The Frozen Ground
Tags: dramatic, murder

Plot synopsis:
The film opens in an Anchorage motel room in 1983, where 17-year-old Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens) is handcuffed and screaming for help. She is rescued by an Anchorage Police Department patrol officer. He takes Paulson to the hospital, and her clothes are kept for a rape kit. At an APD station, she explains to detectives that she was abducted and raped. Because she is a prostitute and lying about her age, the detectives do not believe her story, refusing to even look into the man whom she named as her abductor, Robert Hansen (John Cusack). They claim Hansen is an upstanding member of society, a family man who owns his own restaurant, and has alibis from three people.
The APD patrol officer who rescued Paulson is outraged that the detectives refuse to pursue Hansen. He surreptitiously photocopies information about the case and sends it to the Alaska State Troopers. Meanwhile, state trooper Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) has been called to investigate a female body that was found in the bush, half eaten by bears. The police connect the case to other missing girls, who have disappeared after going to what they thought were legitimate photo shoots. With secret information from the APD officer, Halcombe connects the other cases to Paulson's and starts to put together a portrait of Hansen. Paulson details how Hansen kept her captive, and that she escaped from his car when he tried to transfer her to his bush plane.
Meanwhile in Anchorage, Debbie Peters gets picked up by a man in an RV for a photo shoot. Later, Hansen eats a quiet dinner at home. His wife and children are away, and Hansen relaxes in his trophy room, casually ignoring Debbie who is chained to a post. She has urinated on the floor, and as she cleans up the mess with a towel, Hansen's neighbor enters the house to deliver a plate of food. Hansen warns Debbie not to scream and leaves the trophy room to greet his neighbor. Hansen then takes Debbie to the airport, where he orders her into his plane. After landing in a remote spot in the bush, Hansen frees Debbie, letting her run in a panic through the woods before he shoots her with a .223 caliber rifle. He steals her necklace before finishing her off with a handgun.
Halcombe has a very difficult time assembling a case against Hansen. Because the evidence is circumstantial and Paulson is afraid to testify, the district attorney refuses to issue a search warrant. Paulson keeps falling back into the world of stripping and prostitution, despite Halcombe's efforts to keep her safe. At a strip club, while she is trying to sell lap dances, she notices Hansen trolling for a new victim. Their eyes meet, a chase ensues, and Paulson barely escapes. The encounter makes Hansen nervous, and he hires Carl Galenski to find and kill Paulson. Carl approaches Paulson's erstwhile pimp Clate Johnson (50 Cent) and offers to forgive his sizable debt if Clate turns Paulson over to him.
Halcombe stakes out Hansen's house, causing Hansen to panic. Hansen gathers the evidence of his crimes, including the keepsakes from his victims, and flees with his son to the airport. He flies his plane to the bush and hides his keepsakes. Feeling that the chance to catch Hansen is slipping away, and with the victim count now at 17 girls, Halcombe forces the DA to issue a warrant. The search of Hansen's house yields no evidence, not even in his trophy room. Hansen agrees to be interrogated without a lawyer, but he is not yielding any new evidence. Halcombe arrests Hansen, but unless the police find new evidence, they will be unable to hold him.
Halcombe orders a second search of Hansen's house, which turns up a hidden cache of guns, including the .223 caliber rifle used in many of the murders. Under police watch at a safe location, Paulson slips away and returns to her life of prostitution. Clate picks her up and delivers her to Carl. When Clate attempts to rob Carl, Paulson uses the opportunity to escape, with Carl in pursuit. After making a call to Halcombe, Paulson is almost killed by Carl, but Halcombe rescues her just in time.
