Il lupo della neve

I hadn't heard of Jim Cummings before, actually the prolific Robert Forster was the only person I recognized, so I was pretty sure this movie would be crap. I also don't really like mindless and gory horror, or dark "comedy" that misses its mark, the former making me queasy, and the latter making me uneasy. Well I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. After writing a pretty tight script, with simple plot-points, character driven, decent banter in everyman speak, that gives even minor characters their own identity. Jim then hops up to the director's chair and pulls it all together, whilst also turning in a solid main performance. Again I must point out... He is playing an unlikeable character... It is not BAD acting... He is portraying an ex-jock, ex-military, alcoholic, divorced deputy in a small town, with an estranged daughter and a stubborn aging father/ boss. He feels his life is passing him by, he's surrounded by incompetent coworkers, overbearing constituents, and is making promises he seemingly can't deliver on... I thought he brought that right to the table steaming hot. The rest of the cast, particularly Riki and Chloe really assisted in fleshing-out his downward spiral. Is it a comedy? is it a horror? is it a... Who cares... it's a great story with chills, thrills, heartache, scares, shouting, laughing, crying, lying, and dying... You know... People stuff... Plus the wolf was great too.

There's a lot going on thematically in this uneven horror comedy.

The film is the brain child of writer/director/star Jim Cummings, whose film "Thunder Road" I adored. "The Wolf of Snow Hollow" isn't as good as that movie, but that's partially because it's more ambitious, so I give him credit for trying.

Cummings plays a police officer (again) with rage issues (again) and an alcohol addiction. Gruesome murders start happening in the small Utah town of the film's setting, and after Cummings first rejects the far out theory that they might be the work of a werewolf, he begins to toy with the idea that maybe there's something to it as the murders continue to go unsolved.

The werewolf concept acts as an allegory for both the monstrous impulses Cummings himself feels and that he's driven to when drinking, and the predatory world of men in general and the danger they pose to women in general and his teenage daughter specifically. There's clearly a MeToo inspired vein of male apology running through the film, but it all gets a bit muddled by a screenplay that doesn't quite know where it wants to go. The ending is unsatisfying, but the movie leading up to the ending is pretty decent. It doesn't do a great job of striking the right tone -- the humor isn't ever quite funny enough but everything else is treated a bit too lightly to ever be taken seriously -- but the film does have a bold sense of style that I appreciated.

I like what I've seen so far of Cummings as an actor and director and this film will keep me coming back for more.

Grade: A-

An up-and-coming Sheriff (Jim Cummings) wants to prove himself when horrific murders suddenly grip his remote town near Christmas time. Is it an animal, a human or something... else? Robert Forster plays the soon-to-retire dad and Riki Lindhome a subordinate officer. Manly Jimmy Tatro is also on hand.

"The Wolf of Snow Hollow" (2020) is a mystery/thriller with horror elements and a zippy sense of black humor. It has the setting of "Donner Pass" (2011), "Snowbeast" (2011) and "Silent Night" (2012), but a different threat mixed with clever amusement.

This is a solid piece of full moon entertainment by writer/director/star Jim Cummings. I loved the snowy locations and Chloe East is a highlight on the feminine front, along with Amanda Brown in a small role. Meanwhile the humor is amusing. Yet the flick's a little too frenetic for its own good. Cummings coulda reigned things in for some more mood, but it's his movie, not mine.

The film runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot in Kamas, Utah, which is a about 25 miles east of Salt Lake City, on the other side of the mountain range.

GRADE: B-/B.

Horror comedies are a tricky business - humour is so subjective, it could make or break a production. I warmed to this - ironic given the snowbound location - immediately when a diner, interrupted by two louts, asks one of them, "Do you have the internet in this town?" "Yeah, we have the internet." "Then why not use it? You could teach your mom how to read."

There's a caustic wit on display that runs all the way through, and balances out the genuinely nasty moments of gore, as well as softening the characters. Also, I love snowbound, isolated towns as locations for scary stories.

Jim Cummings writes, directs and plays the lead role in this. This is also the final film to star veteran actor Robert Forster. This is well acted across the board, by a cast who really seem to 'get' the quick-fire nuances and can balance them out with a growing sense of unease.

However - not all the jokes land, and sometimes scenes are over-filled with yelled expletives above anything else. Also, the balance isn't always there - scenes that could be really horrific are undermined by swift cut-jumps to jokey reactions and comedy music. 5 out of 10.

Great theme. Loved the setting for this genre. Great effects and super werewolf, what we saw of him.

Hard to get through all the yelling. And at times the only thing louder was the soundtrack. Tough to listen to Auld Lang Syne at ~100 decibels. Was hoping the main character would calm down at some point but he kept losing his temper, yelling, and blaming everybody for anything and everything. Every lead character's got history and problems; but bringing down the tone a bit along with a slightly less offensive main character would've made something decent here. The angst and anxiety were overly overdone. Felt the stress rolling out from the movie into the viewing and I can imagine to the cast as well as they were filming. Julia and the saged town sheriff played by Robert Forster brought some sanity to the mayhem. The new sheriff position rightly belongs to Julia.