Ice Road Terror (2011 TV Movie) User Reviews

Best dinosaur vs. ice roaders epic ever

[MartianOctocretr5 · 4/10 · 12 June 2011]

Gee, I wonder what reality show gave them the idea for this one. Oddly enough, this flick has its moments, unlike that pointless show.

The monster makes its debut pretty early on, and seems to either resent construction workers in remote areas of Alaska, or else it just gets a kick out of exterminating humans. There's no shortage of gruesome bloodlettting, and lots of stray body parts lying around. Since it's a SyFy offering, that's really not unexpected. It's designed prehistoric and roars almost as often as it kills somebody. Still, it makes for a good monster, and decides to chase two (believe it or not) ice trucker guys for hundreds of miles.

Eventually, the ice roaders make their stand against the thing at a conveniently-located cabin, the only one for a hundred miles in any direction. The cabin portion is the best sequence, with the characters even getting some brief back stories, enough so that the viewer cares who lives or dies.

Acting is pretty good, and the action maintains a high pace throughout. Not a bad watch for fans of these kinds of films who aren't asking for much but some wild monster on the loose madness.

Beware, your eyes might just freeze solid from witnessing this ...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 20 August 2013]

There are some interesting movies coming from the SyFy Channel - "Ice Road Terror", however, was not one of them. This movie was bad in practically every sense of the word.

The story in "Ice Road Terror" is about some miners who accidentally blast into some subterranean cavern where they unleash a prehistorical reptile. And it is up to a couple of truck drivers and a researcher to put a stop to the prehistoric terror.

Right, well that was a fairly generic storyline for a monster movie. Taken right out of the 'how to make a prehistoric monster movie for dummies' book. Not only was there so many holes in the plot, but so many things in the movie were bad as well.

First of all, if a prehistoric reptile was trapped inside a cave, what has it been eating? And given its size, it would have had a lot of food available. Which leads me to the next thing that comes to mind, was the reptile frozen beneath the ice? If so, why would a single explosion thaw it up and render it completely mobile, not to mention bringing it back to life?

Given the title of the movie, then this alleged ice road that the truck drivers were driving on was solid enough to sustain the weight of two loaded trucks, and would have been in use for awhile, as the mining site already had stuff up there. But still, the reptile broke through the ice to snatch up a man. But wait, it gets better, as the reptile does this, the ice shown is mere inches thick. How could this possibly support the weight of loaded rigs? Wow, that was an epic mistake.

One thing that really had me puzzled was just how did the reptile manage to catch a ride on top of the truck? How did it get up there? Even more impressively, how did it get up there without anyone noticing. And while we are on the topic of the top of the truck, how did Jack manage to get up there when he clearly fell down to the ice road while the truck was in motion? I guess both Jack and the prehistoric reptile are magicians of sorts and know how to teleport.

And now that we know that prehistoric lizards enjoy scaling things and being on top of roofs, then just how did the wooden building manage to support the weight of the prehistoric reptile when it was on the roof of the porch. That was just some very impressive Innuit craftsmanship right there.

The most memorable and stupid scenes of the movie would have to be when Jack used the gasoline pump as a flamethrower. That was just unbelievable. I never new that gas pumps nozzles sprayed out gasoline with that much force to be able to make such a fan of flame. That just had me laughing out loud.

The CGI in the movie were below adequate, because the reptile was really fake most of the time, and I bet I would be running for my life too if I saw such a horribly animated CGI prehistoric lizard come running towards me.

The one good thing that "Ice Road Terror" had working for it - aside from this hilarious movie title - was the acting. People actually did good jobs with their given roles, despite having everything stacked against them in forms of a horrible script, an abysmal CGI animated prehistoric lizard, and one flaw after another through the movie.

"Ice Road Terror" is the embodiment of low budget B-movies, and something that is often seen coming from the SyFy Channel. SyFy Channel do manage to impress every now and then with some great movie, "Ice Road Terror" wasn't at least bit interesting. However, you might find some enjoyment in the movie if you are fan of these low budget monster movies where the only horror is how fake whatever creature is in the movie is.

Pretty rubbish, but I've seen worse from SyFy...

