THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW (2020)
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 85 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA: English 5.1with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Jim Cummings
Cast: Robert Forster, Riki Lindhome, Jimmy Tatro, Marshall Allman, Jim Cummings, Chloe East, Annie Hamilton
The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) centers around a sleepy little ski town in Utah that is suddenly rocked by a series of gruesome full-moon murders. On the case is a hot-headed officer named John Marshall, played with no small amount of quirk by the film's director, Jim Cummings (Thunder Road). Marshall is a recovering alcoholic struggling with sobriety and the stress of raising a teenage daughter in the aftermath of failed marriage. Add to that he must deal with the declining health of his stubborn father, the town's sheriff, played by the late-great Robert Forster (Alligator) in his final film role before his death.
The series of full-moon murders all have tell-tale signs of animalistic savagery, the victims are literally torn to pieces, and the only evidence left behind is a set of oversized wolf tracks. This leads some on the force to believe the culprit could be a werewolf, but Marshall refuses to believe in a supernatural element, unable to handle that prospect without blowing a fuse. Actually, the guy seems fairly incapable of handling much of anything, the high-strung officer is a short-fused powder keg of insecurity and instability ready to blow, crumbling under the weight of filling his father's shoes and the domestic struggles of raising a teenage daughter (Chloe East). Under the weight of case and the strains of his family life he cracks and falls back on the bottle with his life fast spiraling out of control.
The flick is anchored by a strangely tense and off-kilter turn from triple threat writer/director/actor Jim Cummings, who has such a weird way about his character, it's both off-putting and strangely endearing. One moment he is in tears and then in the next he is punching a co-worker in the face, he's a flawed protaganist to say the least. The balance of offbeat humor and punctuated werewolf violence totally did it for me, a weird amalgam of Coen Bros. and Lynch-ian vibes that appealed to my love of the weird stuff. The movie also has some heart to it, there's a level of emotion to it in respect to Marshall's strained relationships with his ailing father and teen daughter, as well as a bond with fellow officer Jenna (Riki Lindhome, Knives Out), who is sort of the secret glue that holds the film together.
The werewolf in the flick looks pretty cool, we only seen it in brief glimpses for large swaths of the film, and it has a great look to it once to is fully revealed in all it's practical glory. I was reminded a bit of the werewolf from Late Phases (2014), it's had a cool look even if it looks a bit more fox-like than wolf in the face to me, but that's not a complaint, I dig it. This one is a gem of werewolf flick, not unlike Late Phases (2014), it offers something distinctly different from the usual lycan-flick, with an off-beat protagonist that I thought was intensely interesting.
Audio/Video: The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. The digital shot film looks very good, everything is crisp and sharp-looking, the colors are strong and blacks are decent if not exactly inky. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles, it's a strong presentation with pleasing low-end , not a ton of use of the surrounds but it does kick-in during the more action-oriented and atmospheric moments.
We get a handful of brief extras that add up to about fourteen minutes of cast and crew interviews, nothing too deep, but we do get some behind-the scenes footage of the werewolf costume being assembled, the actor working on his movement, and the wolf head being sculpted. It's a fairly breezy collection of extras, I think I would have preferred a 20-minute featurette instead of the four brief segments, but what we do get is decent.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork which is replicated on the slipcover. The slip does feature an unsightly Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh sticker on the front but I am happy to report that it is easily removable. Inside there is a redemption code for a digital HD copy of the film, though I have had a bit of trouble redeeming it.
Special Features:
- The Story and the Genre (1 min)
- The Impetus (2 min)
- Working with Jim Cummings (4 min)
- The Design of the Werewolf (6 min)
- The Story and the Genre (1 min)
- The Impetus (2 min)
- Working with Jim Cummings (4 min)
- The Design of the Werewolf (6 min)
The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) is a very cool werewolf flick with a interesting wrinkle, the blend of offbeat humor, pleasing werewolf carnage and Jim Cumming's turn as the aggressively awkward protaganist easily puts this on my short list for one the best of 2020. If you have not seen this one yet I say get on it, you're missing out!
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
Extras:
