The Wolf of Snow Hollow

**What is this movie?**
This is surely not some typical small town murder mystery. It has this strange vibe.
[spoiler]Characters sometimes breaking the fourth wall, looking straight at you from the camera![/spoiler]
Need to watch this a few more times.

For some reason, this movie feels special to me. The deadpan comedy paired with the truly heartfelt emotional beats worked really well for me. It was competently shot and, at times, shockingly sinister. You have to do some real heavy lifting if you want me to like a cop movie, and this one delivers.

I loved how quiet the movie is. Even during the intense moments, it feels like it never breaks a certain limit. Not to say it doesn't get loud and urgent, but it never feels chaotic to me. I guess sometimes that's all we can ask for, a little calm in our chaos.

From the poster art, this looked like it could be a potentially old school style werewolf movie. Knowing nothing about it prior to watching, it turned out to be a Horror-Comedy that was neither too scary nor too funny. But ultimately, this was a very good story about a dysfunctional Policeman/Dad, burdened by his own personal expectations of himself. While these lofty goals have lead him to alcoholism, rage, and just being a world-class asshole, John Marshall was a character I pulled for. I also really liked the character of Julia, who is a top cop and a genuine good person.

A movie that wasn't really about the Wolf and was more about character struggles is something that I normally would hate. It irks me when I start out watching a Horror movie and it turns into a soap opera. But that wasn't the case here. There is some rapid fire dialog and crazy character interactions that make this different. There is a significant amount of gore to be had, but it's usually presented very briefly so it communicates how awful the incidents of the movie are instead of reveling in the blood and guts.

i'll give jim cummings the benefit of the doubt for his acting, especially because i've never seen his other roles and plus, his daughter's behavior mimicked his a lot in those last scenes - i think it was a purposeful choice and it worked. after all, his character isn't meant to be likable or sympathetic, he's a classic antihero. and if you haven't had the misfortune of meeting someone like that in real life, i'm sorry to tell you that they do actually exist to be that intolerable and inept. his characterization was distinct enough to feel intentional and therefore sincere, rather than generically bad acting, and i loved the character, in an "i have never wanted to duct tape a human being's mouth this badly before" kind of way.

the story was good, plot was fun and easy to follow. it's very fargo and twin peaks in mood, and i think a lot of the tag lines and info on the movie does it a disservice by characterizing it as a serious, dark kind of horror. if you do that to a movie that's comedic in nature, it ruins what everyone is expecting from the movie. it primes people to take things seriously instead of catching onto the joke, and that leaves a disappointing taste in a persons mouth even if the movie is legitimately great. and i think this movie is that! it's definitely not 100% original, but i think it fits its genre well and i enjoyed every bit of it.

This was pretty enjoyable. It had a little bit of humor to break up some of the gorey practical effects.

I expected a somewhat trashy retro werewolf romp, did not expect an anti hero character arc. I can see why it puts off some audience, both for the high and the low, but it worked well with me. Maybe because I was going in blind and don't take issue with the opinionated display of social norms.

Jim Cummings has a certain "vibe" about him and it makes his character here, similar to his turn in Thunder Road, a bit off in such a way that gets under your skin, but not enough to fully dislike him. Since he's writing for himself, he's well attuned to his strengths, but he also writes other characters that bounce off of him in unique ways. Now the film itself is less of a horror flick and more of a personal piece on our lead's issues (from alcoholism to expectations to familial drama) while some weird murders happen in town. And I loved it (much like I did Thunder Road). It had the perfect amount of quirk and character moments, and the mystery was fine too.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow was not what I was expecting, but that's ok because it was great none-the-less. The humour really resonated with me. A recovering alcoholic, who finds his job so stressful that he relapses, doesn't seem like rich comedy material, but I loved it. The acting was solid and the movie held my interest throughout.

Fans of Jim Cummings previous films will enjoy this - it's shot through with his trademark sense of humour, and the narrative is anything but predictable. Rest in peace Robert Forster, you will be missed.

fargo-esque immediately came to mind. from reviews, most people seem to have a love/hate of the humor - i enjoyed the wry bleak farce of it all. also, people hated cummings' john marshall - i had no problem with it, especially since the character is an underappreciated egotistical recovering alcoholic, i felt the acting was fitting.
im unfamiliar with jim cummings other works, but i enjoyed this outing of a werewolf whodunit