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 25 February 2012]

I did expect something worse than what I got with Ice Road Terror, though that is not saying much. It is a pretty rubbish and ridiculous movie, but I do think with stuff like Titanic II, Mega Piranha, Alien vs. Hunter, Almighty Thor, Super Tanker, Quantum Apocalypse, 2010: Moby Dick, Battle of Los Angeles and The Apocalypse that SyFy have done much worse.

Although the bad outweigh the good, there are some assets that are halfway decent, some nice scenery, a likable enough performance from Brea Grant and the cabin sequence, which tries hard to give the characters some credibility.

On the other hand, Ice Road Terror is a rather scrappy looking film, scenery aside. The editing is hackneyed and doesn't make much sense going from one scene to another, and the monster graphics while not as bad as other efforts from SyFy look very cheap. Not to mention the CGI, especially with the truck sliding and skidding over the hole in the ice, which look very half-baked.

The script is terrible, with very cheesy and repetitive dialogue further disadvantaged by wooden line delivery, and the story is predictable with one too many ridiculous scenes such as how the monster actually managed to get on top of the truck and the idea of a monster having a 7th sense. Pacing is another issue, nothing much engages making the film seem dull, and some of the more action-y parts have a rushed feel to them. The characters are bland, despite the cabin sequence's best efforts, any character development is too brief and too late, while the monster is lacking almost completely in menace.

When it comes to the acting, I liked Grant, but didn't care at all for anybody else. Again, I've seen worse, but the acting generally comes across as forced to me. All in all, I've seen worse, but a few decent things aren't enough to save Ice Road Terror from being rubbish. 3/10 Bethany Cox

I liked it

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 31 August 2015]

Up in Alaska, two trucker buddies and a pretty geologist deliver a load of explosives to a diamond mine. When they arrive they find bloody carnage all around. Turns out the miners unearthed some kind of dinosaur lizard thing and it's not happy. A cheesy made-for-TV movie that's enjoyable in spite of its flaws. This is in large part due to the main actors. Dylan Neal and Ty Olsson play the truckers. The two play well off one another and make for believable buddies. Olsson gets the unfortunate task of playing the stoic hero and seems to be taking this whole thing entirely too seriously at times. Neal is the best part of the movie, giving a clichéd macho douchebag character some charisma. Cutie Brea Grant is very likable and manages to rise above the material quite well. The rest of the cast is made up of bland Canadian actors; the most recognizable of which is Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica. The special effects are, not surprisingly, terrible. The monster is a cheap CGI cartoon. The movie's not scary in the least and it barely tries to be. The horror elements in this are worthy of the low IMDb score. The action scenes aren't impressive, either. Really the overall production is of poor quality. Still, it's one of the better SyFy movies I've seen because it has likable leads and a healthy dose of "so bad it's good" humor. Keep in mind, most SyFy movies are bottom-of-the-barrel crap so my score for this is grading on a curve.

More embarrassing Creature Feature rubbish from SyFy.

[poolandrews · 2/10 · 20 December 2011]

Ice Road Terror is set in Alaska & starts at a diamond mining site where the workers have set explosives deep in the permafrost, the resulting explosion exposes a deep pit & from which emerges a giant prehistoric Lizard creature that then rampages through the site killing & eating everyone. Meanwhile truckers Neil Conry (Dylan Neal) & Jack Simmons (Ty Olsson) are making the several hundred mile trip to the mining site in order to deliver a cargo of explosives as well as giving environmentalist Rachel Harris (Brea Grant) a free lift, once they arrive at the site Neil & Jack discover the carnage with severed limbs & blood strewn everywhere. Before long the Lizard dinosaur thing show's up & wants to eat them, they get back in their trucks & drive away but the creature follows them. Will Neil & Jack make it back to safety?

