20 Socially Conscious Horror Movies
By Jenn Reid
The Last Winter (2006)
The Issue: Climate change
The Movie:
An American oil company, led by climate change denier Ed Pollack (Ron Perlman) is building an ice road, hoping to find oil near a remote Northern Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The environmentalists work with both Pollack as well as the government to approve procedures and keep tabs on the oil company’s actions.
When they find a team member dead and nude in a snowbank, environmentalist James Hoffman (James LeGros) think they must have a gas leak that causes hallucinations. He and Pollack travel with the team to a nearby hospital for an examination. Unfortunately, they are trapped at the base.
What It’s Saying:
This eco-horror isn’t exactly subtle in its politics: a character openly states that this is nature’s revenge. There are ghosts of creatures (like dinosaurs that have now become the fossil fuels they’ve been siphoning) attacking the group in something another character calls the last winter — the humans have triggered a reaction from the Earth, who is fighting back and prepared to win.
It’s like someone mixed The Happening and The Day After Tomorrow, then added Ron Perlman and a roster of prehistoric ghosts.
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