Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Frozen’ (2010)

Written by Scott Edwards

​It is something that will always happen as you get older; your relationships will change over the years.  Most of the time they will strengthen as you continue to get to know each other better, but on rare occasions, they will dwindle as you just outgrow them. There is nothing wrong with that happening as you get older since there are some characteristics that do not mature as you do. But you need to remember that sometimes you need to fight to keep a healthy relationship, as nothing is a given in this day and age.
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Getting up to Mount Holliston without any ski passes, Dan has the idea of putting his girlfriend Parker to use. Asking her to put her flirt on with the agent running the chair lift, Parker is able to convince the man to let her and her friends get some runs in for only a hundred dollars. With the deal being struck, Dan, Parker and Joe take to the slopes for a day of great skiing, but it is not what Joe had hoped for. Sticking to the bunny slopes for Parker, Joe only wants to get one more run in for the night before they head back home.

Seeing that the lift operator is getting ready to shut down for the night, the group is able to convince him for one more run with the promise of being down as fast as they can. As the lift operator gets called to his boss’ office, he lets his replacement know that there are three more coming down the mountain, but his count is off. When seeing three skiers making it to the bottom of the hill, the replacement shuts down the lift stranding Dan, Parker and Joe high above the ground in the middle of the elements. Thinking that it must just be a glitch, the three sit and wait patiently for the power to come back on, but as the hours pass, they start to understand that there is no way off the lift, unless they do it themselves. 

Getting impatient after a snow groomer ignores them, Dan decides that he will jump down and get help.  With nobody stopping him, he takes the leap and breaks his legs upon hitting the snow below. Not being able to move, the group starts to hear the sound of howling in the woods and the fear of freezing to death becomes secondary as a pack of wolves have found some injured prey. Not being able to fight off the wolves, Dan becomes the first victim of the pack who is keeping a close eye on the stranded skiers above. Needing to wait until morning to make their next move, Joe decides that he will have to be the one to get help and makes his way over to one of the massive poles that holds the lift in place, but he is not alone in this thinking as the wolves are looking to feast again. With no options left, Parker watches as her boyfriend’s best friend heads down the mountain, but not hearing anything for several hours, she fears for the worst and must find her own way to safety before she freezes to death.

I have pondered over watching this movie for many months now and I don’t know why I did that. There is nothing more frightening than being abandoned with no way of escaping and that is what this movie explores, with plenty of scenes that will make you cringe. I liked the relationships being called into play throughout the movie as Joe is upset his best friend has a girlfriend that is taking away from their bro time. Parker is a good sport throughout and I am surprised that she even went up for the last run with the boys as she was tired from falling all over the slopes during the day. With darkness, snow, wolves, abandoned skiers, a slight chance of hope, frostbite and silence during the night and day, this movie will make you think twice about night skiing, that is for sure. I really enjoyed how the movie played as a whole and one might think that meaningless conversations while being stuck would be boring to see in a film, but for some reason, this movie made them work since it keeps you intrigued. Stay Scared.

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