Directed by Terry Ingram this is yet more Creature Feature crap from the SyFy Channel, they just seem to have an endless conveyor belt of this rubbish that poops one out couple of weeks. Well lets start off by saying that since this a SyFy Channel creature feature it's almost certain to be a pile of crap so the only question that needs asking or answering about Ice Road Terror is just how big a pile of crap is it? All I can say is that a herd of Elephants couldn't produce a bigger pile of crap than this, no if's but's or maybe's. As many of you will have noticed the title Ice Road Terror is strikingly similar to the popular US reality television series Ice Road Truckers which I admit I haven't seen but it's obvious Ice Road Terror was ripping-off the title Ice Road Truckers & that's just about the most imaginative aspect of this sorry little film that is as generic & dull as they come. OK, lets examine the script a little closer. Some sort of giant man eating monster/dinosaur/animal is brought to life by stupid people, check. We have a hero & a scientist girl who are put into danger when they come up against said creature, check. The situation our heroes find themselves in get worse as they are stranded miles from anywhere with no way to contact the outside world for help, check. Various bit part character's are killed along the way, check. Eventually the creature is defeated by out surviving boy & girl team, check. Predictable, boring, dumb, pointless, badly made, repetitive & a waste of 90 odd minutes I really didn't think that much of Ice Road Terror. Basically it sucks, a lot.

Ice Road Terror is very badly made as well, the CGI computer dinosaur effects are poor but the editing is terrible with scenes really not making any sense. The scene when Rachel has to jump between trucks is laughable, also when Jack jumps from his who ends up driving his? When he falls on the ground how does he suddenly appear on the roof? How does the dinosaur suddenly appear on the roof of the truck earlier anyway? Why does it not smash into the cabin at the end? Why, when the explosives catch fire in the back of the truck, is there a little trail of flames from the back of the trailer? The fire is at the other end of the truck for God's sake! Also, those explosives would have went up in seconds & blew them all to kingdom come. The CGI computer scenes of the truck skidding & sliding over the hole in the ice made by the dinosaur is awful, there's no logic to anything that happens & why does the dinosaur see everything in orange? One moment it's on the ground & the next there's a high angle POV from the dinosaur that makes it seem like it's flying! The whole film is poorly made, poorly thought out & not to put too finer a point on it but is total crap. There's a bit of gore, there's some blood splatter, a decapitated head, a guy ripped in half & various severed limbs scattered around.

The IMDb says Ice Road Terror had a budget of about $2,000,000 which I find impossible to believe, would it have turned out this bad if had a budget like that? If it did a budget of a couple of million it certainly wasn't spent on locations, special effects or good actor's. The acting is pretty bad, apparently filmed at Britannia Beach in British Columbia in Canada.

Ice Road Terror is even worse than what the SyFy Channel usually show under the mistaken opinion that they are films, boy this is bad with awful editing, awful CGI & a terrible script. Not even worth bothering with if it's on telly for free.

Where are the dinosaurs?

[jerekra · 5/10 · 24 February 2014]

Seeing Ice Road Terror was not that mind blowing. The film actually had decent acting, somewhat good action, and a simple plot. But overall it was nothing special.

This film is basically about a company up in Alaska that awakens a prehistoric predator "dinosaur". A couple truckers then try to take hazardous materials up to the area where the beast is, not knowing that it exists.

I actually thought the human characters were good in this film. They really seemed like truckers and were characters you could get behind. Also the girl who was the scientist was pretty good too. Surprising because usually in movies like these the humans are all cliché.

The "dinosaur" in this film is weird in that it really is a big lizard. I do not know of any predatory dinosaur that runs around on four legs. It was pretty standard CGI for this beast and it got some decent action but nothing special.

The story is pretty easy to follow.

I thought that I got tricked because they showed a carnataurus on the box and some dvds even had a tyrannosaurus on them even though neither of those dinosaurs are in this film. The only creature in this film is the giant lizard. So I don't know why they had to false advertise this film.

Pretty standard SYFY film. I do not strongly recommend it, but it isn't bad either. Watch it on a rainy day.

