Frozen (2010 American film)

Lore & Background

The film tells the story of Dan Walker, his girlfriend Parker O'Neal, and his best friend Joe Lynch, who travel to a ski resort. On their final evening, they convince a ski lift operator to let them take one last run. The operator is relieved by a second operator, who mistakes three mingling skiers for the trio and shuts down the chairlift, leaving them trapped high above the ground. They endure a snowstorm, and after a snow groomer fails to notice them, Dan jumps off the chair, fracturing both legs. He is then attacked and killed by wolves while Parker and Joe listen helplessly.

Reader's Guide

Frozen is significant for its minimalist survival premise and the tension it generated during its Sundance premiere, where multiple audience members fainted. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews, with critics praising its suspense but noting weaknesses in script and acting. It was nominated for a 2010 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. The film's legacy includes a connection to Adam Green's subsequent film Hatchet II, released seven months later, in which Emma Bell reprises her role as Parker O'Neal in an epilogue scene. Frozen was filmed at Snowbasin near Ogden, Utah, in February 2009, and distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Did You Know?

• The film caused multiple faintings at its Sundance Film Festival screenings.
• The soundtrack was released in a limited run of 500 signed copies.
• The film was shot at Snowbasin near Ogden, Utah, in February 2009.

A Night of Descent

On what was meant to be a carefree final day at a ski resort, three friends—Dan Walker, his girlfriend Parker O'Neal, and his best friend Joe Lynch—find themselves stranded high above the ground on a chairlift. A second operator, mistaking their group for other skiers, shuts down the lift, sealing their fate. As a snowstorm closes in and hours stretch into the night, the trio realizes no one knows where they are. Desperate, Dan leaps from the chair, shattering both legs. A pack of wolves then tears him apart while Parker and Joe watch helplessly from above. Grief fractures the bond between the survivors, who blame one another before acknowledging their shared pain. The next day, Joe scales a support tower, fights off the wolves with a ski pole, and races down the mountain on a snowboard while the pack gives chase. Left alone, Parker endures yet another night before the chair's securing bolt gives way. She crawls down the slope, passes the wolves feeding on Joe's body, and is eventually picked up by a passing driver who takes her to a hospital.

From Script to Snowbasin

Written and directed by Adam Green, Frozen is a psychological horror survival film shot on location at Snowbasin, a ski area near Ogden, Utah, during February 2009. The production brought together a lean cast: Shawn Ashmore as Dan, Kevin Zegers as Joe, and a then-unknown Emma Bell in what marked her introduction to the screen as Parker. Anchor Bay Entertainment handled distribution across theatrical and home-video formats. The tight, contained setting—a single chairlift chair suspended above a snowy mountainside—meant the production could focus intensely on performance and atmosphere rather than sprawling set pieces. The entire narrative unfolds over roughly two days and nights, with the cold, the wolves, and the characters' deteriorating physical and psychological states serving as the primary antagonists. This deliberate constraint gave the film a claustrophobic intensity that set it apart from more conventional survival entries of the era.

Sundance Stir and Box Office

Frozen's theatrical journey began at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, where it reportedly caused a stir: numerous audience members fainted from the tension of the film, with one such incident occurring at the Tower Theater in Salt Lake City. The picture also opened the Glasgow FrightFest, extending its festival footprint internationally. Its wide North American release arrived on February 5, 2010, with screenings across nine cities including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Chicago. The official premiere took place at the Mann Chinese 6 on Hollywood Boulevard, where the full cast and crew attended. At its widest domestic release, the film played in 106 theaters. Its first weekend grossed $131,395, though it underperformed in subsequent weeks. Internationally it earned over $2.4 million, pushing total worldwide receipts to just under $2.7 million. On Rotten Tomatoes, 64 percent of 97 critics gave it a positive review, averaging 6.2 out of 10, with the consensus praising Green's inventive premise while noting the script and cast fell slightly short of its potential.

Epilogue, Home Media, and Soundtrack

Seven months after Frozen hit theaters, Adam Green released Hatchet II, in which Emma Bell returned in an uncredited cameo as Parker O'Neal. The brief scene functions as a direct epilogue: Parker has successfully sued the ski resort for abandoning her, Dan, and Joe to the wolves, and declares she will never go skiing again. The film's home-media release followed in late 2010, with a single-disc DVD and Blu-ray arriving in the United States on September 28 and in the United Kingdom on October 18. Bonus materials include an audio commentary featuring Green alongside Ashmore, Zegers, and Bell, four behind-the-scenes documentaries, deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer. The Blu-ray adds an exclusive commentary with Green, cinematographer Will Barratt, and editor Ed Marx. In January 2011, a soundtrack album of Andy Garfield's complete score was issued by 2M1 Records Group in a limited run of 500 signed copies, produced by George Fox, and also made available as a digital download through iTunes and Amazon.

Gallery