Ronit J

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) Synopsis:

Welcome to Snow Hollow.

Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there’s no such thing as werewolves.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) Review:

I first saw this film on my Amazon Prime Video feed years ago, and the poster immediately caught my attention. However, given the quality of streaming platform content, I was skeptical about this one. That being said, I remember Kautuk from The Internet Said So talking positively about this film. That praise, coupled with the interesting concept, is probably what prompted me to finally give it a shot.

So, did the film entertain, or did it disappoint? Read on and find out!

Great Concept, Interesting Story

The film opens with a couple—PJ Palfrey (Jimmy Tatro) & Brianne (Annie Hamilton)—visiting the small town of Snow Hollow. They share a passionate moment in the hottub, after which Brianne asks PJ to go start the shower. As he is in the shower waiting for her, she gets attacked by an unseen monster that leaves her in pieces. A single wolf’s paw print in the snow.

The next day, Deputy Sheriff John Marshall (Jim Cummings) and Detective Julia Robson (Riki Lindhome) investigate the crime scene. Before you know it, rumours of the murder being the work of a werewolf plague the town. As a string of similar murders follow, John struggles with stress, his father’s—Sheriff Hadley (Robert Forster)—deteriorating health, his daughter coming to live with him, and his resurfacing alcoholism.

As a concept, the film is absolutely brilliant. The story has all the elements of a cult classic. A small town with an atmospheric setting, characters that—at least at first—seem interesting, a murder mystery with a potential supernatural twist. What’s not to like?

Well, a lot, unfortunately.

Very Poor Execution

The film opens with a montage of eerie, atmospheric, landscape visuals that really set the mood with their trippiness. Sadly, this montage ended up being the visual highlight of the film. Everything else that follows is really mediocre visuals that are average TV at best, and uninspired drab at worst. Visually, the film is functional only, which is quite disappointing given the opening montage. That’s all I’ll say about the visuals, but the negatives don’t end there.

The second thing I really hated about this film are the performances. I remember watching Thunder Road long ago, which illustrates Jim Cummings’ acting ability. Sadly, his performance in this film feels a little too cringeworthy. He isn’t convincing as an alcoholic, and all the emotional scenes feel terribly lacklustre. And honestly, none of the cast seems to be performing well. Whether it’s the visuals that fail to capture the performances, or the performances are a product of poor direction, I can’t decide. What I know for certain is that this film is very bad at times. The ‘so-bad-it’s-funny-and-good’ kind of bad.

Lastly, I want to say that the film does have a lot of potential. Some honest and constructive criticism along the film’s production might have helped the crew do this story justice. Even the script, honestly, feels very underdeveloped. From John randomly ‘deducing’ that the coroner threw the bottle at his car, to the realisation that Taxidermist Paul (Will Madden) could be the murderer, the film fails to convincingly establish a lot of things. Hell, Paul’s motivation for the murders remains unexplained, robbing us of a satisfying conclusion.

Better visuals, more work on the script, a different treatment, maybe even a different director might have realised a significantly more compelling version of this film.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) Ending Explained (SPOILERS)

A heroin addict living in a camper outside the town is found dead. His possessions, including a knife collection, a pet wolf, and a missing woman’s dead body in his backyard, lead the police to deduce he’s the killer. Besides, he’s 6 ft 5 in tall, which matches their intel about the killer being tall.

The case is closed. John—who is currently grieving his recently deceased father—proceeds to return items taken as evidence to their owners. Meanwhile, PJ calls Julia, informing her that they left a seam ripper at his place when they came to visit. After deducing that it’s for taxidermy, John proceeds to visit Paul, the taxidermist. During their talk, Paul asks about John’s daughter, and has an overall strange demeanour. When John asks him to stand up to full height, he realises that Paul is 7 ft tall. Paul slams the door, locking John out of his house. John calls for backup, but fails to connect. He breaks in, finding a victim’s decapitated head in Paul’s workstation.

John and Paul have a fight, and Paul stabs John. Hearing sirens arriving, he wears his werewolf costume and tries to escape. John, however, pursues him and shoots him multiple times in the head, like PJ had asked him to.

Later, Julia becomes the new sheriff. John and Julia drop Jenna (Chloe East) off to college. John still seems to be struggling, but is trying his best to be better. He has even left her condoms, and presumably a gun or weapon for self-defence. On his way out, he hears some guys pass sexual remarks about gymnasts (Jenna is a gymnast), and he pauses. It is implied that he might do something, but he chooses to just walk away.

The film doesn’t explain why Paul committed the murders, or why he dressed up as a werewolf. The clues feel less like a puzzle intuitively solved by audiences, and more like exposition and plot convenience. Hell, the film doesn’t even really explore John’s character arc vis-a-vis struggling with alcoholism and responsibility appropriately.

Is The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) worth watching?

Honestly, no.

If you have nothing to watch, and want to see a fun and interesting story, you can give it a shot. However, keep in mind that the performances, narrative, visuals, and overall direction are pretty poor.

In Conclusion:

Great concept, interesting story, but very poor execution and performances, this is a film that has the potential to be a cult classic, but leaves a lot to be desired.

Also check out:

• The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) | Film Review
• Project Hail Mary (2026) | Film Review
• Rooster Season 1 | TV Review
• Gary (2026) | The Bear Special Episode
• Agent of Happiness (2024) | Documentary Film Review
• Mother (2009) | Film Review
• Island of the Dying Goddess

What did you think of The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)? Let me know in the comments below.

Sign up to my newsletter & get a free copy of Abandoned by the Gods. Is there any movie, show, or book you’d like me to review? Drop your recommendations in the comments below.

Until next time!