Hölle aus Eis und Feuer

Let's admit it, most SyFy Channel original offerings are rubbish. However, without going into the plot, 'Snowmageddon' is slightly above their usual fare with a cast that is better than average and a story line that, for the most part, holds your attention.

No improvement on the CGI though and the town of 'Normal,' where 50% of the action takes place is more reminiscent of a cluster of buildings you would find on your average farm property, than Main Street, North America, even though the story is supposed to take place in the foothills of Alaska.

All in all though, the best of a usually bad SyFy crop.

As I have said many times already I have made no secret of disliking a lot of SyFy's films, but I do keep watching to see if they do come up with something that is watchable at least. They have done a few movies that are surprisingly tolerable though even they are far from perfect, but most are bad but you are amused by the awfulness or are like witnessing a train-wreck.

I was very mixed on Snowmageddon actually, of the above categories it sits between the tolerable and so bad it's good ones. I do give it plaudits for the better than average acting, granted it is not brilliant but it is award-worthy compared to the likes of Quantum Apocalypse and Titanic II, decent photography and a storyline that is mostly interesting and original in concept.

That is not to say that the story is perfect though. It is interesting and generally well paced, but it does take a while to get going and the ending is abrupt. There are also scenes and ideas that suspend disbelief and don't make much sense, but for the first time in a while I actually got some novelty value out of them. These are including the ideas that electricity is still flowing in a town that is cut off from the rest of the world, flying even with ice bombs are going off and nobody in the town carrying a knife.

Snowmageddon also has some amateurish effects-though I've seen worse-, cheesy dialogue and characters that aren't developed enough to make us care for them. I loved the title, but it didn't fit with the concept and story, it was like there had been a last minute title change or that they had thought of a new idea and forgot to think of a title that fitted.

Overall, not as bad as other SyFy efforts, but there is nothing really that stood out to make it memorable or good. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Just as I was getting the smell of xmas spice candles out of my clothes along comes a wintery Christmas movie courtesy of the Scyfy channel.

This Canadian made movie stars Laura "The Faculty" Harris and tells the odd tale of a snow globe that inflicts natural disasters on the town.

Scyfy originals have a really bad rap, I personally find them entertaining enough with the rare exceptions (Sharknado I'm looking at you). I consider them charming dumb fun and this is a fine example.

Snowmageddon is slightly above par, yes it has weak sfx and yes the whole thing is head scratchingly stupid in places but there is certainly entertainment to be found.

If you like Scyfy's goofy movies then you'll like this, if not then perhaps steer clear.

The Good:

Some good ideas

Cast do a great job

Scyfy charm

The Bad:

Usual ropey sfx

Well, it isn't going to become any Christmas classic, that's for sure.

The story in "Snowmageddon" is about a mysterious snow globe that is left at the doorstep of the Miller family. The snow globe is a replica of the small lazy town of Normal, Alaska. Rudy Miller discovers that the catastrophic events that unfold inside the snow globe once it is winded up also happens in real life, right in their little town.

Initially, the storyline is sort of silly, but the movie actually works out well enough, because it is so cheesy. However, what makes this movie bearable to sit through is the acting. People cast for the movie actually pulled off their characters quite nicely, and it could have been much worse, had their acting skills been halting as is the case in most of these type of movies. But luckily, the cast here were able to pull up the movie.

As for the effects, well... Let's just say, don't prepare yourself to be blown away by the special effects. The effects in "Snowmageddon" are far from impressive. They do, however, get the job done, and most of the time work out well enough.

There are far worse movies of the same genre out there, many of which spewed out from SyFy Channel and The Asylum, so it was a fresh breath of air to have a movie that actually managed to stay a bit more afloat in the pond of otherwise unbearable movies.

One thing did puzzle me about "Snowmageddon", though. For a movie with a title such as it did, where was all the snow? I was expecting blizzards and such, but the snow was restricted to the mountain alone. And that sort of took away something from the movie, because the title did hint towards something that unfortunately never took place.

If you enjoy cheesy and campy disaster movies, where the story doesn't necessarily have to be 'realistic', then "Snowmageddon" is perhaps worth your time. I do believe, however, that this movie is the type of movie you watch once and then never again.

One awful disaster movie, with no explanations poor acting and clearly not worth the two hours it takes to watch it on TV. No connection is ever made to explain the connection between the snow globe and the disasters in the town, no explanation of why it was ever created or who might have brought these on the towns folk.

The viewer is clearly in danger of losing whatever intelligence they may have by watch this movie so run, don't walk away from it! Mysterious cracks show up all around the town with fire and yet there is no offer of how or why. Mysteriously trees pop out of the ground in random places that skewer folks and cars.

The most frustrating thing about this plot is the total lack of the presence of the creator of this mysterious snow globe and any reasonable explanation why it has appeared who its creator is and why all of these disasters are happening to this tiny town of Normal Alaska. It left me pulling out my hair in frustration.