Top 9 Frozen Features in Horror
Scott Hallam
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Misery (1990)
Misery returns us to films that features extreme wintery weather as more than just a background. In this film, the snow is one of the main factors that set the entire story in motion. Our hero, author Paul Sheldon, is injured in a car accident and seemingly about to freeze to death or bleed out when a good Samaritan, Annie Wilkes, happens along to rescue him and nurse him back to health. In a fortunate twist, Annie just happens to be Paul’s number one fan. However, in an equally unfortunate twist, Annie is also batshit crazy. In Misery, Stephen King weaves a tale of isolation and confinement, two topics that he revisits often in his work and with much success. Not only is Paul Sheldon trapped by his injuries and psycho Annie, but the weather outside is frightful and makes transportation nearly impossible after he finds himself trapped in a cabin in the woods with his number one fan. Yikes!
The Thing (1982)
Nothing says horror better than isolation combined with an assault by an unknown entity. In John Carpenter’s The Thing, our team of Arctic researchers find themselves in a battle to survive something they can’t identify and have no idea what it is or where it came from. These stranded individuals struggle against a deadly alien presence as well as paranoia that has them fighting amongst themselves as they attempt to wrap their minds around just what exactly has invaded their normally quiet, sleepy bunker. As far as frozen horror goes, The Thing is one of, if not the number one, greatest examples of the style.
The Shining (1980)
As fitting as The Thing is for this list, the only movie that could be an even better representation is The Shining. The weather is so important to this film that the entire story hinges on it and wouldn’t have happened without it. If Jack Torrance could have gone wandering around the topiary every day sunning himself, he might not have gone off the deep end. But trapped in that hotel, getting cabin fever, Jack finally snapped. All work and no play did indeed make Jack a dull boy. Whether you prefer the Stephen King novel, the Stephen Weber-led miniseries or the classic Stanley Kubrick film, the story of The Shining is one that has haunted us for over three decades. Audiences can understand claustrophobia. And the inclusion of a haunting in addition to the very real struggles of the broken Jack Torrance made for an incredible, unforgettable story.
Dead Snow 2 is directed by Tommy Wirkola and stars Vegar Hoel as Martin, the sole survivor of the first Dead Snow’s zombie bloodbath. Martin Starr co-stars alongside Hoel, Jocelyn DeBoer, Ingrid Haas, and Orjan Gamst, who plays the evil zombie warlord Herzog.
Synopsis
Martin (Hoel) hasn’t had the best vacation. He accidentally killed his girlfriend with an axe. He cut his own arm off with a chainsaw. And his friends STILL got devoured by a battalion of Nazi Zombies.
This morning he woke up in a hospital bed with a new arm – but it’s a super-powered zombie arm that wants to kill him and anything else it can reach. Martin’s PISSED. And with the help of his new Zombie Squad pals (Starr, DeBoer, and Haas), he’s gonna deliver some payback to Colonel Herzog and his precious Nazi gold – by raising an undead army of his own.