Halcombe uses a bracelet identical to one worn by one of the victims in order to trick Hansen into thinking the police have found where he hid the evidence in the bush. The bracelet, combined with the sight of Paulson in the interrogation room, enrages Hansen to the point that he incriminates himself. The epilogue states that Hansen confessed to the murder of 17 women and the kidnap and rape of another 30. He was charged with the abduction and rape of Cindy Paulson and the murders of Joanna Messina, Sherry Morrow, Paula Goulding and "Eklutna Annie". He was sentenced to 461 years plus life without parole. Robert Hansen died in 2014 at the age of 75. Only 11 of his victim's bodies were recovered. Jack Halcombe remained with the Alaska State Troopers and was promoted. He is now retired. Cindy Paulson now lives in the lower 48 and married with 3 children.
The film ends with a dedication and actual pictures of Hansen's victims.

Review: Reading it as a companion to themovie will help the viewer of "The Frozen Ground" realize the liberties that were inevitably taken to make it suitable for the silver screen as well as understand elements of Hansen's life and killing spree that the picture did not have time to delve into such as more of Hansen's background (which early on indicated a propensity toward crime) and the back story of the whole oil pipeline boom that produced the mafia controlled prostitution/strip bar scene that Hudgen's character is entangled in..
In fact, he plays a deeply decent, dedicated Alaska State Trooper who becomes convinced that a serial killer (also very well played by a creepy John Cusack) is stalking women in Anchorage.
In 1993, in Anchorage, Alaska, the young prostitute Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens) is found cuffed in her apartment and she claims that she has been rapped and threatened by Robert "Bob" Hansen (John Cusack), a citizen married with children.
The police officers do not believe on her words and Cindy returns to the streets and Bob is not accused.Meanwhile Sergeant Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) is assigned to investigate the murder of seven young women and the detective that found Cindy secretly sends her case to him.
Based on actual events, The Frozen Ground follows an Alaska State Trooper Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage), who is on the trail of trying to catch Robert Hansen (John Cusack), a serial killer known for murdering young women.
Together, the two must help bring down Hansen before more victims are claimed and before tries to come back after Cindy.After having quite a few bombs in the past couple of years, Nicolas Cage finally manages deliver.
I have been interested in serial killers for some time now and I am familiar with the real story upon which the movie is based.
Scott Walker has made a very gruesome, realistic, deeply disturbing (at times) work that shows the rotten depths of a psychopath's mind (John Cusack, a real gem of the film), and his main antagonist, a National Guard officer (Nicolas Cage, by the way, a very decent play here).
With Nicholas Cage, John Cusack and Vanessa Hudgens, Director Scott Walker has a heavy weight line up to help bring the events to life.
Unfortunately, 'Frozen Ground' feels repeatable from other serial killer movie that could bored fans of this kind of genre.
If the answer is 'yes' then you probably won't like 'The Frozen Ground.' It's based on a true account of the police's attempt to apprehend a serial killer in Alaska in the early eighties.
Nicholas Cage plays the cop and he spends much of the film interviewing witnesses, sitting behind a desk and trying to persuade judges that John Cussack is their man.It's hardly a thrill-seeking roller-coaster of a story, but, if you're in the mood for something a little more realistic then you might enjoy this.
In a nutshell, a movie that's not quite worthy of a big screen spectacle.The Frozen Ground is a fairly competent serial killer thriller with very few twists or surprises.
His short, but fascinating role in "The Paperboy" was more than enough to convince me he can play a deranged character.Due to the nature of the film and it's gruesome inspiration it's hard to justify saying this, but i wanted to see more of John Cusack as Robert Hansen.
But as the film is based around the knowledge of Cindy Paulson (played well by Vanessa Hudgens) i can only imagine that they had no in depth details on why Robert Hansen committed such horrible crimes and only had the story through the eyes of Cindy and Jack Halcombe (Cage).It is an OK film, in no way a classic.
Luckily, the cast is above average, and actors like Nicholas Cage, John Cusack and Vanessa Hudgens give decent performances, and the beautiful nature of Alaska (not often depicted in the U.S. movies) acts as a supporting actor.
