the evil docs' assistant (Don't worry, she wasn't in on it!)), Donahue, and Haggerty gamely put on poker faces throughout, and it is nice to see Haggerty become something of a hero after his earlier mistake.

Makeup effects are substandard, but who really would expect anything different from a regional production obviously done on a low, low budget?

Unfortunately, all of this just isn't as much fun as it could and should be. If one is a fan of Blair, she definitely did some better things during this period. At least at the end we get updates on all of the major players, and it does close out the picture with some real humour.

Four out of 10.

Cool movie...I was in it.

[ridgelive · 10/10 · 24 May 2009]

Well well, I didn't even know this movie was listed on IMDb.

Yes it is a cheesy b movie and yes I was in it, and so were a bunch of my friends from our acting class... so that is why it gets a 10. It was tons of fun to do and other friends of mine get a kick out of seeing me in it.

It is a shame they spelled my last name wrong on IMDb... I will have to go back and check the credits.

Just look for the Loomis Guard...Kipovac that's me (I shoot the bad guy that is holding the shot gun)

So grab a beer, (or several! You'll need them) and enjoy the movie (the beer makes it better).

I want to know how to kill it! That's all I want to know!

[sol-kay · 5/10 · 26 February 2012]

***SPOILERS*** Former blond 1960's teenage heartthrob Troy Donahue looking at least 15 years older then he really is, at 52, plays the crazed and greedy Dr.Miller who runs a cryogenic center outsider of Kansas City city limits. Conning his clients that he's keeping their loved ones in cold storage until a cure is found for what put them there Dr.Miller is really involved in the black market human organ trade selling off the frozen stiffs body parts for tens of thousands of dollars to the highest bidders.

It's when on Halloween night a lightning storm hit the center and struck the steel containers containing the bodies of the frozen, with liquid nitrogen, cryogenic clients that they suddenly became "Zombiifies" and came back to life. It's Mr.Miller's assailant Mary Hampton, Linda Blair, who was suspicious of what her boss was really doing with the stiffs he was handling when she noticed that one of them bullet riddled bank robber Joe Davenport Jr, Ron Vincent, wasn't in the container meant for him. Joe Jr together with his mom Mrs. Ilene Davenport, played by Suzanna Camp in a non speaking non breathing and non living role, were put on ice by Joe Davenport Sr, Jack Derieux, in order to have them brought back to life in he very near future. As things turned out they came back to life a lot sooner the he as well as Dr. Miller expected them to! But not as living and breathing human beings but walking and cannibalistic dead zombies dressed in what looked like aluminum astronauts or space suits!

With the cryogenics zombies running amok it's the center's it's the handsome, with a full head of hair and beard that Bruce Willis would envy, security guard Sgt. Vince Marlow, Dan Haggerty, who takes it upon himself to stop them. While all this is going on Dr. Miller with his secret illegal human organ operation about to be exposed tries to get all the evidence, names addresses phone numbers and money transactions, of his crimes out out the center and burn them is himself attacked by the zombies and placed into a steel cryogenic container and frozen stiff for future study. It's later revealed that Dr. Miller's body was later donated to science in the study of Mad Cow Disease which he was suspected of having!

***SPOILERS*** As it turned out in what brought the zombies back to life a jolt of electricity it's the opposite that put them back in their place, dead & buried, liquid nitrogen! With Vince Mary & Joe Davenport icing them into suspended animation with the some two dozen fire extinguishers available to them at the center. Mary Hampton later realized what a fool she was by working for the by then late and frozen Dr. Miller and being involved unknowingly in his crimes against humanity as well as,in trying to bring the dead back to life, nature. And she ends up making amends for what she did by marrying Vince Marlow who turned out to be the hero of this turkey of a movie! Happy Thanksgiving!

linda blair didnt do anything here

[kingofhorrormovies · 16 August 2002]

i have to admit something here, i watched this movie because im a big fan of linda blair,in all movies she had a big role within the story: exorcist,hell night,chained heat even that repossesed but this movie is BORING that you cant imagine thats "her".man her role are hardly recognizable.

