• Ice Station Zebra (1968)--At the frozen arse-end of the world, intrepid sub commander Rock Hudson must face both ruthless Commie hordes and the sight of Ernest Borgnine in a form-fitting parka. Superior Cold War all-star malarkey, made infamous as the film that accompanied Howard Hughes' final mosey into the crazy sunset.
• The Thing (1982)--John Carpenter's arctic exercise in gloppy paranoia remains an awe-inspiring formalist achievement, masterfully meshing the bleak outer locale with the glacially doomed atmosphere within. Stinging social commentary, blended with more ice-bound gore than a hemophiliac hockey match. Dog lovers need not apply.
• Hot Dog... The Movie (1984)--A mainstay of late-night scrambled cable during the 80s, this teen trash classic documents the exploits of a ragtag group of drunken louts determined to explore every possible permutation of the term "snow-capped peaks." A veritable Ragnarok of raunch, loaded with oodles of brew, bosoms, and burps. If your eyes don't well up during Shannon Tweed's big chairlift scene, then you, sir, have no soul.
• The Shining (1980)--To these jaded eyes, this hermetically-sealed horror show has never quite lived up to its rep as the scariest movie ever made, but there's no way to deny its absolute-zero brilliance in depicting the ultimate in cabin-fevered isolation. By consciously eschewing the nuts and bolts of Stephen King's source novel and focusing squarely on the feelings of chilly isolation, Stanley Kubrick creates a vision of all-encompassing frigidity that's honestly unsettling to behold. And who could forget that final shot of the Jacksicle?--ANDREW WRIGHT
