It's time to break down the werewolf murder mystery in...
THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW
A sheriff's deputy begins to break down from the stress of investigating a series of brutal murders of women in his sleepy ski community. The evidence seems to point to something supernatural: a werewolf attacking and devouring its victims. From acclaimed filmmaker Jim Cummings comes The Wolf of Snow Hollow.
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"A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BEAST”:
Writer-Director JIM CUMMINGS on comedy, creepiness, and THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW

Filmmaker Jim Cummings jumps into genres with an energy and style that’s reminiscent of early Coen brothers and the dark side of David Fincher, while amping up his own appreciation for mixing wry humor and horror. All of that is evident in the writer-director’s new film, THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW, which begins with a classic premise before it prowls into new areas. After the girlfriend of P.J. (Jimmy Tatro) is murdered by someone, or something, outside of a rustic cabin, the flurry-filled town of Snow Hollow has to rely on its disorganized police department, including officer John Marshall (Cummings), a recovering alcoholic and the son of Sheriff Hadley (Oscar nominee Robert Forster, in his final screen performance). Luckily, John has highly efficient Officer Julia Robson (Riki Lindhome) to
keep him together and keep the clues straight — even as John’s teenage daughter Jenna (Chloe East) resents him for meddling in her life. But soon the body count increases, and eyewitnesses report a 7-foot high, hairy attacker on the loose. Is something supernatural turning Snow Hollow’s citizens into supper? John will have to put his personal issues aside long enough to find out.

With THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW, Cummings explores a new narrative path from his
previous film, Thunder Road, a Grand Jury Award winner at SXSW 2018 and a delicious mixture of comedy, mournful confusion, and people operating at their wit’s end (that film was adapted from a buzzed-about 12-minute, one-take short film that netted Cummings a Sundance award and a production deal). After producing shorts and features — including Trey Edward Shults’ award-winning Krisha and two of 2020’s most talked-about indies, Beast Beast and The Surrogate — Cummings, a former producer at College Humor, wanted to try a specific genre, and see where the tracks took him.

How did THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW come about?

JIM CUMMINGS: I first had the idea in 2016. I really wanted to make a serial killer movie, and at the same time, I was thinking about monsters — werewolves specifically — and had the idea of pairing that with a character who’s a recovering alcoholic. I was intrigued by the idea of someone who did something and then felt terrible about it afterwards.

I did a lot of research into the history of werewolves and the mythology around them, and found that one theory is that this particular myth may have come about: In the Middle Ages, if there was a serial killer in a town, there was perhaps no other way of excusing it. And as a monster, a werewolf is interesting to me because the villain might be your neighbor, or it could be anybody — it’s not a guy who lives in a coffin or who sits in a castle at the top of the hill. And I’m a huge fan of David Fincher, so I was thinking, ‘How do we make this a bit like Zodiac, but with comedy?’ [Laughs] Philosophically, some of my favorite movies are the ones that present themselves as being about a supernatural thing, but the threat doesn’t have to be monsters — your neighbors may be scary enough! Like Rosemary’s Baby: People in your building are a satanic cult! Or the 1955 French thriller Diabolique, and Joe Dante’s The ’Burbs.

I’d also never written a detective story before, but I’m such a fan of that genre, as well as horror movies, so I wanted to tackle that. When I brought it to Orion Independent films, they said, ‘Let’s go for it. Let’s do it right now.’ So we shot it 23 days in a town called Coalville, Utah, and man, it was cold!