Frozen, no not that one, is a grotesque thriller movie directed by Adam Greene and released in 2010. The movie follows 3 teenagers that get trapped on a ski-lift after a lack of communication through the workers, the rest of the film follows what happens to the three when a terrible winter storm passes through the ski-lodge. This movie did not take off as well, accumulating only 3.8 million in U.S box offices, the movie is still somewhat passed around in conversations about the most disturbing horror movies of all time.  

So instead of indulging the film’s gruesome moments, I will pick apart the unrealistic spots in this movie’s plot. 

The movie chooses instead of taking advantage of the terrifying effects of hypothermia, but to kill off the characters in near impossible ways to up the gore factor. For example, what idiot would even think about jumping off a ski lift 50 feet off the ground; Dan Walker (not anymore). Dan dies officially by being eaten alive by wolves. However, there have only been two recorded wolf-attack fatalities in North America recorded since 2000. The probability of a pack of hungry wolves chewing you apart like a jelly filled Twizzler is next to none. The second male character, Joe Lynch, makes it off the ski lift and down the mountain to go get help but he doesn’t come back to the lift, leaving the final girl alone for some time. The remaining teenager, Parker O’Neil, makes it off the lift and manages to get saved by a passing car, but not before discovering Joe’s body torn up from being mauled by a wolf.  

It’s reasonable to bend the rules a bit to create a more interesting death for your characters, but the looming threat of dying alone and frozen to a ski lift like a twisted ice display was already a great danger they had going. Also, the period in which Parker was alone on the lift was a great spot to maybe start to use the more psychological symptoms of hypothermia, like delusions or hallucinations. 

Not surprisingly, the inciting event that traps the three on the ski lift is also an incredibly unlikely scenario. Most ski lodges and areas will stay open unless excessive wind that could cause frostbite, but never for the threat of excessive snow. Fresh, heavy snow is a big part of skiing and snowboarding culture there is no way people could not have flocked to the resort after a heavy snowfall to enjoy the hills. Ski areas look for areas that produce enough snowfall to ski and snowboard on. If a ski area had to close every time, there was a poor down of snow; they would just never be open. 

A lot of the dialogue is annoying and unbelievable, even for being an early 2010’s movie about three teenagers. The movie really falls off after the first character’s death. The dialogue between Parker and Joe is cardboard and very flat leaving audiences to have to turn their “brain switches” off to even enjoy the horror experience.  

The movie still has some good gore to it and if you can ignore the cringeworthy characters for long enough the film can be somewhat thought provoking about such a terrifying situation! By the way, did you know that moose kill more people than bears and wolves combined?