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The Wolf of Snow Hollow
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Wikipedia article
'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' is a 2020 American comedy horror film about a small Utah town that is seemingly terrorized by a werewolf. It was written and directed by Jim Cummings who also stars along with Riki Lindhome, Chloe East, Jimmy Tatro, and Robert Forster. The film is dedicated to Forster, as it was the last of his career, completed shortly before his death.
It was released in limited theaters and on VOD in the United States on October 9, 2020 by United Artists Releasing.
Plot
PJ Palfrey and his girlfriend Brianne vacation in Snow Hollow, Utah. PJ gets into a verbal altercation with two local hunters who used a homophobic slur. Returning to their rental lodging, they both enjoy the hot tub before PJ heads back inside to shower. Brianne hears a growl. PJ discovers her mangled body, with a paw print in the snow.
John Marshall, a sheriff deputy with anger management issues, is attending a sobriety program. Later his ex-wife Brittany berates him for not being there to support their daughter Jenna, when John is called to the murder scene. His father, Sheriff Hadley, and fellow officer Julia have discovered that some of Brianne's body parts are missing. Sheriff Hadley worries about having another heart attack. Julia finds the two hunters, who describe PJ as very rude and confrontational. News begins to circulate around the town about a possible "wolfman" among them, and paranoia begins to spread amongst the townsfolk and cops alike. John is adamant that the killing was done by a man not a wolf.
A ski instructor is killed by a wolfman. Rumors about a killer werewolf spread, much to John's annoyance. He gets into a physical altercation with a fellow officer after the latter lets slip to the local press that the killer could be a wolf. Under stress, John begins drinking again.
While John and Julia drive to work the next morning, someone throws a beer bottle at Julia's car. Meanwhile, a suspicious man alone in his RV is using heroin. John and Julia again question PJ who tells them that he has nothing new to report.
Paranoid tips from all over the community roll in. Liz Fairchild has a strange encounter with a tall man at a diner. John discovers that Hadley has suffered from another heart murmur, and urges him to seek medical treatment. They argue, with John declaring that Hadley should work from home. Hadley refuses to go for treatment. Later that night Liz is killed by the wolfman.
John becomes increasingly agitated and angry, at one point getting into another fight with the coroner after the latter declares that he's doing a bad job. The suspicious man from earlier burns a corpse. He has a wolf tattoo on his arm.
John combs through the town's records in order to determine whether or not the killer has had any personal relationships with the victims, and looks up some werewolf history and lore. After investigating Liz's workplace, they discover that the man Liz had previously encountered at the restaurant called her workplace asking for her. A curfew is imposed and an active watch for the creature is begun. After suffering another heart murmur Hadley agrees to retire and seek treatment at John's urging.
Jenna sneaks away in the middle of the night to see her boyfriend. They are attacked by the werewolf. John is called over and shoots at the creature but it escapes, killing an officer while Jenna suffers a minor head wound. When John yells at Jenna for breaking curfew, Jenna declares that his lack of care is the reason why she is going away for college. After visiting both Jenna and Hadley in the hospital, John breaks into Jenna's boyfriend's house and attacks him. Meanwhile, Hadley passes away from heart complications at the hospital.
Grieving for his father and frustrated with the case, he is banned from his program meetings. Meanwhile the suspicious man dies from a heroin overdose, with a wolf by him.
His body is found and the police deduce he was the killer due to his tattoo, his odd knife collection, his location from the original crime scene, his height, and the discovery of the dead body from the woodpile buried in his backyard, which turns out to be that of a missing woman. When the coroner insults John's intelligence and threatens to tell the press about his difficulties in finding the murderer, John deduces that the coroner was responsible for the vandalization of Julia's car, and fires him.
Julia gets a call from PJ about a needle that they had supposedly left at his mother's house. Realizing that the needle in question is used for taxidermy, Julia surmises that the only taxidermist in the town is Paul Carnury. While distributing evidence back to their original owners, John stops by Paul's house. Paul declares that he doesn't have a wife after John asks him if she was away for the weekend, contrary to his previous claims. He asks John about his daughter, something he couldn't have known unless he was present at the night of Jenna's attack. Deducing this as he walks out the door, John returns and asks Paul to stand up to his actual height, revealing himself to be well over 6 feet tall and slams the door on him. John breaks into the house, discovering his workstation and Hannah's head. John is stabbed in the stomach by Paul. Hearing sirens outside, Paul runs. Paul changes into a taxidermied wolf costume, unleashes an animalistic growl and disappears into the woods, with John following. John is beaten by Paul, but Julia shoots Paul. John gets up and shoots Paul repeatedly in the head and collapses.
Jenna moves into college with Julia and John's help. Julia's been appointed as the new sheriff of Snow Hollow and John's recovered. John gifts Jenna condoms and a gun for protection. As he walks out of the dorm he passes two men sexualizing the women in the dorm rooms. John stops for a moment, before walking away.
Cast
*Jim Cummings as Officer John Marshall
*Riki Lindhome as Officer Julia Robson
*Chloe East as Jenna Marshall
*Jimmy Tatro as PJ Palfrey
*Robert Forster as Sheriff Hadley
*Marshall Allman as Jeremy
*Neville Archambault as Gerry
*Annie Hamilton as Brianne
*Kelsey Edwards as Liz Fairchild
Production
Filming took place in Kamas, Utah in March 2019. Producer Matt Miller had known Robert Forster from a previous project, and sent the script to his agent. Director Jim Cummings said they "expected a polite 'no'" but Forster chose to take the role because he viewed it as "a dramatic movie about a father-son relationship, and complications of aging and health."
Release
In September 2020, Orion Classics acquired distribution rights to the film.
The film was released in limited theaters on October 9, 2020 by United Artists Releasing and on video-on-demand the same day.
Reception
Box office
In its opening weekend the film grossed $91,943 from 112 theaters.Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics' consensus reads: "'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' treads somewhat unsteadily between horror and comedy, but writer-director-star Jim Cummings' unique sensibilities make for an oddly haunting hybrid." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".John DeFore of 'The Hollywood Reporter' gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Satisfying enough as a horror/slasher flick with a black-comedy aftertaste, it has some commercial appeal but doesn't represent a step forward artistically." Brian Tallerico of 'RogerEbert.com' awarded the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and wrote: "The snow-covered setting and bumbling cops, along with Cummings' deadpan sense of humor, have led to comparisons to the Coen brothers and there is a sense of 'Fargo' meets 'Silver Bullet' in some of 'The Wolf of Snow Hollow,' but its not like Cummings wears his influences as obviously as some genre filmmakers."
Peter Debruge of 'Variety' wrote: "'Wolf' actually does that thing we all hope second features won't: It reveals that idiosyncrasies of an unproven director's debut weren't quirks so much as weaknesses a disappointment for those of us hoping lightning might strike twice for the 'Thunder Road' helmer."
Grant Hermanns of Comingsoon.net gave the film a 9.5 out of 10. Chuck Bowen of 'Slant Magazine' awarded the film three stars out of four. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of 'The A.V. Club' graded the film a B. Don Kaye of Den of Geek awarded the film two and a half stars out of five. Vinnie Mancuso of Collider graded the film an A. Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting awarded the film three skulls out of five. JimmyO of JoBlo.com gave the film a 9 out of 10.
References
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