Hollow Wolf

Continuing the theme of "snow", we watched The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020). It was touted as a low-budget horror with a touch of comedy, and that's what we got.

Snow Hollow is a small ski town in Utah. We meet a young couple who have rented a cottage with a hot tub. They have dinner at a diner and he harangues some locals for using the F-word for homosexuals as an insult. Nothing serious. This is all cut together slightly out of sequence, off-kilter. There is also a sort of unsettling close-up of her, looking straight at the camera. Then, the guy comes back to the hot tub with some beers and finds her brutally killed and chopped up. 

The police show up lead by Sheriff Robert Forster, looking very old, and his son, director Jim Cummings. Forster is a strong leader, but is physically past it. Cummings is his second in command, but seems to be struggling with leadership. Maybe due to anger issues. He confesses this in the AA meeting he was attending when the police are called.

There are a lot of theories about the killer, including wild animal. The clean incisions look more like a knife or scalpel, though. Also, Cummings knows there's no such thing as werewolves. Besides, it's probably a one-off - disgruntled ex-boyfriend or something. 

Then we see the next woman killed - and see the monster, a 7-foot tall wolf on its hind legs. You can't complain that this horror movie doesn't show the monster until the end.

As the killings mount, Cummings becomes more and more unglued. His small police department doesn't like him much. The exception seems to be Riki Lindholm, as a sort of Marge Gunderson type. She tries to tell him he can't take the weight of the world's problems on his shoulders. But he can't help it - he has to live up to his dad's example. He also wants to protect his teenage daughter who kind of hates him, both for being over protective, and being an alcoholic. Oh yes, he starts drinking again.

So we have a nice monster in the snow movie, combined with a psychological portrait of a man at the end of his rope. The style is a little flashy, with some non-sequential editing, and the odd close-ups of  the victims at some point before they are killed. Cummings, both star and director, is both realistic and just enough over the top to be funny. Most of the humor is small, like how everyone ends their conversation with "You have a nice day, now". 

I won't spoil the end, except to say that Cummings was right about everything, and still manages to be a terrible policeman. In the end, it's Lindholm who becomes sheriff when Forster dies - and she deserves it. Even if she is doing a bit from Fargo.

I should note that this is Robert Forster's last film, a small role in a little indie-ish horror film. He was in Medium Cool and Jackie Brown, and a lot in between and since. I think it was a good ending.