A Swedish teen vampire comedy horror film isn't a huge genre, and it is always good to find something that tries something a little out of the ordinary.Sharing certain similarities with '30 Days of Night', the main thrust of this film reveals what happens when a group of teens mistake pills of what appears to be condensed vampire blood for narcotics. Instead of getting high, the teens develop vampiric tendencies.A film involving 'teens' usually scares me more than any monster, with relentless memories of the cat-walking petulant pouters often found being sliced by Freddie Krueger (or similar) over the years. But these Swedish juveniles are an appealing group, with little of the overbearing bravura of their Hollywood counterparts. The character of Sebastian, in particular, creates effective mayhem when visiting his girlfriend's parents after having taken a tablet, and is trying to make a good impression whilst fighting off the effects of his increasing vampirism (her father is a Priest, which doesn't help).In the end, the vampires appear to be running rings around the increasingly outnumbered police force, and remind them that here in Lappland, dawn is a whole month away, a reference to Sweden living in permanent darkness half the year round – perfect conditions for the undead.

Over here in Europe, and especially during the annual Horror & Fantasy Festivals all over the continent, "Frostbite" got endlessly praised and acclaimed as one of the most innovating and creative new vampire movies of the last few decades, but you honestly have to put all this eulogy into perspective a little. First of all because European horror critics understandably wish to promote our own stuff as opposed to that uninspired American "junk" and, secondly, because the guys behind the camera (director Anders Banke and producer Magnus Paulsson) used to be involved in the organization of the Swedish Fantasy Festival and thus the critics support each other. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the horror-festivals and I'm grateful that I can go and watch a truckload of new cult stuff there every year, but this circle of European Fantasy Festivals is undeniably some sort of elite club. That being said, I don't intend to state "Frostbite" is a bad film or anything … It just isn't as original and refreshing as it pretends to be. Given the North-Swedish setting, the tag line and the synopsis, I was anticipating a sort of predecessor to "30 Days of Night" but it's actually something completely different. The story revolves on an obsessive doctor trying to create the ultimate breed of vampires ever since he himself became one during World War II. He invented these red pills to fine-tune vampirism, but they accidentally end up at a local teenager's house party and all the guests gradually transform into bloodthirsty monsters. "Frostbite" features a lot of ideas and simultaneously attempts to parody the horror genre, but unfortunately it only became a very incoherent, not-so-funny and seemingly finished horror movie. The intro-flashback is overlong and, in general, not a whole lot is happening during the first hour. The last half hour compensates for a lot, though, since the film becomes extremely gory, absurd and tasteless. The actual ending comes abruptly and makes no sense at all, but the foregoing house-party massacre is quite cool to watch. The special and make-up effects are excellent (clearly, most of the budget went there) and the acting performances of the primarily young and inexperienced cast members are more than adequate. "Frostbite" is definitely an interesting and potentially terrific film, but the writers nearly didn't make enough use of the location's possibilities and the polar night concept.

During World War II, the Swedish army (under the direction of Hitler) is fighting the Russians, but is forced to retreat and hide in a cabin. Within the cabin lies a buried secret: a vampire named Maria. Sixty years later, the vampire menace returns to Sweden when a group of teenagers accidentally ingest tainted blood. Blood-thirsty teenagers? Oh my!Let me get something out of the way so we can end the discussion right now: this film is not the Swedish version of "30 Days of Night". You would think so when the back of the box emphasizes this is a very northern town with thirty days of darkness, and there's vampires. But it's not anything like that other movie. This one was filmed first and has no connection to the graphic novel. And, with the exception of one line in the film, the fact there are thirty days of darkness isn't even relevant to the plot (it takes place over maybe three days, always during "night shift" anyway). So, just ignore all that... because if you're waiting for Ben Foster, you won't find him.This film excels with the backstory. I really enjoyed how they tied the SS into the vampire legend, because connecting Hitler to evil is always a nice touch. But what I found even more interesting was how since this was from Sweden's point of view, the SS wasn't so much "evil" as it just happened to be a group of soldiers like any other country. Nazis with human traits -- wow, what a concept! Either way, it really gave a great background for what was to come later.I was curious about some of the humor. I enjoyed it (this is just as much a black comedy as it is a horror film, not far removed from 1980s teen films), but I wonder if Sweden is living in a time warp. One person uses the "falling and can't get up" joke, which is probably obscure to anyone younger than twenty-five. And they make cracks about the drummer from Def Leppard. Hey, I do it, too... but a band that reached its peak twenty years ago is a hot topic? Weird.More conventional humor exists, such as using a body chart as a dart board (the bullseye is the spleen). And this film offers what is the greatest weapon to use against vampires I've ever seen (at least as far as I can recall): a garden gnome. I have never thought to have a garden gnome as a weapon in a film, but I'm very thankful these guys did, because it sealed the deal on deciding between whether this was a good film and a great film. It's a great film.The main character is a hot chick by Swedish standards (the character Saga, played by Grete Havnesköld) and another character, Cornelia (Nour El-Refai) is okay, too. Saga's role as the heroine was a nice one -- she is the focus of the film, but isn't some great vampire slayer or trying to save her boyfriend (she's single, guys). She is the heroine simply because she is able to survive... at least longer than most of her friends. What set this film out from other vampire films for me was the great transformation sequence, showing a boy get the endless thirst. The following changes (allergy to garlic, dislike of Sun and crosses, no reflection) were cool, too, but the scene where he simply cannot control his thirst was amazing. I guess the talking dogs were alright, too, but I feel like something more could have been done with that (where's Zoltan when you need him?).They do a thing with "vampire vision" which didn't bother me as much as usual, because they kept it to a minimum. The vampire eyes in the dark could have been removed. And, you'll rarely hear me say this, but the cgi was okay. Seriously. I'm a puppet guy, a rubber suit guy... but I think the computer work here was pretty decent. Although I could tell it was a cartoon, it was better than a lot of the stuff I see today (compare the wall-climbing scene here to the one from "Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes" and you'll think this one is platinum quality). So ,good work.No nudity (sorry guys) but plenty of blood. Blood spraying, blood drinking, blood smeared on walls, animals mutilated... so that's not a concern. You'll get enough blood to satisfy yourself.I really enjoyed this film beginning to end. From the opening previews (1970s English horror films) to the closing credits, this is what I want to see more of: blood, hot chicks and a good black comedy with teenagers who actually look and act like teenagers. You know, like the 1980s and not so much like the 1990s (sure, Sarah Michelle, I believe you're in high school. Riiiiiight). Unless you have a strong aversion to subtitles, give this one a whirl. Best thing to come from Sweden since Ingmar Bergman.

Having read positive things about this flick I finally bought it on DVD in Denmark last year but only got around to actually watch it last night. I won't bother to go in to the plot but the biggest problem with this film is the terrible script and most of all the weak directing and editing. The director and editor simply don't know how to pull of a scare and all the potential horror scenes fizzle out with a limp whimper. The music doesn't evoke any horror and is to mellow to work in film like this. What bugged me as well is that there is no reason for the film to take place in Northen Sweden as the story didn't take any advantages of the location, as the film took place in only one night. A damn shame that Swedens first attempt at straight horror should be this turkey.