As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, most of the Horror-Nation will be bundled up, cloaked in a wintry darkness for at least the next several weeks. Typically a down period for entertainment, some of the best films and television productions have been set in the winter months. Combining the daunting darkness of the season with gorgeous elements of snow and ice has provided audiences with some stunning imagery from winter settings. “The Shining,” “The Thing” and “Let the Right One In,” immediately come to mind when horror hounds bark for some winter fun. Here are a few other works to sink your winter wolf fangs into this frigid season.
WRONG TURN 4: BLOODY BEGINNINGS (2011)
After the smash hit original “Wrong Turn,” two very basic direct to DVD sequels were put out. The fourth entry abandons the hikers in the summer theme and goes for a winter setting. Serving as a prequel to the original, Bloody Beginnings not only puts out some fantastic set pieces in the snow but serves up a very good plot line on the history behind the monstrous mongoloids.
The film starts out in 1974 where the three Hilicker mutant brothers are just cannibalistic kids. They escape of course and dismember the staff and release the rest of the loonies in the sanatorium. Twenty-nine years later, several college students take a wrong turn on their way to a remote cabin. The large building they end up at, to take shelter from the incoming blizzard, just happens to be the home of the Hilicker boys. Quickly the terrible trio slice, dice, and dismember the tasty students. A race in and out of the snow setting ensues as the dwindling group try to escape the deformed flesh demons on their own home turf.
Director Declan O’Brien steals the show with his simple yet effective plot, stunning setting, and creative kill set pieces. Each performer puts in a simple yet effective turn, giving the audience some genuine dialogue along with great one liners. Our favorite backwoods bad guys are far more brutal in this outing. While suggested cut away takes in the original left a lot to the imagination, this sequel does not hold back on showing the full extent of the gory horror. A cooked alive coed, noose death from above, and an ending out of no where all make this super sequel one to watch this winter.
Scream Score: 8.4/10
LET IT SNOW (2020)
From the blustery artic in “The Thing,” to an apartment high rise covered in ice from “Let the Right One In,” some of the best cinematography in horror films has come from foreign winter settings. Such is the backdrop of “Let It Snow,” a gorgeous Georgian (the country, not the land of peaches) snowcapped mountainous region. A perfect place for a murderous game of cat and mouse.
After the freakish death of a young girl on a remote slope, tourist looking for the ultimate ski adventure start to disappear on the secluded Black Ridge mountain in the Georgian peninsula. Unaware of these events, a young American couple travel to the resort for one last memorable trip before they settle down. Ignoring all the advice of the local hotel staff, the two chopper up to the remote mountain. Quickly, they discover the myth of the mountain is true as the couple are immediately stalked by a masked and head to toe covered killer. Stranded in an obsolete environment, fighting deadly conditions, and trying to escape a local lunatic, the protagonist must find all of her inner strength to survive the snow-covered chase.
While stranded stalker films are nothing new in horror films, “Let It Snow,” provides a fresh environment, deep characterization, and a multi-dimensional plot for such a simplistic story. Director Stanislav Kapralov puts out a visually stunning piece, accompanied by the virgin snowy setting, and builds tension with ease. Top marks go to co-editors Rafa Garcia and Yevegeny Krasulya. Essentially a two person stalk off, is cut with efficient flash backs and real time story development from the main characters and the locals back at the resort. “Let It Snow,” is a slow snow burn of a film. If you are craving a high accelerated piece like a sprint in skis down a mountain, you may want to pass. If deep, slow, story development, like a slow cross-country ski in the wilderness is your thing, few films are better than this work.
Scream Score: 8/10
STORM OF THE CENTURY: (T.V. 1999)
The last decade delivered a golden age of horror television. “Hannibal,” “Bates Motel,” “The Walking Dead,” and countless other original and reinvented series lite up the small screen. Now in a sort of downtick, it is a perfect time to look back at some horror television you may have missed. For a winter setting, “Storm of the Century,” gave us a fantastic dialogue driven supernatural horror event back in 1999.
The small island town of Little Tall braces for a biblical blizzard. What they could not prepare for is a very rare murder of one of their senior citizens. Quickly, mysterious stranger Andre Linoge is apprehended and put behind bars. Slowly, the townsfolk and make shift sheriff’s department suspect something supernatural about their new visitor who arrived along with the storm. Acting constable and grocery store owner Mike, tries to keep everyone calm as both the storm and Linoge’s powers seem to encompass the citizens. Revealing town secrets, causing hallucinations and driving people to suicide, Linoge’s identity is revealed and the town must decide to give him what he wants or face obliteration.
An original made for t.v. screenplay from Stephen King, one can draw very similar comparisions to his earlier acclaimed novel, “Needfull Things.” Instead of the devil himself, Linoge is portrayed as a very human derived entity for most of the piece but possessing similar supernatural powers such as mind telepathy and a pension for knowing people’s problems and desires. Both Tim Daly as Mike and Colm Feore as Linoge put in Emmy award winning performances and turn what could have been a forgotten mini-series, into a fantastic tension filled dramatic work of supernatural art. Director Craig Baxley perfectly uses the town’s quaint atmosphere, dripping with ice sickled houses, to create a very intimate claustrophobic setting. King’s writing is at its best here as the viewer gets treated to one methodic plot point to the next. “Storm of the Century” is a perfect mini-series to either rediscover or watch for the first time while bundled up for a long cold winter weekend.
Scream Score: 8.3/10