twenty snowbound horror films • Journal • A Magazine • , Life in canada

A majority of films that fall within the “stuck in the snow” subgenre revolve around a group trapped in some sort of structure—a cabin, a ski lodge, a car, a radio station… If you can name it, it probably exists. Adam Green’s survival horror subverts that tendency, leaving his three protagonists stranded fifty feet up in the air on a ski lift. To make matters worse, the ski resort is expected to remain closed for a full week due to an incoming storm.

Parker (Emma Bell), Joe (Shawn Ashmore) and Dan (Kevin Walker) are subjected to the full intensity of Mother Nature, battered by below freezing temperatures and hungrily watched by local wildlife. Lucky for us, these are especially rare circumstances for someone to find themselves in—especially if you’re like Robin, who notes, “I’ve ridden on airplanes, swam in big oceans across the world and ridden a few amusement park rides, but I have never, and I will never, get on a ski lift.”