ok now lets talk about those mutants :the ppl behind this film should made their minds straight before scripting whether its a mutant movie or a zombie movie, some readers referring to them as zombies are they zombies ? NO because i didnt saw any of them walk slow and eat human flesh in any scene, ok are they mutants? NO because mutants dont look/act funny,and i saw one scene were a mutant tickling someone's back and have a quick conversation with him,according to this "horror" catagorized movie they are "crygenic corpses"who are wearing contaminated costumes and chasing or scaring linda blair and her BORING cast.

what can i say guys,linda blair shouldnt be in this movie ,and its a shame her role was a waste of her time and ours too.

i dont recommend this movie to linda blair fans,im sure they will be upset,i also dont recommend horror movie collectors to buy/rent this one,and to B-movie fans :you can watch it at your own decision

Bad...not quite so-bad-it's-good

[ofumalow · 3/10 · 24 March 2017]

The idea of Linda Blair, Grizzly Adams and Troy Donahue in one direct-to-video movie would be pretty gold, even without zombies. Actually, it's the zombies that are a problem here--the movie never quite figures out how it wants to depict them, so it tries every approach half-heartedly. Can they talk? Do they hunger for flesh? How decayed are they? Do they remember their old lives? All these things seem to vary depending on the scene, and perhaps fluctuations in a budget that was probably never generous.

The film is almost a camp delight, with its weird moralizing that doesn't quite come out and say "Embrace the Lord Jesus Christ," but does repeatedly suggest that cryogenics are a tool of Satan- -a bizarre idea to take so fervently that it apparently fueled this whole project, or at least its clumsy script. Once the action finally kicks in, the pace is decent enough, but as a horror film this is rendered consistently silly by the very lame fight/stunt staging and feeble/scant gore.

The name actors would stand out even if they weren't "names," because this is one of those movies where almost everyone in a subsidiary role is very amateurish. (i was surprised to find that the male lead eventually paired with Blair wasn't an executive producer or something, because he is so old, plain and charisma-free that one would expect he must have gotten cast by contributing to the film's financing.) Linda Blair attempts sincerity under circumstances which certainly don't merit or reward it; Haggerty is laid-back and pleasant as usual, though he'd gotten pretty heavy-set at this point; Donahue at least seems to be enjoying himself, chewing the scenery as the villain.

More interesting to think about--why DOES this cheesy undead movie always seem on the verge of a sermon?--than to actually watch, "The Chilling" is one of those films you can't really recommend even as a guilty pleasure (though it'll do on a slow night). But conversely I'd LOVE to read someone's behind-the-scenes account of how it came to be made, and then made in a fashion that suggests possible drastic problems occurred during shooting and/or post-production. (It's not unimaginable that two directors are credited because one was replaced mid-production--and it's notable that while neither did much else, one of them did a later movie that was apparently a porn flick.) Anyway, it's a curio that's enough of a misfire to explain why it's so little-known despite the cult-ready combination of actors and genre.

Tepid

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 25 March 2013]

Located in Kansas City, "Universal Cryogenics Laboratory" is owned and operated by a person named "Dr. Miller" (Troy Donahue) who is using the promise of cryogenic research to further his own selfish interests by harvesting organs instead. After he has obtained what he wants he has the bodies placed in a cryogenic pod without anybody knowing anything. Unfortunately for him, when a lightning storm knocks out the power and then further electrifies the cryogenic pods, zombies (of a sort) emerge. Now, some would argue that technically these creatures are not "zombies" in the traditional sense of the word. The reasons being that they aren't caused by a virus or created by voodoo. Instead, they are the result of an unusual set of circumstances and as such should be referred to as "animated corpses" similar, in that regard, to "Frankenstein". Regardless of what a person wants to call them they seek out humans and kill them. Now, as far as the picture goes, I enjoyed the performance of Linda Blair (as "Mary Hampton") and Dan Haggerty (as "Sgt. Vince Marlow"). But the plot of the film itself seemed too basic and superficial for either of them to really distinguish themselves. Everything-the action, the suspense and the horror-seemed tepid. And as a result I can only recommend it to "zombie" and/or "animated corpse" enthusiasts. Whichever the case may be.

