Death Chill

The Death Chill (also known as Kusharit Umoti)^[1] is the conversion of human fear into a cryokinetic weapon created and used by Garraka.

History[]

Primary Canon History[]

Ancient Times[]

4,000 years ago, around 1976 BCE, Garraka waged war on humanity after he was betrayed by the human king Samudari and went on a murder spree. He planned to raise an undead army to wage war with humans, and then bring about a second Ice Age. He channeled human fears into a weapon that became known as the Death Chill. A roving band of mythical spirit catchers known as the Fire Masters shattered the Death Chill and then used fire and brass to trap Garraka inside an orb. It was prophesied that Garraka would usher the end of humankind with Kusharit Umoti, the power to kill by fear itself.

Twentieth Century[]

In Mid-July, 1904, during a summer heat wave, the Manhattan Adventurers Society held a gathering at their headquarters in New York. They took out the orb and played a recording of the chant which purportedly opened the orb. The Death Chill froze the room and everyone in it. A lone female Fire Master resealed the orb before Garraka could be escape. Hook & Ladder Company 8 responded to a call about an incident at the Manhattan Adventurer's Society. The captain touched the door the frozen room and nearly had his had frozen, too. They were shocked to find a room full of people frozen to death. Once the orb was resealed, the frozen people shattered to pieces. The incident officially remained unsolved and was dubbed the "NYC Death Chill Mystery."

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire[]

In the summer of 2024, Nadeem Razmaadi tried to sell the Orb of Garraka to Ray Stantz. Ray noted brass objects were used to trap evil spirits and asked if he could take a P.K.E. reading. Nadeem thanked him for asking and gave his permission. The store rumbled and the P.K.E. Meter broke. The counter froze and the display glass shattered. The Death Chill made a beeline for the Firehouse and shook the basement. Cracks formed in the walls and frost appeared on the Containment Unit. The next night, the orb resisted extraction in the Ionic Separator and caused a black out in the Paranormal Research Center. Lars Pinfield grabbed the orb and his hand was frozen but he dropped it before there was permanent damage done. The next day, the Death Chill reached the Firehouse basement again. Wide gaping holes in the wall were created, the unit was frosted over even more, and parts of the basement were frozen. Lars demonstrated the orb's Zero Kelvin temperature then used a grabber claw and placed the orb against the Puft Terrarium. Everyone observed the Mini-Pufts jumping violently into the glass and failed to see the Death Chill sabotage the Proton Field on Possessor's enclosure. It escaped and hid in Podcast's gear.

Lucky Domingo strapped on an upgraded Proton Pack and blasted Garraka in the Paranormal Research Center but the stream had no effect on Garraka. He froze the stream and it fell to pieces on the floor. The pack froze and turned off. Lucky began to freeze but Garraka left the building. Hours later, she and Phoebe were still noticeably shivering from the cold. Garraka entered the Firemaster Smoke N Vape thinking a Fire Master was inside. The clerk was frozen. An icicle shot out from the shelf and shattered his body to pieces. Garraka froze the front door of Nadeem's Apartment and burst through in his black cloud-like ethereal form. Garraka reattached his horns and restored his full power. The brass room where the horns were stored froze up.

The Death Chill froze the Chinatown area. Cars skidded around. Ice spikes shot up across the street. A couple hailed a taxi cab but it was impaled and was carried up into mid-air. The ice spikes traveled down the street and shattered a coffee shop's storefront. A black storm-like manifestation approached Coney Island. Everyone soon noticed the large black cloud rapidly moving towards them. Ice spikes suddenly shot up through the water and traveled up through the beach. The people panicked and ran away. The lifeguard on duty jumped down from his post. Lightning struck an umbrella swept up in the air.

After Garraka entered the Firehouse, he sealed up the doorway in ice. The Containment Unit was punctured open from the inside by the Death Chill ice spikes. The Ghostbusters blasted Garraka but the Proton Streams had no effect on him like Lucky claimed. He froze the streams and they fell to the floor and shattered into pieces. Garraka plucked Nadeem's used up lighter away, froze it, and blew the pieces away then proceeded to freeze everyone and summon the his ghost army from the Containment Unit. Phoebe fired a trifurcated Proton Stream from her brass plated Proton Pack and had an effect. However, Garraka was still able to counter and froze Phoebe and her pack. Nadeem took control of the flame from Melody's match and blasted Garraka. The fire spread and thawed everyone out. Ray, Winston, Peter, and Janine used the Containment Unit to trap Garraka. As they pulled the lever down, Death Chill ice spikes shot out towards them. The Containment Unit pulled Garraka in and the tear in the tank sealed up. All of the effects of the Death Chill dissipated. Mayor Walter Peck tried to blame the city-wide devastation on the Ghostbusters but he caved from pressure by all the people gathered outside the Firehouse. Winston Zeddemore told a reporter it was thanks to Phoebe Spengler and her family that the world wasn't buried under ice.

Trivia[]

• Frozen people that shatter in the movie were made from several departments cooperating. The VFX team and makeup and hair departments worked with actors to make them look frozen. The VFX team used hundreds of camera in different directions to photograph them. The photographs were used to build computer graphics versions. The special effects team used them to build full figures made from a silicon rubber missing an ingredient to prevent bonding. As a result, the figures would be brittle. With a mechanism inside the figure with wires and cables and a pneumatic ram, they are safely shattered without harming actors.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}
• The staging and movement of the Death Chill moving down the street towards the Firehouse is a nod to the Evil Dead franchise.^[7] The shot was the first time low altitude cameras were allowed to be flown through New York City.^[8]
• The special effects department spent weeks making hundreds of ice spikes of various sizes. After some testing, the most effective version was done by vacuum forming cones in clear plastic. A clear resin was applied to the exterior of the cones. Cotton wool wadding was threaded through the middle. The spikes were mounted on timber boards and positioned. Each board was bedded in with a plastic sheet molded to the floor with hot air guns on top of melted wax. Loose wax shards with glitter were added to the spikes. For walls that are frozen in the movie, work was contracted out to a company named Snow Business.^[9]

See Also[]

• Cold Spot
• Electrokinetic Absorption Event
• Ghost Fire Wall

Appearances[]

Primary Canon Appearances[]

• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Notes[]

References[]

Gallery[]

Official Videos[]

Primary Canon Images[]

Behind the Scenes Images[]