Diabolical

[aainsley27 · 1/10 · 8 January 2013]

I've come across some ridiculous movies but a film produced in 2011 in HD of this level should not be allowed. Special effects that are actually worse than the film "The blob" 1958. I thought it was going to turn into a comedy, waiting for the lizard to start break dancing to Micheal Jackson's black or white!!! On a serious note though its not a bad film if the budget was $10000 Nice trucks and some very nice Case machinery. You have to see it. Ice Road truckers meets Jurassic park Very laughable. If your a fan of man eating iguanas its certainly one for you. Acting is very borderline but with the material given I'm sure any mainstream actor would not have been affordable

Even for SyFy, this is bad

[Wizard-8 · 12 November 2011]

If you are familiar with the movies the SyFy channel produces, this being one of them, you are probably understandably prepared for the worst. I certainly was, but I was amazed that this movie proved to be even worse than I thought it would be! For starters, the creature effects are awful, done with cut-rate CGI. The rest of the movie looks extremely cheap as well, despite the bulk of the movie taking place in the isolated wilderness. But what really sinks this movie is the extremely incompetent writing and direction. There is poor continuity, like when the creature is stabbed in the eye but later is shown with no wound to that eye. (Also, characters several times jump from one location to another in seconds IN THE SAME SCENE!) Even if you watch this during a lazy weekend when you don't want to think, you'll find your intelligence being insulted.

It's close to being good.

[kfraser0535 · 5/10 · 22 August 2013]

It seems the writers had a 'good' idea for a horror movie, but the producers got in the way. The CGI of the monster is pretty bad. I'm sure that someone that know's horror movies could have improved this flick without adding to the cost.

The female character doesn't add anything to the story, but she is nice to look at. Why they decided to use a lizard as a monster is another odd thing. But maybe it's easier to make a lizard in CGI than some other creature with fur. It is Alaska after all, something with fur would be make more sense.

I have nothing more to add, but I need ten lines to post this so I'm just going to cut and paste what I all ready have written.

It seems the writers had a 'good' idea for a horror movie, but the producers got in the way. The CGI of the monster is pretty bad. I'm sure that someone that know's horror movies could have improved this flick without adding to the cost.

The female character doesn't add anything to the story, but she is nice to look at. Why they decided to use a lizard as a monster is another odd thing. But maybe it's easier to make a lizard in CGI than some other creature with fur. It is Alaska after all, something with fur would be make more sense.

It seems the writers had a 'good' idea for a horror movie, but the producers got in the way. The CGI of the monster is pretty bad. I'm sure that someone that know's horror movies could have improved this flick without adding to the cost.

The female character doesn't add anything to the story, but she is nice to look at. Why they decided to use a lizard as a monster is another odd thing. But maybe it's easier to make a lizard in CGI than some other creature with fur. It is Alaska after all, something with fur would be make more sense.

Melting Snow

[Mark-129 · 4/10 · 19 June 2011]

As bad as this film is, there was a germ of something better.

A road crew frees a hungry dino-monster in Alaska. The survivors do everything to escape the beast in their ice road trucks.

Sounds kind of cool if you're thinking of a certain similarly named TV show.

However, this is syfy and the terror takes place on half melted roads for only the first hour or so.

With a bit of imagination. style and real location work, Ice Road Terror could have been a nifty little gem.

But then, this is syfy.

o.k.

[luvmybabies777 · 5/10 · 22 April 2017]

Good actors. The movie was o.k. but so many flaws. Like the ice:when the dinosaur creature broke though the ice it was so thin not even humans should have been able to stand on it without it breaking. Then when its tail went through the woman's chest it went from a huge hole to one small enough for a small rag compression, and she was still alive and able to walk, her spine ripped apart along with vital organs, although her husband died from his wounds.

One of Debb's favorite movies

[victoryismineblast · 10/10 · 1 December 2021]

I have it on good advice that this is one of Debb's favorite movies. While I can't exactly reveal my source, I can say that no one knows a good monster movie quite like Debb, except maybe Nathan or Hayden.

ICE ROAD TERROR Entertains!!

[anythinghorrorscott · 7/10 · 21 June 2011]

Do ya think the SyFy Channel is even aware that all it's original flicks have pretty much ... scratch that ... have exactly the same plots and characters and simply plug in some new creature into the formula? I think they're fully aware of this and they embrace it. This way they can keep the budgets of all their Saturday night originals roughly the same (in the $1.5- $2mil range). With ICE ROAD TERROR we get the same plot and characters we've come to expect and we even get another prehistoric creature freed from the ice (more on this in a minute). But what makes ICE ROAD TERROR stand out from the pack is the fact that it's fun ... really fun. I found myself having more fun with this one than I have with a SyFy flick in a really long time. Let's find out why.