Don't watch this stuff!!!

[POMO · 1/10 · 3 August 1999]

Well, I like to watch bad horror B-Movies, cause I think it's interesting to see stupidity and unability of creators to shoot seriously good movie. (I always compare this movies to - for example - some Spielberg's works and again-and-again don't understand the huge difference in what I see.) I like Ed Wood's movies cause it's so inept it's very funny. But people!!! "The Chilling" is not funny and is not even "interesting". It's EXTREMELY BORING horror movie without ANYTHING what makes even bad movies watchable. There's no acting, no screenplay, no direction, no thrills and not even blood. It's extremely inept amateurish film. It's definitely the WORST movie I had ever seen (and I had seen a lot of "worst movies" - believe me). I warned you !!! 1/10

A Messy, bad 80s sci-fi thriller

[Gunnar_R_Ingibjargarson · 4/10 · 28 February 2018]

Linda Blair, plays an emplyee at cryogenic centre, where bodies are being defrosted, not long afterward they turn into zombies. The Chilling is a not a very good 80s horror, the acting is ok though, but the script is just useless.

Needs more Linda Blair

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 14 June 2019]

I always wondered: Could Dan Haggerty and Linda Blair be in the same film someday? Happily, I can report that 1989's The Chilling - also known as Gamma 693 and The Thawing - exists.

Should you watch it? That depends. Have you seen Return of the Living Dead and always wanted someone to make a way worse version of it, but also confuse the plot with the moral dilemma as to whether freezing someone after death is right or wrong? Then good news! This one has you covered!

Universal Cryogenics is a successful business, freezing the recently dead until science can revive and cure them. The only problem is, once the power goes out in a storm, the frozen dead rise from their coolers and turn into zombies.

Who's to blame? Dr. Miller (Troy Donahue, yes, the former 1950's sex symbol who was also Hatchet's dad from Cry-Baby), who has been harvesting organs and selling them Mexican clients.

Only his secretary (Linda Blair, who seems to play as many secretaries as she wears large thick belts) and client Joseph Davenport can save the day. Or maybe save themselves. Luckily, they have Sergeant Vince Marlow, played by Haggerty, backing them up.

Co-directors Deland Nuse (Return of the Boogeyman) and Jack A. Sunseri (who produced The Dead Pit) really have a lot to answer for. The effects are abysmal. And at the end, it just feels like everyone gives in and this becomes a comedy.

After all, in the closing credits, we learn that Joe Sr. and Blair's character have gotten married and have a son named Joe Jr., while the thuggish Joe Jr. becomes the leader of the zombies - sorry, cynoids - that live in the Kansas City sewers. Dan Hagerty's character Vince has a black and white flashback to the death, rebirth and second death of his best friend before moving to the mountains of Colorado with Luke the dog and his pet bear, who we assume is named Ben. And then there's a shot of a zombie limo driver for no reason before five minutes of long credits.

That said, I never thought I'd see a movie where Troy Donahue uses a sword to cut a zombie's head off. And there's one dialogue scene where Haggerty has a conversation with Linda where he laments that he won't be able to dress up like Freddy Kreuger.

Honestly, watch it for yourself. It's still not the best movie Dan Haggerty has been in, however. But man, I could talk about Elves all day.

So cheesy...so what...it's good.

[ilostmyapples · 8/10 · 1 January 2009]

OK, we have all read our bad reviews about this movie. Lets get over it and move on. I'm a fan of cheese low budget gore to the extreme so this movie ( for a fan such as myself ) makes a lot of my collection feel like an ACTUAL movie. I love it. As I've said many times before, there is a special feel that I like to these low budget films, especially of the 80's films. The atmosphere in this movie was pretty creepy which was nice. The zombies wrapped in foil, okay..it's funny, but they did a pretty good job on capturing the overall feel of what a zombie film is suppose to have. It's not your average zombie film but enough to keep most zombie fans entertained. Pick it up and check it out. The least it could be is another one to add to your collection.

