User reviews

This movie is sadly overlooked and underated. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of Goldblum's better performances (sure beats ID4!). He was okay in The Fly, and okay in Jurassic Park too.

I like Kathy Baker's role, but she herself, I find a little annoying at times. Here she's dead on as a psychologist who begins to lose faith in her field.

Mostly thought, it's the tension this movie produces that won me over. For once I couldn't predict how it was going to end. Would she just quit and walk away from it all? Would she stick to her guns and ignore Mr. Frost's wishes like a "good doctor" should? Would she give in to Frost? I really saw it going any of those ways 'till the end.

I could really have done without Francois Negret-- his character was important, but as a person he really put me off. He was the worst part of the movie. And the performance of the doctor unable to withhold his love for Sarah was so melodramatic and overplayed, it bordered on revolting.

Overall I think this movie was original and cleverly-made.

True, there are plenty of devil-themed movies out there. But what makes "Mister Frost" different is that it looks more at how the Prince of Darkness might try to communicate with humans. Jeff Goldblum plays the title character, in the form of a man who suddenly is living in a villa and admits to having buried 24 corpses in his yard. After two years of silence, he starts talking to psychiatrist Sarah Day (Kathy Baker) and trying to convince her that he is in fact Satan.

This movie is sort of the flip side of stories about people who rediscover their faith in God. Sarah gives a speech detailing the fact that humans have wrought more havoc than the Devil seemingly could, Frost starts complaining that science has interfered with progress; he's trying to renew her faith in his existence. This is one charismatic Devil. That is, when he's not possessing people.

I certainly liked this movie. Far more perceptive than the average devil-is-trying-to-take-over-the-world story, it manages to be creepy without being particularly violent. Each of the characters looks just a bit menacing at some point or other. Early in the movie, Jeff Goldblum looks almost exactly like Michael Jackson in the "Thriller" video. Really good.

Also starring Alan Bates, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Vincent Schiavelli and Charley Boorman (John Boorman's son).

`You should fit in well here then. We have one patient who calls himself Lucifer and another calling himself Mephistopheles.' `There's one difference. They're obviously insane.' With this dialogue the tension begins to mount in Director Philippe Setton's thriller. Writers' Derry Hall and Brad Lynch have created a perfect showcase for the quirky acting talents of lead, Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum's character is arrested at the beginning of the movie for the savage torture/murder of 24 people. We become aware of these murders as we see the investigators watching the tapes he made. Their reactions intensify the impact more than actually viewing it our self would have. Frost is immediately incarcerated in a psychiatric institute where he begins to make the claim he is actually the Devil and his mission on earth is to cause people to regain their belief (faith if you will) in him. Strange things begin to happen shortly after his arrival, which cause Dr. Sarah Day, played by Kathy Baker, to consider his claim. The movie leaves it to the viewer to decide if Frost is really causing things to happen using Demonic powers or just `brilliantly' insane and everyone, including the hospital staff, is falling prey to his psychosis. It is a well-directed and written story with a standout performance coming from Goldblum. He instills in his character a certain evil slyness, which will cause you to glance quickly behind you when Mr. Frost lays his eye on you.

I found this really hard to review. Most of it I just hated. The music was horrifically bad, the visuals are awful, the sound quality muddy (in the version I saw). The acting is abysmal and that's partly due to a decidedly dreadful script and ridiculous direction. Kathy Baker is wooden (no surprise) as was her unconvincing "love interest". Actually, nearly everyone was bad. There's not a lot to recommend this movie but there's two things that make it worth seeing IF you're the kind of person who likes to experience great moments regardless of the crud they are surrounded by. One is the actual concept behind the movie - intriguing and could have been a classic story. THe other is Goldblum.

