Directing: B
Acting: B
Writing: B-
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B+

The Wolf of Snow Hollow is the kind of movie you realize leaves far too many questions unanswered the longer you think about it. That doesn’t make it any less enjoyable, really; it just means you have to let go of nitpicks if you want it to work. I had fun watching this movie, and don’t even mind having paid six bucks to watch it (it’s currently only available on VOD). It’s entertaining for what it is, and a perfectly brisk diversion for its brief, 84-minute run time (closer to 80 minutes when not counting the credits).

Written and directed by Jim Cummings, he also stars as John, the deadbeat, alcoholic dad who also works as the Sheriff in this tiny Utah mountain town whose local economy is tied to the skiing industry. He has an irritable ex-wife whose existence in this story is brief and incidental, and a 17-year-old daughter (Chloe East) who feels increasingly disconnected from him. His dad (Robert Forster in his final film role) is also a local policeman, who is in denial about his declining health and ability to do the job. Evidently the most understanding person in his life is fellow Detective Julia Robson (Riki Lindhome, always a welcome presence), who is also about the only person in the town who sides with John in his conviction that the cause of some sudden and gruesome murders is not a werewolf.

This essentially becomes the central mystery of the film itself: is the perpetrator a giant werewolf? Is this a genuinely supernatural story, or is it not? The editing and cinematography, when it comes to the “wolf attacks,” are pretty clever in retrospect, once this central question is answered. And although that question does get answered definitively, and I have no interest in spoiling it here, I still can’t decide whether or not I am disappointed in the answer.

That answer does tie back into the unanswered questions, however. A lot of The Wolf of Snow Hollow really tests suspension of disbelief. On the other hand, no one watches a movie about wolf-man attacks for its realism. Still, one thing I simply cannot let go is that in this movie there is a full moon two nights in a row. That does not happen! On the other hand, given the historical reasoning for murders happening during a full moon being the light making it easier to get the job done, one way off from a full moon will presumably do the trick just as well. Also, this movie has no consistent sense of time anyway, as so many attacks happen on so many full moons and you never get any sense of a month having passed. Which brings us back to my original point: just go with it.

Besides, in this case, what might make you want to watch this movie is its rather snarky sense of humor. John in particular is comically belligerent, even if his alcoholism moves into some fairly sad areas. This movie thus lacks a certain amount of tonal consistency, where in one scene it seems to take itself seriously and then the next it’s utterly preposterous. I got a few good chuckles out of it, though. And for a little horror-comedy like this, it also provides two or three authentic jump scares. That said, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is neither particularly funny nor particularly frightening; instead it moves between amusing and serviceably suspenseful.

It should still be given due credit, given its meager budget of $2 million. Jim Cummings stretches those dollars beyond expectations, making it a bit more like a little movie that could. It looks great, it delivers on what it promises, and wraps things up nicely. You could certainly do worse with eighty minutes.

*Look if you want to succeed and gruesome killing you need some light.*

Overall: B