Rarely does anything good happen at remote cabins in the woods. Yet, when the settings are so idyllic, and you need a space to party with friends… where else could be better? Indeed, this is exactly the reason behind five friends’ thinking when they decide to go and celebrate the new year at a beautiful cabin in the middle of nowhere.
The general plot behind the new Horror film Snow Falls, unfortunately, a massive snow storm rolls in and the friends find themselves snowed in. The power goes out, they quickly run out of supplies, and they soon find themselves in danger of freezing to death. As they struggle to survive, they begin to turn on each other.
Released On Demand and Digital January 17th through Lionsgate, the Colton Tran directed Snow Falls stars Victoria Moroles (Teen Wolf series, Down a Dark Hall 2018), Anna Grace Barlow (The Fosters series, The Big Leap series), Johnny Berchtold (Manhunt 2017, A Hard Problem 2021), Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls 2004, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 2005), as well as Patrick Fabian (End Game 2006, Better Call Saul series). A solid cast and story that begins with promise, the premise is not dissimilar to many other films in the genre. That in mind, the location immediately gives the film a chilling atmosphere (pun not intended) and the new year setting at least gives a good excuse for the friends partying rather than just being stereotypical twenty-somethings behaving badly.
Whilst it is completely realistic that a snow storm would cause power outages and of course be highly problematic – the turn of events does seem slightly dramatic. Perhaps the passing of time in the film is not made clear but within a day the food has run out. The vehicle that they managed to reach the cabin through the snow sits outside with a full tank of gas and their phones have signals, albeit it ‘spotty.’ The cabin is full of wooden furniture to burn and all in all, it does feel like the characters make no effort to make their situation better before falling apart. Of course, this is slightly pedantic, but all logic flies out the window and thus distracts from the film.
While all this is happening, one character decides that the reason that they are all acting strangely and beginning to see things is because the snow is actually infected with a virus. In short, the snow is evil. Now at this point there are some cool effects and an evil looking snowman. If Snow Falls had followed this subplot and ran with it then the film could have not only differentiated itself from other cabin in the woods films, but also turned out to be a pretty cool Horror/Sci-Fi. However, this idea is soon discarded, and the film becomes a survival film about the effects of hypothermia.
Unfortunately, none of this is particularly engaging and Snow Falls’ eighty-minute running time drags terribly. Whilst the one location and set up are promising, the film never really takes off and it is not helped by the characters who are not that likeable. In the end, Snow Falls is a bit of a missed opportunity. For these reasons, Cryptic Rock gives this movie 2 out of 5 stars.
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