![]() On top of that is the attitude of the local townsfolk towards the police. As for the rest of them, trusted buddy Julia Robson (excellent Riki Lindhome) aside, they seem to consist of post-truthers convinced it’s a werewolf, or cops so lazy they want the FBI to take the case. Marshall’s fellow cops consist of his dad (Robert Forster in one of his final roles), a sick and old sheriff who will not retire and who’s good only for raising morale. Is it a wolf – there are plenty in the snowy hills that surround Snow Hollow? Or a human – as rationalist cop John Marshall (Cummings) suspects? And sure enough, in no time the big bad wolf has killed her too. A few minutes further along into the running time, again in an extremely familiar scenario, we are introduced to a snowboard instructor, who we understand immediately from the TMI backstory we’re being given at speed is “the next victim”. But there is that missing vagina to consider. Superficially, from its aerial establishing shots to its set-ups in diners and gas-station forecourts, The Wolf of Snow Hollow looks like a standard-issue TV shocker. These days it’s the Lifetime Channel and other like it whose churn-em-out production schedules keep camera crews and lighting riggers, set dressers and make-up artists in work, and enable them refine their skills. And if it flopped, at least it didn’t cost much. As long as it satisfied genre conventions, the back office was happy. ![]() This sort of thing used to happen from time to time when B movies were still being made – a gifted but hardly box office director would be given a crew who knew their shit and a week to turn something out. ![]() That gruesome detail is emblematic of a film otherwise made strictly to a formula, the twist added by writer/director/star Jim Cummings lifting everything onto another plane. When the cops show up, there are body parts everywhere and Brianne’s vagina is missing. Back at the cabin, while PJ showers, Brianne is attacked and dismembered by a person or thing unknown. But before that, they go out to dinner, PJ gets on the wrong side of some local rednecks and things almost get physical. He’s intending to propose later that evening. That true historical event occurred in the mid-18th century, when rural citizens in France alleged a monster of an animal killed more than 100 people over the span of several years.Young couple PJ and Brianne check in to a holiday cabin. But The Wolf of Snow Hollow appears to be taking a different tact, as told from the perspective of the would-be wolf hunters, making it similar to a modern day the Beast of Gévaudan. To date it might be arguable the best werewolf movies ever produced were The Wolf Man (1941) and An American Werewolf in London (1981). The new chiller is the first werewolf movie we’ve seen in a while, following in the tradition of filmmakers that run the gamut from Lon Chaney Jr. Cummings also starred in the earlier movie as a police officer, causing probably more than a few to wonder if there could be a greater thematic connection to Snow Hollow. That latter dramedy went on to win the SXSW Grand Jury Award for narrative feature in 2018 and was one of the most overlooked movies of that year. The Wolf of Snow Hollow is the Cummings’ latest feature as writer-director after helming Thunder Road. The synopsis teases, “As he’s consumed by the hunt for the killer, he struggles to remind himself there’s no such thing as werewolves.” John thus has the unenviable task of solving a series of brutal murders that occur every month. And all of these vulnerabilities are going to be tested during the rise of each full moon. John is reeling from a failed marriage, an estranged and rebellious daughter, and a lackluster police department drowning around him. Take Cummings’ lead performance as Sheriff John Marshall. Cut around the final performance of the late great Robert Forster, the teaser suggests this is not your quietest of sleepy towns. ![]() The first trailer for The Wolf of Snow Hollow is certainly promising enough. As the latest feature from SXSW darling Jim Cummings, the horror movie is set in a small town where diminished expectations comes face to face with growing clumps of fur, not to mention a body count. Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? We’re about to find out in the new horror movie, The Wolf of Snow Hollow.
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