A gloriously godawful mess

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 6 May 2013]

The frozen bodies at a cryogenics lab get revived by a lighting storm and go on the rampage as lethal shambling zombies. Boy, does this honey possess all the right wrong stuff to qualify as an uproariously atrocious four-star stinkeroonie: Flat-footed (mis)direction by Jack A. Sunseri and Deland Nuse, a plodding pace, some hysterically horrible acting (Ron Vincent cops the top thespic dishonors as a twitchy bank robber), ineptly staged action scenes, laughable zombies wearing shoddy dimestore plastic masks that are wrapped in tinfoil, clumsy flashbacks, tacky gore (an impalement on a forklift and a decapitation by sword rate as the definite splatter highlights), a heavy-handed central message about the evils of cryogenics, a slapdash script, and gut-busting idiotic dialogue ("Die you green bag of snot!"). The Faded Name Hall of Shame Cast further enhances the considerable campy merriment: The ever-personable Linda Blair as perky lab assistant Mary Hampton, Dan "Grizzly Adams" Haggerty as gregarious security guard Sergeant Vince Marlow, and Troy Donahue as sinister mad scientist Dr. Miller. Don't miss the ridiculous "Where are they now?" updates at the very end. An absolute cruddy hoot and a half.

NOT THAT BAD AT ALL PEOPLE!!

[zombi4life · 7 January 2004]

This one was cool one of my fav zombie movies its not a gore fest but its fun.Campy as hell ther is bad acting ther was way cool zombies and linda blair some cool actors that do well for ther part it was camp fun all the way 7/10

All Right, Not Dan's Best work

[blassell · 10/10 · 29 December 2004]

Okay, so it was not the great American movie, But it did have some stars, and will be showing up on various lists for the foreseeable future/. It was shot in lovely Oakland California, and has some people in it who are about to break into the big time, put this on your hipster notebook, Bill Lassell, and Jim Redovian are coming back, and this time they don't need no lightning to strike it rice!!!! I saw this movie at a drive=in, I am pretty sure it was the last drive-in I ever saw, so how's that for nostalgia?

Linda Blair did not complete the movie, do you know who did? Dan Hagarty is in this movie, and god bless him, he does some of the best security guard work since Barney Fife!

A Good, Low Budget Zombie Movie

[The Creeper · 27 January 2002]

The Chilling is a Very Low Budget Zombie movie that Pulls off Good Scares and a Well Developed Plot. Owes a Bit to "Night of the Living Dead". The Acting is not Very Good, but no one I Know could have done Better! The Make Up Effects are Very Well Done. This Movie is so Creepy and I Recommend it to Any Horror Fan.

6 out of 10.

People who Enjoyed this Might like: The Dead next Door, Night of the Living Dead, The Dead Hate the Living, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, and City of the Living dead.

"Would God approve, or is this Satan's work?"

[Backlash007 · 3 August 2008]

~Spoilers~

Jack Sunseri, one of the driving forces behind Brett Leonard's 1989 zombie opus Dead Pit, decides to make his own 1989 zombie opus...and fails. The Chilling is high on concept, low on budget. It's a shame too because the plot is ripe for fun. On Halloween night during a particular nasty storm, a cryogenics lab is struck by lightning and all of the Popsicle "corpses" are transformed into Reynold's wrap-wearing, flesh-eating C.H.U.D.s that can only be stopped by Grizzly Adams. That's right, before fighting Nazi Elves, Dan Haggerty had it out with the undead (or cryonoids as they're sometimes called). Linda Blair is also running about in this farce. And by running around, I mean running around. That's all she is given to do; a shame really. I really do think that there was the potential for a good B movie here, but there's no talent behind the concept to pull it off.