With an A-list cast with Nicolas Cage and John Cusack, "The Frozen Ground" is an innovative, well-paced and engaging thriller having the appeal of a truth-based narrative.
"The Frozen Ground" doesn't have flaws in my opinion, there have been a lot of serial killer movies but this one's different, though containing an unnecessary subplot about Halcombe's family life.
There's only one type of movies that I personally appreciate even more than dark & disturbing horror films, and those are factual thrillers based on real-life serial killers.
In spite of several run-ins with the law before, Robert Hansen was considered a respectable citizen of Anchorage, with a lovely wife and two sons, while his victims were merely lewd girls."The Frozen Ground" isn't a very spectacular film, but it thrives on genuine tension and superior acting performances.
Based on a true story, (you get filled in at the end of the movie with updates to the case), Frozen Ground is a crime thriller set in a bleak landscape of murder and mystery.
You will learn a couple if things from watching The Frozen Ground, a few of them being in no particular order – first time director Scott Walker certainly loves his helicopter shots with Around 5 – 10 minutes of total screen time seemingly dedicated to them, poor old Vanessa Hudgens is hellbent on shedding her Disney image and has a case of the try hards and the actual movie of this horrific true life story could of been a whole lot better.The Frozen Ground had a decent sized budget and an intriguing cast so it's strange that the whole affair feels so cheap and nasty.
Cage is cold as trooper Jack, Hudgens misses the mark badly with her tough luck hooker Cindy and Cusack, while having some moments as creepy Robert is in the end a stock standard movie killer.
From what i know it is based on truth story happened a lot of girls kill by a named guy "Robert Hansen".Yes, firstly i thought this show is going to be very predictable but i was wrong.
The criminal outsmart the Alaskan Trooper.After watching the movie till the end, i said thumb up to John Cusack(Robert Hansen), he given a great aura how serial killer act.Also, this movie also add some very good details how the environment and harsh situation in Alaskan.This movie is great watch again and again.
Based upon true events in Anchorage, Alaska, 1983.Alaskan State Trooper Sgt Jack Holcombe (Nicolas Cage) believes there is a serial killer at work, but lacks evidence to prove that it is Bob Hansen (John Cusack).
The Frozen Ground follows the story of Alaskan State Trooper Sgt. Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) as he tries to catch a serial killer that has not been caught in 13 years.
Frozen Ground is another addition to Nicolas Cage crap movies he makes while trying to pay of his loans in real life.But this one was actually decent.It involves a cop, serial killer, and prostitutes.
RELEASED IN 2013 and written & directed by Scott Walker, "The Frozen Ground" is a crime thriller based on the true story of Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen, who raped, tortured and killed numerous young women from 1971-1983.
Inspired by the real life exploits of Alaska based serial killer Robert Hansen (played here by John Cusack), this is an okay thriller that pits the creepy Hansen against a dedicated State Trooper, Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage).
She is Cindy Paulson (Vanessa Hudgens), an underage prostitute.Much time is dedicated to the police procedural aspect to the story, as Halcombe and his many associates (played by Kevin Dunn, Dean Norris, Michael McGrady, Matt Gerald, and others) try to work within the law, and establish an airtight case.
This is the story, based on true events, of Alaska State Trooper Jack Halcombe's search and conviction of serial killer Robert Hanson, who killed women in the late 70's and 80's.There's a lot of story crammed into the 105 minutes runtime.
He does a great job of recreating the eras, both in sound and vision.Nicholas Cage portrays the trooper Jack Halcombe, and though we know he can really act, Adaptation, Matchstick Men, World Trade Center, and Joe, here we have the usual Nicholas Cage being Nicholas Cage (though I have to say I am a fan of his work as his films are enjoyable).John Cusack gives a subdued performance as the killer Robert Hanson.
No character shines above any of the others; this is not a Nicholas Cage film; it's not a John Cusack film.I really enjoyed this movie and would watch it again.