Jeffrey Goldblum is PERFECT in this. Even the camera work on him is suddenly fantastic. But it's his acting that saves this movie from being a total fail. He exudes charisma and menace and does it with seemingly no effort. Almost underplayed but all the more sinister for it. I was captivated. I can't rave enough about how good he was and I'm just so sad that everything else was so appalling that his brilliance was wasted. I've not seen Goldblum in many movies, I can only think of The Fly off-hand (loved it BTW) but this has made me decide to ferret out more of his work. Pure genius.

ALso the story itself was promising, it just wasn't told well. I actually hope someone good does a remake. There was some hidden concepts in it that are awesome (eg he just wants to cook stuff!)

So for the story/concept I'll give it a point and 4 points for Goldblum. Hope this helps you make up your own mind about whether to watch it. I found it free online - you can probably pick it up dirt cheap or free somewhere. If so, worth watching.

Love Jeff Goldblum, and never heard of this movie till the video stores were all closing up in 2005 and I bought this VHS for $1.00. It was an interesting little looked over mystery about a pretty casual serial killer, who likes to cook and take pics like he's Julia Childs or something. LOL Very slow, creepy movie and Jeff is actually quite charming and disarming in this role.

As another reviewer mentions, He is quite the mesmerizing and hypnotic DEVIL in the FLESH! ;D If your a Jeff fan, or enjoy older mystery, slow burn movies then check this out, it may surprise you. I was pleasantly surprised. :D.

When an insane mass murderer Mr. Frost (Jeff Goldblum) arrives at a secluded European psychiatric hospital, the only female doctor on the staff (Kathy Baker) finds herself strangely fascinated by him. He only speaks when she is around, and she is slowly seduced by his odd charms and mystique, despite his bloody past. Soon odd, frightening and deadly things begin to occur inside and outside of the clinic, and Mr. Frost reveals that he is more than just a mad serial killer, he claims he is Satan himself, and it is up to the doctor and a policeman (Alan Bates) to stop him.

For a so called horror film, nothing even remotely scary happens. Sure a few people are murdered and some 'scary' visions are seen, but even when these things happen, the filmmakers manage to make it boring, from beginning to end.

All the actors are terrible, especially Goldblum, who basically plays the same character he always plays but with long hair and a bad mood. The usually adept Kathy Baker seems bored whenever she isn't in some sort of trance or in Frost's thrall.

This movie has an interesting premise, but the script is pretty stupid, and the execution is even worse. Whether it was from budget constraints, a bad director, a satanic curse, or a mixture of all these things, the film is just awful. A better director could have taken the crappy script, improved on it's interesting conceits, and made a somewhat entertaining supernatural thriller. But there's no such luck here. What we get is a dull, wannabe intelligent horror film. It shoots to be in league with 'The Exorcist' but ends up in the toilet with 'Bless the Child.'

This is one of my favorite horror/suspense films of all time. Jeff Goldblum is excellent as the serial killer trying to convince Kathy Baker that he is the ultimate evil incarnate. Definitely one of his better performances. The script and plot are outstanding. The cast is great as well. Highly recommended.

Being a fan of Jeff Goldblum was the only reason to even pick this one off the "Favorites" shelf at Blockbuster.

I was, as always, impressed with Goldblum's savvy expressionism. His adroit tendency to make any other character in the film a hero or dolt as he chooses.

Where the hell was this film set anyway? American cars, Euro tags, accents from almost everywhere...

I'm quite sure that the best of this movie ended up in the director's pants and on the editing room floor. What exactly was the point, anyway? Was he really the devil? Did it really matter?

Another commenter stated it correctly that the best of the movie was in the opening scenes. We could have stayed on that tact, but no.

If you have other things to do, skip this one.

