Trailer Review: The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

Werewolf tale, hopefully back in its grittier avatar.

Like many who are reading this, I was brought up on mean and brutal werewolf films where the danger was palpable and the sexual pull of danger was yet another instrument in elevating the sense of horror. While vampires traditionally evoke a richer, more decadent atmosphere, werewolves are earthier and conjure up grittier images.

I am, of course, talking about classics like An American Werewolf in London, The Howling, Silver Bullett, and Wolfen, etc. Though disparate in styles and released much before I was born, these films were always available in my house and made me spend a lot of dark nights pleasurably looking for hairy monsters through my fingers.

This all was bound to change when the ugly CGI resulted in awful stuff like the new The Wolfman and the excesses of Underworld series. The less said about the vanilla, moon-eyed nonsense of The Twilight Series, the better! (Oh yes, I am a girl and am not a fan, move on!)

But there also have been many big, fat moons in the dark night of terrible werewolf films (see what I did there?)

Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers, and Last Phases, among others, reached the same heights as their predecessors.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow appears to belong to the same ecosystem as the above-mentioned films. Though it has left me slightly confused because the dialogue delivery in the trailer belongs more to a straight-faced comedy while the trailer is trying to sell it as hardcore horror.

That quibble aside, it is a gripping trailer which raises 'who is the werewolf in this small snowy?' trope and changes to 'why and how?', which for me is a good sign. It has successfully involved us in the story and is taking us along.

The monster and the transformation stay teasingly hidden so it is anyone's guess who gets a major hair problem come full-moon light. (If you look at the poster carefully, you can guess!).

I have yet to see Director Jim Cummings' critically acclaimed Sundance smash from 2018 Thunder Road, a black comedy about a cop having a meltdown. Cummings casts himself here as a Sherrif who is trying to solve brutal murders occurring on full moon nights.

The cop in question spends most of the time vehemently refusing to believe the involvement of anything supernatural while gradually himself seems to be getting unhinged. It is Cummings' delivery that suggests a poker-faced comedy.

Whatever the genre, if it is werewolves, I'm in!

EDITOR'S NOTE: This trailer's psychological underpinnings made me wonder if the best werewolf film in today's time is the one without it.

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