But to be blunt, then it was John Cusack who carried the movie and stood out in "The Frozen Ground".The story, which is based on real events, takes place in Alaska, where young women fall target and victim to a heinous abductor and serial killer.Nicolas Cage did a good enough job with his role as an officer of the law.
It's Alasken state trooper Jack Halcombe, Nicolas Cage, who connects the dotes in a number of murders that were committed over the last 12 years to finally track Hansen down.***SPOILERS*** The key piece of the puzzle to Hansen's killing spree is 17 year old runaway prostitute Cindy Paulson, Vanessa Hudgens, who was kidnapped by Hansen but escaped to tell about it as well as identify him.
Based on the true-life crimes of serial-killer Robert Hansen, this was a serviceable if occasionally clichéd thriller pitting Nicholas Cage's State Trooper cop against John Cusack's pillar-of-the-community with a dark secret.I didn't think the film quite got the mix right between respecting the unspeakable horror of Hansen's crimes with the conventions of a blockbuster Hollywood crime movie, although at least some effort was made, none more so than the solemn gallery of the images of Hansen's real victims as the last scene ends.
Elsewhere though there were apparent fictional set-ups of climactic near-misses (as when Hansen follows his 17 year-old near- victim and now key witness into a strip joint) and contrived set-ups (the way he magically locates said victim just by driving around the busy street at night) and of course the development of the working relationship between good-cop Cage and the young girl which naturally starts frosty but turns when they share remembrances of past losses.The movie doesn't present itself as a whodunit, introducing Cusack's psycho-killer right away as the perpetrator, perhaps in deference to his co-star billing as much as anything but may have played with a touch of mystery and suspense about it.
Cage and Cusack (who does bear a reasonable resemblance to the killer Hansen) are good in their lead parts and it's their playing that largely carries the film.The direction was okay, the story was reasonably well told but was largely devoid of major shocks and surprises or of course a real twist to set it apart from the pack.
During my second viewing I frequently hit the "Rewind" Button for the purpose of being clear on what had been said, what had been depicted; what were "The Facts" as the film-makers wanted me to know them?Still, despite the faults I found, I found this sequence sufficiently involving to garner respect for the acting and film-making to want to stay with the movie.This led to my second big problem with "Frozen Ground." I think the story being told is bigger, too complicated, for the movie in its "Running time." As I continued to watch I kept getting lost.
I think the studio, producers and film-makers recognized this and attempted to replace the "leg-work and brain-work" that resolved these crimes with depictions of emotional commitment and determination by the police investigators involved."Frozen Ground" is at its best during the sequences depicting conversations/interrogations between Nicholas Cage and John Cusack.
men AND women) like him.And more than this, I think "Frozen Ground" asks us...US!...you and me, to recognize and RESPECT that sex and any activity related to sex, not be discarded....DISREGARDED, because of its connection to sex.In the film the Hanson character (depicted by Cusack) states that he would not ask his wife (a person he "respects") to perform oral sex.
I knew what it was about since I've seen profiles of the particular horrific murder the movie was based on.All the acting performances were great: Nicolas Cage, Vanessa Hudgens, and Dean Norris (we all known from the "Under the Dome" TV series) were outstanding.They brought their 'A' game here.Now unexpected was John Cusack.
So much more deserving than the 6.5 currently showing.Cusack can be hit and miss with the roles he accepts with a very mixed history of eclectic and well scripted parts mixed with some shockers.Cage, like Travolta, either has a bad agent or will do anything for money.Fortunately both shine in this cat and mouse game which proves that a good story and snappy acting easily trumps a big budget.This nail biter is like Law & Order on steroids, so as a fan of this TV show I loved this movie.One of the better serial killer movies out there, not quite Silence of The Lambs but will not disappoint fans of the genre..