While blasting in the arctic for diamonds some prehistoric creature was released that lived under the ice and snow. The creature is angry and really hungry ... really hungry. As the creature tears its way through the workers at the site, we flash over to two ice truckers Jack (Ty Olsson; who was in TV's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA & the SyFy Original BEHEMOTH) and Neil (Dylan Neal; from DAWSON'S CREEK) who're loading up to haul a huge batch of explosives to the diamond mine site -- a site that is at the end of a very long ice road. Tagging along is a large-chested scientist-environmentalist Rachel (Brea Grant; who was in Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN 2 & 16 episodes of TV's HEROES). I mean come on; ya gotta have the female love interest for one of these rugged truckers who has a heart of gold!!

There's some harrowing moments as we watch the trucks struggle on the ice road and wonder if they're gonna make it (yeah right). But the real fun begins once they get to the diamond mine site. Mostly everyone is dead and our threesome of heroes quickly find out there's a huge creature chomping on limbs and tearing apart bodies. So they high tail it out of there and the creature, which is some mythical Inuit legend, follows them for hundreds of miles to a cabin in the woods. Here the trio, as well as the couple who live at the cabin, make their last stand against the creature. There's sympathetic characters who die; heroic characters who sacrifice themselves for the others; and the standard last man/woman standing who finally get so angry they kill the creature. There's nothing new here ...

... except I found myself having a really fun time!! The film moves at a great pace and gives us lots of action. We wait all of five minutes before we see the creature (which as far as I can make out is called a "Wangchoke;" seriously) and it starts tearing apart the cast just as quickly. Plus writer Keith Shaw (who also wrote the very fun MALIBU SHARK ATTACK) and director Terry Ingram weren't afraid to show off a little blood, guts, and gore. The camera doesn't turn away as the creature rips people apart and throws around body parts and I was pleasantly surprised by the gore content. Of course this is no DEAD ALIVE, but for a SyFy Original we get some pretty fun gory moments.

Most noticeable here is the pacing. We don't get the typical "let's meet the characters for a while" scenes. We meet the characters and get to know them while they're fighting for their lives. The scenes on the ice road are pretty good (in a silly way) as the creature dives and re- surfaces in and out of the ice like some frigid version of the beasts from TREMORS. And of course there's some stuff that just doesn't follow. Example: You'd think Jack, who's an experienced ice trucker, would spend more than five minutes and use more than a bungee cord to secure the explosives in his truck!! His truck catches on fire and he and Rachel must jump into the cab of Neil's truck while they're still driving. After making them jump from one moving truck to another, Neil then decides he needs to stop to check something out. So why didn't he just stop and let them walk to the truck in the first place??!!

But the real fun comes when they make their way to one of Jack's old friends who luckily has the only cabin in about a 500 mile radius!! There they make their stand against the Wangchoke (I swear that's what it's called). Another stand out element in ICE ROAD TERROR is the acting. Everyone involved does a great job and they all look like they're having a really fun time. This energy was infectious and you'll feel it!! The Wangchoke is of course 100% CGI, but it looks way better than the typical SyFy Original. Not since the giant spiders in ICE SPIDERS have I been impressed by a CGI creation. The Wangchoke has realistic movements and has a lot of details in it's design.

For all intents and purposes I should be writing my typical "skip it" review for ICE ROAD TERROR. But due to solid performances, a good looking and scary CGI monster, a really fast pace, and lots of spraying blood and gory, meaty looking body parts being thrown around, ICE ROAD TERROR is a really fun "giant creature attacks" flick. Nice job guys and keep 'em coming like this one!!

Please note that I've given ICE ROAD TERROR, a SyFy Original, a higher rating that SUPER 8. Shame on you J.J. Abrams!!

