Movies
[Review] ‘The Wolf of Snow Hollow’ Is a Darkly Fun Werewolf Whodunit
Werewolves are long overdue for a horror resurgence. The movie monster hasn’t gotten nearly as much of the spotlight as vampires, zombies, or witches. Werewolves are a tricky creature to nail on celluloid, between the transformation, body horror, and their victims’ utter evisceration. The Wolf of Snow Hollow brings us one small step toward a werewolf renaissance. Instead of the creature feature you’d expect, though, this darkly comedic werewolf whodunit opts for a mystery that puts its human flaws front and center.
Writer/Director Jim Cummings stars as Officer John Marshall, a recovering alcoholic struggling to raise a teenage daughter while contending with an angry ex-wife and caring for his ailing father. When a series of brutal murders that coincide with the full moon strikes his snowy little town, Officer Marshall’s tenuous control over his life threatens to buckle under the pressure to catch the killer. All while reminding himself that werewolves don’t exist.
While the deaths get bloody, and victims don’t go gently into the good night, they take a backseat to Officer Marshall and the Snow Hollow police department’s quest to find the killer, which means that Wolf exists at the intersection of messy character study and whodunit. The former taking up most of the focus. Scenes of werewolf carnage are intercut with Marshall’s patience snapping. It’s clunky, but the message is clear; this is Marshall’s story. Officer Marshall makes for one flawed lead; his anger management issues often result in him lashing out at anyone in his vicinity and even physically assaulting fellow officers. The more the locals question police competence, the worse Marshall’s downward spiral gets. Bridges are burned, and the body count rises. It’s the humor that keeps from reducing Marshall to a loathsome protagonist.
The only two in Marshall’s life that avoid his wrath are his dad, Sheriff Hadley (Robert Forster), and the timid yet whip-smart Officer Julia Robson (Riki Lindhome). It’s bittersweet seeing Forster in his last film appearance, mainly because his character’s health is rapidly fading. As such, his on-screen appearance is minimal, though his lighthearted warmth makes for a welcome counterbalance to Marshall’s hotheadedness. Lindhome’s character may be subdued, but her fantastic, understated performance works well here. She’s the actual, unheralded MVP.
Snow Hollow is a town without much identity, but it’s hard to count that as a flaw when the snowy setting is so gorgeous. The scenic views, in conjunction with Natalie Kingston‘s cinematography, makes Snow Hollow a film that looks far richer than its indie budget. That wintry white backdrop makes the murders and bloodletting pop.
The idea of a werewolf murder mystery is an ingenious one; the killer can hide in plain sight when the moon isn’t full. Yet Cummings is more interested in how that mystery topples an unstable character’s house of cards. Marshall is a complete wreck of a character, and often abusive. But Cummings’ line delivery and a firm grasp of comedy add a much-needed levity that keeps the tone from getting too bleak or grating. All of which to say that expectations are likely key here. This isn’t a creature feature, nor a conventional werewolf movie. It’s a comedic thriller that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty in violence, bloodshed, and deeply flawed character work. The horror is minimal. Enjoyment will likely hinge on how receptive you are to Cummings’ idiosyncratic, character-driven whodunit.
The Wolf of Snow Hollow releases in theaters and on demand on October 9, 2020.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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