With the fine abilities of John Cusack in an opposing role, and other great go-to actors of similar genres, this is a lower-end serial killer movie to rival the likes of 'Se7en,' 'Summer of Sam' and 'Zodiac.' When a young prostitute is left alive by suspected serial killer Robert Hansen (Cusack), Alaskan State Trooper Jack Halcombe buries himself in the case, all too aware that if he fails, young women will continue to die and he will never get to lock Hansen away.'The Frozen Ground' is like a cross between Christopher Nolan's 'Insomnia' and 'Zodiac', being based on a true story back in the '70s and having a great amount of realism pumped into the film's dark and seedy aesthetic.
Halcombe knows this and as troubled as he is, being a family man himself, he cannot let go, but neither does Cage eat up the screen with his usual wackiness.Vanessa Hudgens is decent as troubled young woman Cindy Paulson and does a good job for most of the duration, but what really surprised me was 50-Cent's turn as a pimp.
An Alaska State Trooper (Nicolas Cage) partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen (John Cusack) to bring the murderer to justice.
I assumed the bad guy would get caught, but I didn't know what was going to happen to the girl or any of the other people involved in the case.I thought both Cage and Cusack, whom I don't see in enough movies, did very good journeyman acting work.
'THE FROZEN GROUND': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Routine serial killer thriller (based on actual events) that's highlighted by effective directing and topnotch performances.
The film was written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Scott Walker and based on the real life 1980's manhunt for serial killer Robert Hansen.
The film stars Nicolas Cage as the detective, John Cusack as the serial killer and Vanessa Hudgens as the young witness.
This movie was based on the Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen played by John Cusack.
The Frozen Ground is not an interesting film and it's not worth watching if you're in the mood for a thrilling intelligent movie but if you don't have anything to do and you would like to make fun of very bad John Cusack acting this is the movie for you.
Most of crimes in the USA are committed on those grounds.My recommendation is to watch this film if you like Nicolas Cage, I certainly do.
Critics and viewers who rate movies on IMDB have not even been enthusiastic either, and yet Scott Walker's film (at his first and only feature film so far, also the script writer) did not disappoint me.'The Frozen Ground' is based on true crime cases in Alaska in the 1970s and 1980s telling the story of the investigation that led to the arrest of a serial killer and rapist named Robert Hansen (the role played by John Cusack in the film).
Alaskan State trooper Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) is on the hunt for serial killer Robert Hansen (John Cusack).
Halcombe needs to persuade Cindy to help them in putting Hansen away before he kills again.Frozen Ground is really just your average run-of-the-mill mystery crime thriller adaptation that is based on the true events of serial killer Robert Hansen, who killed between 17 and 21 women.
John Cusack does a good job of bringing a cold-blooded performance to portray Robert Hansen, and Nicolas Cage is decent as a non-intense State trooper Jack Halcombe.In all honesty, Cage and Cusack are about the best this film gets as it is a very slow going movie and it really does just drag on.
A movie doesn't have to be non-stop action for me to enjoy and there have been slower-paced films I've liked, but for me after about 45 minutes Frozen Ground just gets boring.I kind of struggled to give the movie the rating I did, but it was bumped up mainly because of Cusack and Cage's performances.
2013 American Thriller based on the real-life 1980s Alaskan hunt for serial killer Robert Hansen (played hauntingly terrific by Cusack).
Why You Might Like It: This is a very good thriller/serial killer film that I highly recommend.
John Cusack is outstanding, Nicolas Cage is better than usual, and Vanessa Hudgens gives a surprisingly good performance.
Vanessa Hudgens plays against type cast as Cindy Paulson.Even though a true story it has a well filmed filmatic feel.
The story told in the film The Frozen Ground, is one such story, telling the world about serial killer, Robert Hansen.
Well made serial killer movie based on a true story.
This film tells the real story of a state trooper in Alaska, and his endeavors to bring a serial killer to justice."The Frozen Ground" is a well done film, it is intense and thrilling throughout.