23 May 2010. Jeff Goldblum insidiously and scarily with intelligence inhabits the role of of the Devil in this occult horror thriller that avoids the usually overt bloody mess of its genre. Instead while there is the narcissistic and pretentious characters, it is never about the movie itself, it is about the mental and emotional conflict between good and evil. This movie is scary in its seductive illusion that evil can be good and funny, cunning, and diverting. But in the end it is nothing to be trifled with. Mr. Frost is a cold, manipulating and debonair creature that fools even the audience in calculating the emotional enrapture in a sinister way that even Hannibal Lector cannot, because Mr. Frost is the essence of evil. The movie is engrossing and wicked in its pacing, eerie music reminiscent of the 60s and 70s that even twenty years later screeches with mystery and fear. This movie is a densely "horrible" movie made all the challenging and impressive by its ability to still evoke terror, hatred, revenge by its omission of the more visceral physical depiction of raw and bloody gore allowing the audience to focus on the deeper, substantive essence of evil.

Lucifer has come out of hiding and steps up to make the world remember. Science has become the Evil of Men, and Beëlzebub cannot allow it. When He returns, the cripple shall walk, leading the innocents to their death. Thou shall behold He Who Has Returned in the form of Jeff Goldblum and His mysterious ways. He who is everywhere, in the minds of others, in the flesh of none. He who loves to cook, but shall not be seen eating. Slayer of adults, children, women and men. Serial killer turned mental patient revealed as the Devil himself. No man of faith shall challenge him, but a woman of reason. Thy eyes shall shine the Cross, when His influence beckons thee.

I was thoroughly amused by this movie. It utters profound monologues, insufferable dialogues and occasional lines of pointed finesse. An inappropriate musical score pushes it more towards the danger-zone of silliness. A romantic entanglement between a psychiatrist turned believer and a detective turned saint cringes the unfolding plot painfully. But there are several things quite in place in this movie, and Vincent Schiavelli's cameo is one of them... or not one of them. All possible redeeming qualities aside, in the end MR. FROST is saved by a gracious sense of devilry provided by Jeff Goldblum. He is stronger than passing time. No matter what the outcome, Evil prevails. Or at least, doubt remains.

MR. FROST is a France/UK co-production from 1990 and it somehow looks and feels like... a France/UK co-production from 1990. All this I previously wrote is true and present during 104 minutes, but a veil of minimalistic artiness might shield one's eye from it. A rather weird film, out of the ordinary, unique even, slightly unsettling, but (unintended) too light-hearted for its own good, that it is.

This is a movie for mature audiences, viewers that like the subtalty over the blatant. The dialog is clever, a bit flat sometimes due to the lack of a score, but sometimes this ads to the movie in particular places. Jeff G. is excellent in this role (and I am not one of his fan). And to those that complain that the end of the movie is not climactic enough I don't know why because it is just perfect, just with one line. Rent this movie. It will scare you without grossing you out.

This peculiar horror-thriller, a French/English co-production by the way, opens promising and rather intriguing with the unmasking of a demonic serial killer who calmly admits to the police inspector at his kitchen table that he's digging a hole in his garden to bury a murder victim and that he approximately has committed another twenty-four vile and sardonic murders. The maniac, Mr. Frost, is then institutionalized and doesn't speak another word anymore, until he's transferred to a new psychiatric clinic where he sees the opportunity to manipulate the lovely female Dr. Sarah Day. From here onwards, "Mr. Frost" quickly turns into a dull, formulaic and excessively talkative bunch of nonsense. Mr. Frost attempts to convince Sarah that he is the devil himself, and although she doesn't want to believe him, she can't explain why other patients in the clinic suddenly turn into a murderous beasts or why fellow staff members narrowly throw themselves from the roof. Sarah also gets into contact with the cop who arrested Mr. Frost and this leads the stupidest and most implausible romantic sub plot in the history of cinema. Many of my fellow reviewers state that the film is worth watching if only for Jeff Goldblum's amazing performance, but I don't agree. Goldblum is good, obviously, but he can't carry an entire movie that is extremely boring and derivative. The photography and settings are uninspired, the action sequences are sleep-inducing and all other lead performances (from Kathy Baker and particularly Alan Bates) are abominable. In fact, the only part of "Mr. Frost" that I really enjoyed was the – too – brief cameo appearance by Vincent Schiavelli.

