The Wolf Of Snow Hollow

In 2018 we saw the release of Thunder Road, a strange blend of comedy and drama about a grieving cop and his personal crisis from writer/director/actor Jim Cummings. Not many people saw it but it was one of the best films of the year, original, funny, exceedingly cringey and very unpredictable. In 2020 we have a new Cummings film and once again he's doing triple duty. Oh and this time he's up against a werewolf. While enduring a personal crisis

The denizens of Snow Hollow live a tough life. Their remote Utah town is snowbound for most of the year and life revolves around work and home with alcohol providing the only bit of respite. When a woman is found ripped asunder the Snow Hollow Sheriff's department is thrown into disarray as murder is something that does not happen in this town. Officer John Marshall (Jim Cummings) is very troubled by it all as his life is already crumbling around him. His father (Robert Forster), the town sheriff, is dying and asking John to cover up the fact so he can keep his position and his daughter Jenna (Chloe East), from his failed marriage, hates him because in her mind he values his job over her. Investigating this murder and the ones that follow might just be the straw that breaks this camel's back. Then to make things worse, the evidence starts pointing towards something supernatural.

The Wolf Of Snow Hall might be marketed as a horror film but it's not really. It's a quirky, stressful portrayal of a man coming apart at the seams who dives into the only thing that makes sense to him, even if it's to the detriment of all the other aspects of his life. Cummings is a unique lead, he looks the part but he certainly doesn't act it. He's an unpleasant individual, arrogant, hateful, insensitive, selfish. He doesn't take the women in his life seriously, be they his daughter, his wife or other officers like Julia (Riki Lindholme). His dying father is a nuisance to him instead of a worry. TBH, we should be hoping he'll get dismembered too but somehow Cummings' work gets under your skin and by the end you'll be actually be worried for him when his investigation starts bearing fruit.

The quirkiness in his performance extends to other aspects of the film too. Its a rare horror movie that gives it's murder victims an inner life and this one lets us get to know them a little before evil intervenes making their fates that bit harder to take. It's a nice touch and one I'm surprised to see survive the editing process because when you watch this you'll get the feeling that anything not nailed down has been snipped out to get the story moving. It's lightning fast in places, you'll definitely not get bored but at times too much is skipped over and supporting actors such as Lindholme and Forster feel shortchanged. It's a pity, especially in Forster's case because it's the last time we'll ever see him onscreen after he passed away from cancer last year. That knowledge does add a quiet poignancy to his few scenes though. Lindholme's role is sparse too but thankfully she's more than just a crowbarred in love interest and the moment she realises how little Marshall knows about women and their tough passage through life is a nice, telling touch. I'd like to see her in bigger parts, she has one of those great, expressive faces.

I liked this. It never does what you expect of it and that's always a good thing in a movie. There's a couple of nice red herrings, it doesn't rub your face in it's gore like low budget films are want to do and it gets everything wrapped up in a satisfying manner in under 90 minutes. Lovely hurling.

The Wolf Of Snow Hall is streaming online now.