Reviewed by Scott Shoyer

Powerful Horror Story of Human Survival on the Ice Road

[dianerpessler-46164 · 10/10 · 31 August 2015]

High octane horror film that takes place on the hellish frozen landscape the ice road truckers travel. Loaded with mining explosives, the drivers are challenged by much more than the ice beneath them when a prehistoric creature rises from the frozen waters to threaten their very existence. As they fight for their own lives and those of their comrades, they must find a way to survive both the brutal cold and the monster that stalks them. Director Terry Ingram does exceptional work with an intelligent screenplay by Keith Shaw in depicting not only the incredible heroism of these adventurers but their humanity and zest for life. A superb cast gives incredibly effective performances and as the story progresses, we grow to care for these flawed but magnificent individuals. The on location shooting is beautifully done and the intense suspense and excitement builds to a fever pitch of intensity. A rewarding motion picture indeed.

If you like bad movies, this is a fun one

[uselessDM · 6/10 · 19 March 2017]

Well, this movie is hilarious. Hilariously bad that is. The budget is two million and it shows. The monster, which is the center piece of the movie, just looks terrible, but that's what makes the movie fun. I had to laugh so much the first time they showed it on screen.

Of course the movie has no logic whatsoever. The main "plot" is that two truckers have to make one last delivery before the spring comes and then they encounter the monster which was awoken (or whatever) by some sort of mining operation. Then they go and kill it. Done. That's your plot.

One scene of the movies has the trucks on the titular ice road and the monster breaking through the ice. Which is all fine and dandy, but you will notice that the ice is not even an inch thick but is supposed to support two 40 ton trucks, which would probably require at least two feet of solid ice to support them.

There are a couple other scenes that defy all logic, but that's only to the benefit of the movie, because overall the movie would be pretty boring if not for the terrible action scenes.

The rating of course is a so bad it's good rating, as an actual movie you had to rate it 2 or 3 at best.

Cheesy and enjoyable Schi-Fi Channel Creature Feature

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 16 May 2015]

Awakening from beneath the ice at a diamond mine in the Arctic, a vicious prehistoric creature runs rampant through the area that leaves a pair of truckers and a geologist as the only ones to stop it before it destroys all around it.

On the whole this one was quite a decent creature feature. One of the better features here is the usual amount of action scenes throughout here which has a great effect on this one in giving it a rather enjoyable pace. The fact that this one gets a lot of these scenes together is what works so well as the action starts in rather quickly with the mining excavation uncovering the creature and its' subsequent rampage across the work-station being an incredible opening as the creature charging through camp, slashing through bodies and wrecking the equipment creates a lot of great times to get this one going. The other big action scenes here are just as fun with the big one being the chase against the tankers out on the ice-road which is quite thrilling trying to use their truckers' tactics to get away with while the main factor of the film's action here is the big attack on the house. There's a lot of fun to be had from these attacks as it breaks through the barricades to get at them which is what generates the suspense and forcing them to find new ways to defend against it. This action also allows it the opportunity for a bit more gore than expected, as the opening massacre is basically ripping bodies apart while those at the house are a lot more varied which helps this one out with it's positives. There's not a whole lot here that hold it back, though they are pretty big. The biggest one here is the fact that there's very little about it's creature that works here, as there's the ever-present atrocious CGI that's present here for the creature that looks really bad throughout here. The digital pixilation for it during the attacks are quite obvious, and the fact that it repeats actions from elsewhere in the film that don't really match-up to their surroundings as well as changes dimensions constantly which throws it off even more. Likewise, the fact that it's origins are so confusing about what it really is and where it came from is all given away in one single throwaway line from a panic- stricken individual who never gets to finish it to provide the final clues. Beyond this, the only other feature here to drag this down was the unnecessary romance building at the very end when the point had already been made that they're attracted to each other which stops the film cold at that point. Otherwise, this one was quite enjoyable.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Powerful Science Fiction and Epic Survival Film

[jlthornb51 · 10/10 · 22 June 2015]

From director Terry Ingram comes this exciting science fiction film with an intelligent screenplay by Keith Shaw. When two truckers on the ice roads of Alaska encounter a dormant dinosaur in a remote expanse, all hell breaks loose. The special effects are nothing less than extraordinary and Ingram's vision of vast frozen vistas is tremendously haunting. An environment of stark raving fear in such a desolate setting is at time overwhelming. A fine cast brings humanity and unusual depth to characters that might otherwise simply be clichés from a horror film. Unrelentingly intense and incredibly horrific at times, this is a superior entry in the genre and deserves appreciation from a wider audience.