Entertainment
Oh, the weather outside is frightful...so why not try something frightful and delightful and beat it at its own game? Instead of dragging yourself through the wind and slush, make it a movie night! And while you're snuggled cozily up inside, check out these 23 snowy horror movies that'll give you some real winter chills — all from the safety of your blankets.
There are plenty of real scares when it comes to extreme weather, including frostbite, snow blindness, windburn, isolation due to closed-down roads, inaccessibility in case of emergency — all of which make snowy days a perfect setting for horror. Movies like The Thing, White Out, and Thirty Days Of Night highlight how easy it is to become trapped by sheer dint of icy cold, forced to choose between facing two different terrors that could easily kill you.
Other films like Kwaidan, The Abominable Snowman, and The Snow Woman focus on fictional terrors born of snow, including the Japanese yuki onna, a snow spirit who tricks travelers into a cold death.
There's nothing quite like watching a blizzard blast across a screen to make you extra grateful you don't have to face the cold... for at least a little bit. So brew up some hot chocolate, crank the temperature, and check out these films!
1
'The Thing' (1982)
A remake of the equally terrifying Thing From Another World, this movie ups the ante of researchers trapped in an Antarctic station with an alien with amazing practical effects.
2
'Whiteout' (2009)
The lone U.S. Marshall in Antarctica (played by Kate Beckinsale) has only three days to stop a murderer before the sun sets for months of darkness.
3
'Let The Right One In' (2008)
This snowy supernatural tale of friendship and blood has, among many other things, vampire victims' bodies tucked in frozen drifts, supposedly hidden until the spring thaw.
4
'The Abominable Snowman' (1957)
A Hammer Horror film featuring a big, bad Yeti out to get a researcher and his crew. Man, researchers have it rough in this genre.
5
'Vlci Bouda' ('Wolf's Hole') (1987)
A politically subversive '80s teen movie-turned possible alien invasion? Yes, and with ski suits!
6
'Dreamcatcher' (2003)
This recommendation comes with a caveat — yes, it's a Stephen King film. Yes, it was written, directed by, and features Oscar winners. Yes, there are some startling moments. But this absolutely to-the-walls bananas movie about invading poop aliens and psychic friend bonds will have you feel you're hallucinating while watching it.
7
'30 Days Of Night' (2007)
A group of vampires finally figured out the perfect grift — laying waste to a town near the arctic circle once its month of winter-imposed darkness hits.
8
'Wind Chill' (2007)
A car accident on a road trip is bad enough, but when the weather and a potential killer are working against you, it's hard to choose between the lesser of two evils.
9
'The Thing From Another World' (1951)
The original The Thing may have fewer monster shots than the remake, but it makes up for it in atmospheric, snowy terror.
10
'Dreams' (1990)
Kurosawa's omnibus covers the whole range of humanity, but it's the terrifying and heartbreaking story "The Blizzard" that will make you shiver.
11
'The Last Winter' (2006)
A team sent to evaluate land for oil drilling starts experiencing strange incidents, only to find themselves completely cut off from the outside world. It's not nice to try and fool Mother Nature.
12
'Misery' (1990)
A hack writer ready to move on lives out his worst nightmare — trapped in a cabin with an unhinged superfan of his cheesy work.
13
'Kwaidan' (1964)
This showcase of Japanese ghost stories is frightening enough, but "The Woman of the Snow" is heartbreaking as well.
14
'The Snow Woman' (1972)
The eerie tale of the yuki onna, a snow woman deadly and beautiful, who tries to blend in for a brief time.
15
'Dead Of Winter' (1987)
An actress tricked upstate for a screen test meets the doctor caring for the previous star, who suffered a nervous breakdown. But as she spends more time around him, she realizes he's plotting more than he lets on.
16
'The Colony' (2013)
In an icy future dystopia, a group of underground survivors surface to try and contact another group..
17
'Frozen' (2010)
No, not that one. Three people find themselves stuck out in the open on a ski lift... at the start of a 5-day shut down. With no one to help them and the wolves and wind closing in, they better think fast.
18
'The Invisible Man' (1933)
This classic uses snow as a way to see the unseen, including the footsteps of a scientist driven mad by the success of his invisibility formula.
19
'Curtains' (1983)
A group of actresses holed up in an isolated mansion for tryouts become the target of a masked killer.
20
'Iced' (1988)
A group of teens receive a mysterious invitation to a ski resort, only to find it's a trap set by a murderer.
21
'Ghostkeeper' (1981)
Canadian snowmobilers hole up at a seemingly abandoned hotel where an evil entity resides.
22
'The Blackcoat’s Daughter' (2015)
A young woman with a disturbed past goes on a mysterious mission to a boarding school, where two isolated young women may or may not be under threat from a sinister force.
23
'Satan's Blade' (1984)
After a local man is possessed by a haunted knife (really), he sets his sights on attacking attendees of a local ski lodge.
24
'The Shining' (1980)
And finally, the ur-snow movie, where piles and piles of drifting white trap a family in a hotel with a dark history, and a dad who seemed on the verge of snapping to begin with.
There you have it! If there's three things to take away from this list, it's always wear enough layers, never go skiing, and don't do research in cold wastes. Stay warm, and stay safe!
