The Wolf of Snow Hollow

More than just your standard horror/comedy, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a tonal balancing act, a movie that doesn’t go for laughs or horror as much as weave various tones and styles through its excellent script. I thought Cummings was a talent to watch after “Thunder Road,” and now I’m sure of it.

Part of the brilliance of Cummings’ performance is how he can turn on a dime, baring his soul one second and throwing off a well-timed jab in the same breath. Thankfully, the actors around him are able to keep up with his pace.

Tense, scary, and full of heart, when Cummings has all the pieces moving together in the same direction the movie hums with an effortless rhythm that largely makes up for deficiencies baked into the third act.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a pleasingly quirky outing that has fun with the mythologies of both monsters and men.

It’s the personal demons rather than old-fashioned monsters that get you, see, which is one of two central tenets of Cummings’ genre exercise/portrait of a fuck-up mash-up.

The movie does get some zingers in there, and it balances the humor with some nicely atmospheric creepy small town vibes (courtesy of DP Natalie Kingston), but the tone is all over the place and a far cry from the “Fargo”-y Coen brothers feel Cummings seems to be going for.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow aims more to be about its small village, but in reality, it’s more about how frayed police officers, especially men, abuse their privileges. It’d be a great vehicle to skewer these topics if the pieces fit together, but they don’t.

Really funny and engaging story. Jim Cummings proves to me that he is a Director worth checking out.

WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW is a difficult film to describe in a meaningful way. Yes, on the surface, it's a werewolf movie. A small town, with an understaffed and undertrained police force, is forced to contend with a supernatural killer. Can the committed but anger-management challenged sheriff (Jim Cummings) coral his team long enough to track down the creature? It's a horror movie, yes. But really, it's not that terribly scary. It isn't horrifically gory (but it's a little gory), so you don't have that guilty pleasure. It's also a comedy (surprise!), but not quite a knee-slapper. It isn't a parody movie in the vein of SCARY MOVIE; it mines most of its humor in the bumbling antics of the police and other townspeople. None of this sounds like a recipe for a very successful movie, and yet there is something about WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW. Writer/director/star Jim Cummings is a singular filmmaker. He's created a cop-hero who is far from ordinary. He wants to do a good job, but is nearly crippled by either self-doubt/self-loathing or by his own incredibly loose cannon temper. His father, also in law enforcement (and well played by Robert Forster in one of his final roles), counsels him repeatedly, but Cummings is a mess. It's a very interesting and unusual characterization; one that actually feels fresh and surprising. His fellow cops are loyal to him (even the ones smart enough to see his flaws and worry), but he even struggles to see that his peers are on his side and not working against him. The werewolf is almost an externalization of the lycanthrope within him. (Although, to be sure, the movie is not as psychologically heavy as what I just described!). So we watch the movie rooting more for this flawed guy to get his act together rather than to see the werewolf tracked down. Cummings is ably supported by Forster and by Riki Lindhome, a promising and smart detective who also very much has Cumming's back. The movie moves at a brisk pace, which is good, since what it doesn't have is a lot of tension. Even though the cops are bungling, we always assume they'll "get their werewolf." Most characters are not terribly well developed and we don't invest much emotionally into what the creature is doing to the town. Really, in the end, it's just an odd, quirky, singular little film that I enjoyed probably more than I should have. Tough to describe, and difficult to recommend to just anybody, I'm still very glad I saw it. I'll certainly be checking out Cumming's previous effort THUNDER ROAD, and probably anything new he comes up with.

This is the ideal classic movie for a weekend. It won't be memorable at all, but it will give you enough entertainment to pass the time. Also, considering that it doesn't take long, the film itself acknowledges its weaknesses and doesn't extend what it shouldn't. The biggest problem I found was its poor balance between mystery and comedy. It was certainly black humor, but for humor, especially black humor, you need a good timing and equilibrium, and this movie was not successful in that regard. Nothing special, nor did I expect it, but as light entertainment it delivered.

The acting, directing and production of this movie are all pretty poor. Come in expecting a low quality B movie and you may not be as disappointed as I was.

The positive thing about the film is that he doesn't take himself so seriously. Maybe he is suitable as a black horror comedy that just wants to entertain the viewer. But at best the horror elements have B-movie level and work. The comedic part goes under in an undemanding story without depth, attached dialogues and moderate acting.