'The Wolf Of Snow Hollow' Review: A Comedic Subversion Of The Horror Genre

There has been an influx of films that belong to a sub-genre that is equal parts horror, thriller, and comedy… the Massacre-Satire. These films are all framed differently, some are Horror-Thrillers like Krampus or Ready or Not, others are Survival-Thrillers like The Hunt or The Belko Experiment, but all of them are constructed around the pillars of gratuitous violence and contrasting comedic undertones. Director Jim Cummings’ second major film, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, fits this “Massac-ire” genre as comfortably as pratfall would in an episode of The Three Stooges.

To say this film caught me by surprise would be an understatement. Going into it I saw no trailers, had no previous knowledge of indie-director Jim Cummings or his previous work, and I ultimately watched The Wolf of Snow Hollow out of sheer curiosity upon seeing the movie’s poster. By the film's end, I still wasn’t sure what I had just witnessed. I was almost certain that I spent the last 83 minutes laughing sadistically at detective drama then proceeded to evaluate my own mental state. So I watched film again, and although there were lingering questions about my mentality, I was sure that I just watched a bloody decent film.

Honestly, the title sequence should have been a dead giveaway as to what to expect from the film. Reminiscent of the horror masterpiece, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the film opens with a montage of beautiful views of the snowy wilderness that gracefully fade into each other to help convey the isolation felt by the residents living in the film’s small-town setting. But as the montage goes on, the transitions come more rapidly until there are so many shots fading in and out of each other that it feels visually incoherent. The film introduces itself to you with a figurative pratfall, which suits it just fine. The Wolf of Snow Hollow starts as a very straight forward horror-mystery that descends almost all the way into slapstick territory. This leads to two vastly different tones in the film. On one side you have the gruesome killings and tediously detailed police work that shamelessly models itself after the clichés of the Detective-Noir genre. There is even a confrontation pulled directly from season one of True Detective. The opposing tone is embodied by the film’s protagonist and his obnoxious, whiney, and outright silly mishandling of the stress caused by the events set before him.

Director and writer Jim Cummings stars as Officer John Marshall, whom the film follows. The character is wound up so tight with anxiety throughout the film that his eventual breakdown feels well earned. Along with the violent killings and their perpetrator being rumored to be an actual werewolf, the character bumbles his handling of his daughter’s impending adulthood, portrayed by Chloe East, and the health of his father, Sheriff Hadley, played by the late great Robert Forster. These characters clash with Cumming’s Officer Marshall throughout the film in a contest of whose life is causing the most mental-trauma that reminded me of an old Monty Python sketch. In fact, the only contrast to their characters comes in the form of level headed Officer Robson, surprisingly played by Riki Lindholm from the comedy duo, Garfunkel and Oats. As Officer Marshall breaks down he dances around the realm of unlikeable, and ultimately, whether or not you enjoy this movie hinges on your tolerance of Officer Marshall’s antics. Personally, Cummings plays the role in a way that causes the character to come off as a little bit of a pathetic bully. Seeing this type of individual fail to keep it together time and time again is where I believe a slight enjoyment of misery subtly elevated my overall reception to the film’s comedy.

When it comes down to it, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is more of a character study than story-driven film. That is not to say the story isn’t there. The detective noir aspect of the story is kept interesting enough by the werewolf aspect of the case, but it definitely takes a back seat to Officer Marshall’s steadily declining mental state, this being by design. Jim Cummings has built this film on his character’s, as well as his own, shoulders. Even the title of the film has a double meaning; the titular wolf being a reference to the person Officer Marshall becomes during his relapse into alcoholism. The supporting characters exist to drive Officer Marshall to the brink, but the performances of the cast manages to keep them well-rounded and interesting. Seeing Robert Forster’s character stubbornly deny declining health whilst subtly reflecting on his legacy and mortality was particularly heart-wrenching. Robert sadly passed away in October of 2019, making his performance as Sheriff Hadley his last.

Overall, I enjoyed The Wolf of Snow Hollow, the contrast of gruesome murders and difficult familial distress to the childish response by the film’s protagonist was vast enough for me to find comedy in the absurdity. But I fear that if you are not laughing at Officer Miller’s misery, then you won’t be laughing at all. Those looking for an in-depth detective noir mystery won’t find it, and those looking for a quirky small-town cop comedy won’t find that either. Cumming’s second film is more akin to a group of middle school students playing a way too serious game of detective during winter break, and it is this hill of comedic absurdity that The Wolf of Snow Hollow has chosen to die on.

GRADE [B]