THE TWO JACK FROSTS
by William C. Martell
When Hollywood isn't remaking classics or turning bad TV shows into films, they're
ripping off B Movies and hoping that no one will notice. It s bad enough that a couple
of years after that HBO World Premiere movie about the scummy deep-core drillers
trying to plant nukes in a killer asteroid hurtling toward Earth (WITHIN THE ROCK),
Hollywood does their big budget rip-off version (ARMAGEDDON)... or when the year
after my HBO World Premiere movie VIRTUAL COMBAT was in the can, Paramount
buys a script with the exact same plot called VIRTUOSITY... or when three years after my NIGHT HUNTER
premieres on CineMax, New Line does a scene-for-scene remake called BLADE. But now Hollywood is
ripping off obscure direct to video flicks.
Like JACK FROST (1996)... becoming JACK FROST (1998).
Yes, kids, there WAS an early frost.
In a fit of masochism, I decided to watch both the 1996 B horror movie version from
A-Pix and the big budget 1998 family film version from Warner Bros. and here is my
report...
CONCEPT:
In JACK FROST (1998) Michael Keaton plays a killer blues singer named Jack Frost
who gets killed in snow storm related car accident on the way to a gig (the biggest
day of his life) and is reincarnated as a talking snowman.
In JACK FROST (1996) Scott MacDonald plays a serial killer with the blues named
Jack Frost who gets killed in a snow storm related car accident on the way to his
execution (the last day of his life) and is reincarnated as a talking, killing snowman.
In JACK FROST (1998) Joseph Cross is Keaton s neglected son, yearning for his
father s attention... but dad is too busy with his career. Dad constantly lies to his son,
flakes out on an important hockey game, then is too busy to spend Christmas with the
family because he has a gig to play.
In JACK FROST (1996) Zack Eginion is the Sheriff (Chris Allport)'s neglected son,
yearning for his father s attention... but dad is too busy with his career. Dad doesn't
lie to his son, doesn't flake out, but is too busy dealing with a series of gory murders
to spend Christmas with the family.
MAN AND SNOWMAN:
In JACK FROST (1998) musician Jack Frost is reincarnated as a snowman after his
son plays a magic harmonica.
In JACK FROST (1996) killer Jack Frost is reincarnated as a snowman after he gets
splashed with top secret government DNA goo transported in a tanker truck.
In BOTH versions of JACK FROST there is a touching, emotional scene where the
lonely son puts the eyes, nose, buttons and hat on the snowman, unaware that it is
alive! Really creepy stuff! You expect the snowman to grab the kid at any minute!
JACK'S BACK:
In JACK FROST (1998) Henry Rollins plays a guy who freaks out when he sees the
walking, talking snowman, and spends the rest of the film running through town acting
crazy.
In JACK FROST (1996) F. William Parker plays a guy who freaks out when he sees
the walking, talking snowman, and spends the rest of the film running through town
acting crazy.
In JACK FROST (1998) the snowman is created by expensive computer animation,
but the black button eyes... black as coal, emotionless, evil... make him look creepy.
In JACK FROST (1996) the snowman is some guy in a bad costume, but the carrot
nose and button eyes... cartoonish, obviously fake... make him look silly.
JACK BE NIMBLE:
In BOTH versions of JACK FROST the snowman removes his head and holds it up so
that he can see through a high window.
THOSE MEAN BULLY KIDS:
In JACK FROST (1998) the son gets into a snowball fight with a gang of bully
snowboarder kids, and is saved when Jack Frost the snowman pummels the lead
bully kid with thousands of snowballs. Hooray!
In JACK FROST (1996) the son gets into a fight with a gang of bully sledging kids,
and is saved when Jack Frost the snowman cuts of the lead bully kid s head with a
sledge blade. Yech!
CRUEL SCENES (part 1):
In JACK FROST (1998) there is a scene where a dog rips off Jack Frost's arm! A
scene where Jack Frost is hit by a snowplow and dumped into a snow bank! A scene
where Jack Frost's head falls off, and he makes a few smart-ass remarks before
putting it back on.
In JACK FROST (1996) there is a scene where Jack Frost smashes a woman's face
into tree decorations until she dies! A scene where Jack Frost shoves an axe handle
down a guy s throat! A scene where Jack Frost s head falls off, and he makes a few
smart-ass remarks before putting it back on.
In JACK FROST (1998) there is a creepy scene where Jack Frost (snowman) follows
the son around, stalking him, frightening him.
In JACK FROST (1996) there is a creepy scene where Jack Frost (snowman) follows
the son around, stalking him, frightening him.
JACK THE RIPPER:
In JACK FROST (1998) there is a terrifying scene where the son hangs off the edge
of a cliff! A frightening scene where bully kids are smashed flat by a giant Indiana
Jones snowball! A scary scene where a bully kid rolls down a cliff!
In JACK FROST (1996) there is a really silly scene where a babe gets naked and
takes a bath... not knowing that the water in the tub is really Jack Frost in his liquid
state. Sort of Jack and Jill in a pail of water...
NIPPING AT YOUR TOES:
JACK FROST (1998) has a suspense scene where the babelicious mom (Kelly
Preston) is about to discover the walking, talking, smart-ass snowman is in her kitchen
after noticing a big wet footprint/puddle on the linoleum.
JACK FROST (1996) has a suspense scene where the babelicious mom (Eileen
Seeley) is about to discover the walking, talking, smart-ass snowman is in her kitchen
after noticing a big wet footprint/puddle on the linoleum.
EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK:
In BOTH versions of JACK FROST a leaky kitchen sink in babelicious mom's house
figures into the plot.
THE SNOWMAN TALKS!
Sample funny dialogue from JACK FROST (1998) - "You the man!" "No, YOU the
man!" "No, I'm the SNOW man!" (Jack and his son bonding)
Sample funny dialogue from JACK FROST (1996) - "Hey! I can see your house from
here!" (Jack catapulted into the air)
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK:
In BOTH versions of JACK FROST no one seems to find anything unusual or silly
about a walking, talking, wise-ass snowman. It's as if this kind of thing happens every
day. In the big budget family film version, the son has no problem believing in the
talking snowman, but needs to be convinced that it's his musician dad, Jack Frost,
reincarnated.
In the B movie horror version, the FBI and Sheriff have no trouble believing that the
talking snowman is killing people, or that it's really serial killer Jack Frost reincarnated.
The only characters who think a talking snowman is a crazy idea are portrayed as
crazy themselves. Both films never try to come up with a rational explanation for why
a guy would be reincarnated as a snowman, instead they try (and fail) to create a
world where being reincarnated as a snowman is a normal occurrence. (Yeah, that
happened to my Uncle Phil... my Uncle Harvey was reincarnated as an invisible
rabbit...)
In JACK FROST (1998) the son tells the bully that the talking snowman is his dad,
and the bully JUST BELIEVES HIM! Then, for some dumb reason, becomes the
son s friend/helper! Huh?
In JACK FROST (1996) a scientist tells the FBI agent that the talking snowman is the
serial killer, and the FBI agent JUST BELIEVES HIM! Then, for some dumb reason,
the FBI agent and scientist team up to capture the snowman! Huh?
I'M MELTING:
In JACK FROST (1998) Jack's days are numbered because a warm front is moving in,
melting the snow on the town's streets. In one scene, the son threatens Jack Frost
with a hair dryer... really sick, if you consider it s his reincarnated dad!
In JACK FROST (1996) they filmed someplace where there wasn't any snow on the
streets in the first place... but they spread around some white "snow blankets" to make
it look like winter. It looks like it's about 80 degrees in most of the scenes. You
wonder what effect heat has on Jack Frost. In one scene, the Sheriff threatens Jack
Frost with a hair dryer... really confusing if you consider that Jack Frost has the power
to turn into water in order to sneak under locked doors, then re-freeze himself into a
snowman. If they blast him with hair dryers, why doesn't he just use his re-freezing
powers.
JACK IN THE BOX:
In JACK FROST (1998) the son tries to keep Jack from melting by jamming him inside
the kitchen freezer... almost caught by mom when she notices the melting ice cubes.
In JACK FROST (1996) Jack gets the drop on some teenagers by jamming himself in
the kitchen freezer... then attacking when they look for ice cubes.
JACKING OFF:
In the late JACK FROST (1998) the snowman gets knocked to pieces, and re-
assembles himself WRONG! Head in the wrong place, arms in the wrong place, etc.
Of course, he makes a wise-ass remark about it.
In the early JACK FROST (1996) the snowman gets knocked to pieces, and re-
assembles himself WRONG! Head in the wrong place, arms in the wrong place, etc.
Of course, he makes a wise-ass remark: "Look, I'm a Picasso!"
CRUEL SCENES (part 2):
In JACK FROST (1998) in a tender, touching scene, the son slams holes in his
reincarnated snowman dad with hockey pucks - about a dozen holes - you can see
right through all of them! But Jack scares the hell out of his son by sneaking up
behind him and yelling BOOOO! a couple of times as revenge. Jack Frost ties a dog
to a sledge and WHIPS IT as if it s a dog team! But still, Frost MELTS in the heat -
sizzling across a hot asphalt parking lot... losing many of his precious bodily fluids!
And, did I mention the son trying to melt his ass with a hair dryer?
In JACK FROST (1996) they use hair dryers to melt half of Jack's head off, stab him
with ice picks, throw him out a window, run over him with a car, and toss him in a
furnace. Actually, nothing in the horror movie version holds a candle to the cruel, evil,
sick stuff that happens in the family film version!
I ONLY HAVE ICE FOR YOU:
In the later FROST, the son gets his snowman dad into the mountains before he
melts. But snowman dad tells the kid that his job on earth is over (I guess he scared
the crap out of enough people) and it s time for him to move on. But Jack has seen
Spielberg s E.T. in his pre-snowman days, so he tells his son, "If you ever need me,
I'll be right here," and touches the kid's heart. Then there s a bunch of special effects
and the snowman seems to blow away... up to heaven!
In the early FROST, they kill him by forcing him into a pick-up truck bed filled with
anti-freeze. Jack dissolves, his arm falls off, and other fake looking effects happen and
the snowman melts away... down to hell!
CONCLUSIONS:
BOTH versions of JACK FROST end with white credits on a black background, with
cute little cartoons of snowmen in the margins. I swear - it's the exact same credit
sequence! (Only the names were changed to protect the guilty!) Both end title rolls
have jokes hidden in the credits, with the family film claiming that "No Snowmen Were
Harmed In The Making Of This Film".
Come on! Of the two JACK FROSTs, the family comedy provides more horror and
cruelty, while the horror version is actually funnier! The horror version actually has
better family values, and more characters with more morals! It s a strange, strange
world we live in, Master Jack!
...FADE OUT
FINALLY!
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