Except for Jeff Goldblum all actors acted so badly that the originally interesting story turned into boredom. For example Kathy Baker: she often walks around without even showing a hint of a feeling in her face. And these haircuts: hilarious. But nothing compared to the music: a cheetah with a Hammond orgue would have done better. There is simply not a single second where suspense, horror, fear, fright or anything else is produced by this crappy film. You just see a mixture of bad music, actors, haircuts and dialogs floating around. I can only hope that another director with better actors, hairstylist and musical composer will turn this great story into a cinematographic masterpiece. It gets a 3 only because of Goldblum, otherwise it would be 1.

"It used to be simple: good on one hand, evil on the other. There was a strugle. And then you people came along - the scientists."

Excellent film about about perceived good and evil from the viewpoint of humanity, and how science is has to be neither. Impartial, and yet with greater power and potential to be used for either. Or is it? Which will win out reason or emotion, or will they corrupt each other?

Or maybe Mister Frost simply a deranged man after all?

The previous lines were to give an overall feeling about the general atmosphere of Mister Frost for those who have not seen it. It is difficult to describe the plot in more depth than in the summary on the main page without spoiling the film, but imagine the confrontations between the possessed Regan and Karras or the doctors in William Peter Blatty's novel 'The Exorcist' that were cut out of the film. There you have Mister Frost.

Basically, if you like your thrillers to be charged with atmosphere and intelligence then this film is definitely worth viewing. Oh yeah, and also if you thought Jeff Goldblum could put in a good performance with a good script, but haven't yet seen it happen. This film is it.

Jeff Goldblum should get an Academy Award for keeping a straight face throughout this stinker. Maybe the Devil made him do it? "Mr. Frost" is hocus pocus nonsense, with Goldblum as the mystical evil one, putting innocents under his spell, for some satanic snuffing. All this occurs under the watchful eye of his mental hospital staff. The acting by everyone is not even mediocre, while the story is both redundant and silly. Some interesting music is the only thing that keeps this from 1 star land. All the characters are unlikable, and the whole film spirals out of control, towards a so what ending. Just plain bad, and to be avoided. - MERK

This movie just doesn't work. I love Jeff Goldblum and thought he was very sexy in this movie, but overall, I found this film to be a waste of time and a $0.99 rental fee. The acting is pretty bad and the basic storyline is silly. The plot limps along and the attempt at a surprise ending (if you've managed to stay awake this long) is downright lame. Surely you can find more interesting things to do with your time... like having a root canal.

This is an interesting, entertaining and a little disturbing story. Horror and suspense is created with minimal optical hints and effects. Jeff Goldblum is a smart, erotically tempting devil. The struggle between good and evil is very well acted. Whoever finds this boring, is probably "high-thresholded" from the various horror movies with multiple visual trauma.

A nonchalant man in England (Jeff Goldblum) is discovered to have 24 bodies buried on his property and is interned at a mental asylum in France for examination. The detective who brought him in warns of his diabolic origins (Alan Bates) while the female psychiatrist assigned to his case (Kathy Baker) is intrigued by his life-threatening eccentricities.

"Mister Frost" (1990) is an artistic supernatural drama/thriller with a smidgen of horror. Comparable films include "Lisa and the Devil" (1973), "The Evil" (1978), "Manhunter" (1986) and "The Devil's Nightmare" (1971), but don't expect overt horror, particularly like in the latter movie.

The three main cast members are fine in their roles and the set-up is certainly interesting, but I didn't like how things pan out in the second half. So, the beginning is promising, but the way the story evolves is relatively dull with an unsatisfying close. It doesn't help that Mr. Frost's choice of Dr. Sarah Day to prove such-and-such doesn't make much sense.

For a superior supernatural thriller with Jeff in the lead, check out the underrated "Hideaway" (1995). However, if you like the cast and favor psychological horror with artistic flair, give it a try. Some people hail it.

The film runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot in Paris, France.

GRADE: C+