Watching and reviewing Wind Chill has convinced me of the following: a) most unprofessional horror movie websites are not worth reading b) this movie was an incomplete project dumped into theaters for a quick dollar/pound/euro/krona.<br /><br />I do not understand how someone involved in this project approved its release. None of the protagonists are named, the villains are numerous and without motivation, and the pacing is amateurish. Why wasn't it finished? George Clooney is an executive producer; he's been in good movies, so why didn't he lobby for this one? There are occasional scares to be had, but only as reward for tedious character interaction. You will be impressed by the bloodlessness of the picture, but remorseful of its lost potential.<br /><br />Some random loser (credited as Guy) stalks his prey (Girl) enough to know where she lives. They attend some preppy northeastern liberal arts college and share Philosophy 101 class. They spend a lot of time talking about the theory of eternal returns. Guy likes her, but instead of confronting her, he creates a ruse to trick her into riding to Delaware with him. He doesn't bother to research anything about the state either. They arrive at a gas station where everyone is old and leery. Typical Wrong Gas Station pattern begins. The cashier tells them about a scenic path they can take so they do. Some other driver hits them and they are stranded and exposed to a series of bizarre events.<br /><br />The film becomes a sequence of moving images without purpose after that. The Guy tries to walk back to the gas station but doesn't make it. So he and Girl spend most of the evening in the car. Various undead appear and walk aimlessly to an abandoned cabin. It's spooky but undermined by our inability to determine what they are. Some of them appear like rotting corpses, while others are "fresh." The spirits don't appear to do anything other than exist, and most don't even notice the youngsters. It's so odd and even the characters observe it. So they rest in the car, which has the best battery ever. They talk and waste time for vast periods of time but we learn nothing about them. Girl probably recognizes her role in this awful movie so she tries to walk back to Wrong Gas Station. She gets cold, sees more zombie thingys, and returns to Guy's now frozen corpse. A helpful old person (another staple of bad horror movies) appears at the last minutes to finally reveal the plot: ghost of murderous policeman wrecks havoc on passersby. Girl confronts ghost, escapes, and is lead to Wrong Gas Station by Guy's ghost. The end; no conflict, no resolution, and no reason to have watched.<br /><br />It's actually similar to a slasher movie, but worse if you can imagine. There is a "final girl" who survives until the end. Admittedly, she doesn't have to do much. The villain makes only one distinctive appearance and isn't defeated. He isn't victorious either, he just is. My guess is that the theory of eternal returns (meaning evens will recur throughout eternity) is a metaphor for the ghost's rampage. I don't accept it. It's a fraudulent insertion with no justification. Wind Chill wants you to think it's an enriching horror film by including the theory of eternal returns, but it doesn't elaborate on this idea in any way. Ghosts, zombies, or whatever they are would be present in this movie even if there was no reference to philosophy. At least the filmmakers exhibit some knowledge of their film's terribleness by adding a pseudo-intellectual explanation. A better ghost (I guess since there is at least one ghost) movie wouldn't have to create a lousy reason for ghosts to be there. We don't care for a reason. Just make us tremble and you've succeeded.<br /><br />This is yet another failed attempt at resurrecting the "creepy" horror movie which has disappeared from mainstream cinema. Most unsettling pictures are released in only in major cities or directly to DVD. It is worth you time to research new ones, and add them to you rental list. Don't add this title, though. Wind Chill, like last year's The Strangers falls flat on its face because it is incapable of suspense. All scares are instantaneous and therefore repetitive. A better screenplay would have ameliorated, but probably not solved this problem. Wind Chill is a terrible movie which shouldn't be as bad as it is. Audiences have proved their desire for terror cinema, as Karloff called it, (given The Strangers surprising box office return) and deserve a new horror film. For now, I recommend watching The Orphanage or May while you await better cult horror films.