The 5 Best Movies to Watch on a Snowy Day

Yesterday, I listed what I consider the five best movies to watch on a summer day. In case that left you with some perspiration on your brow, chill out and check out my picks below for the five best movies to watch on a snowy day:

1. The Thing – Either the 1951 original or the 1982 remake will do nicely, though—over time—I’ve come to prefer the John Carpenter version. It plays out like a scarier, gorier variation of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians set in sub-zero temperatures in an Arctic research station. The nifty twist here is that the “killer” can move from one person to another, which makes identifying it rather difficult. It’s a real chiller—in more ways than one.

Alfred assists Professor Abronsius.

2. The Fearless Vampire Killers – Roman Polanski’s delightful mix of comedy and horror has all the ingredients of a traditional horror film: a snowy Transylvanian setting, attractive women in low-cut attire, a Gothic castle, garlic hanging from the ceiling of a tavern, and a well-prepared vampire hunter. To this mix, Polanski adds a dash of the unexpected: a bumbling lovestruck assistant, a Jewish vampire, a gay vampire, and a darkly humorous ending.

3. Where Eagles Dare – Set in the white-covered mountains of Austria, Where Eagles Dare sends seven special forces soldiers to rescue a U.S. general being held captive by the Nazis. But this is no routine mission: the soldiers must break into an impregnable mountaintop castle, there appears to be a traitor among them, and their squad leader seems to trust no one—except Mary, the blonde agent hiding in the barn. Who would have thought that Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood would’ve made such a good team?

4. Ten Little Indians – Most film buffs prefer the earlier version of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None…but it didn’t trap the murder suspects with the killer in a chateau atop a snowy mountain. Yes, there are distractions, including the dreadful theme music and an over-the-top performance by then-popular singer Fabian (at least, his screen time is brief). On the plus side, the rest of the cast—including Shirley Eaton and Wilfred Hyde-White—does a fine job. Plus, there’s a “murder minute” at the climax, in which an onscreen clock counts down from 60 seconds as key clues are shown again.

5. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – This 007 film might rate higher, except that it’s only partially set in Blofeld’s mountaintop fortress. Yes, fans quibbles about George Lazenby’s performance as Bond (personally, I think he’s decent), but OHMSS boasts a spectacular setting, the marvelous Diana Rigg, and the first of many thrilling James Bond ski chases.

Honorable mentions: the Eli Wallach-Robert Culp sci fi film A Cold Night’s Death; Rock Hudson as a sub commander headed to Ice Station Zebra; and the documentary Conquest of Everest.

What would be on your best list for movies to watch on a snowy day?

One Good "Thing" Leads to Another

When I first saw this movie in 1982, I left convinced that John Carpenter had produced a complete misfire (especially in comparison to the classic 1951 version). But I’ve come to learn over the years that some movies age well, or perhaps they grow better because we’ve aged and our tastes have changed. John Carpenter’s The Thing is definitely one of those films for me. It's now required viewing on the first snowy day of winter and has become my favorite among the director’s work.

The Thing opens in intriguing fashion with a helicopter chasing—and trying to kill—a lone Husky in the desolate Antarctica snow. The dog runs to the U.S. National Science Institute No. 4, a remote research station. In a bizarre series of events, the helicopter crew is killed and the dog is taken in by the research station’s residents. But this is no ordinary dog. It prowls the station’s corridors stealthily as if stalking its prey. It spies silently on the residents. It’s afraid to join the other dogs, which snarl at the newcomer viciously.

Seeking an explanation for the helicopter crew’s unusual behavior, McCready (Kurt Russell) and Doc (Richard Dysart) trace its origin to a Norwegian research facility. They discover frozen corpses and a strange, partially buried “thing” that could be human. Back at the U.S. station, an alien creature reveals itself for the first time by mutating out from inside the Husky (a fairly gory scene). With the creature’s ability to imitate other life forms established, the film’s premise is finally set into motion.

If the alien can be anyone of the research station’s crew, how can it be stopped? The seriousness of the situation worsens when one of the scientists models the alien’s ability to infect humans. He determines that if the “intruder organism” reaches the general population, it could take over the planet in 27,000 hours from first contact.

The plot is supposed to be closer to John Campbell’s short story "Who Goes There?" than 1951’s The Thing (see Aki's nifty review from earlier this month). But, truth to be told, this is a mystery masquerading as science fiction. A murderer is among a group of people at a remote location—isn’t that the plot of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians? The twist here is that the killer can reveal itself and then hide again by assuming another identity. The film’s best scene is when McCready devises a test for revealing the alien’s identity. This tense setup also recalls the classic mystery climax where the detective calls together all the suspects and unveils the murderer.

Subsequent viewings of The Thing allow one to appreciate its smaller pleasures: Ennio Morricone’s suspenseful electronic score (which has a definite Carpenter sound to it); an open ending that actually works (usually I loathe them); and Kurt Russell’s solid performance (less cartoonish than in Carpenter’s Escape from New York and Big Trouble in Little China).

Still, it’s the remote locale and the “who is it” premise that makes The Thing so entertaining for me. Other films have featured aliens who could take human form (most notably, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers and cult classic The Hidden)—but this one remains my favorite.