As Norman Bates said, “We all go a little mad sometimes”
Five college-age youths go to a luxury ‘cabin’ in the wilderness northeast of Salt Lake City to celebrate New Years Eve, but a snowstorm and power outage threaten their good time.
“Snow Falls” (2023) is a cabin-in-the-woods flick in the manner of the micro-budget "Silent Retreat" (2016) just with the better production values of “Donner Pass” (2011) and, unfortunately, a too lowkey approach. Don’t get me wrong, this works as a slow burn mood piece and a warning about what happens when people suffer serious deprivations in a closed environment. But it should’ve capitalized on its resources for a less humdrum viewing experience, which is what “Donner Pass” and “Silent Retreat” were able to do. "Mine Games" (2012) is another example, albeit lesser.
I’m talking about including a few entertaining staples of the genre to perk up the viewer’s attention now and then. There’s a wee amount of this, such as the sinister hand in the closet, but not enough. Consider blonde Anna Grace Barlow who plays Eden. She could’ve been utilized in a more entertaining way, such as was done with Desiree Hall (Kayley) and Adelaide Kane (Nicole) in “Donner Pass” or, more widely known, Jeannine Taylor (Marcie) in the original “Friday the 13th.” I’m not even talkin’ ’bout nudity or sleaze, just using the feminine resources wisely in a visual medium.
Or how about throwing in a moving song sequence, as was done in "A Bothered Conscience" (2006), which only cost $2300 to make back then. The song is “When I Awake" by Hollow Earth Conspiracy, which you can hear on Youtube.
That said, I respect a filmmaker sneering at expected staples and refusing to include ’em, but anyone who does this is going to have to make up for it by being superlative in other ways. “Snow Falls” has a great isolated location, a fitting score, proficient cinematography/editing and convincing no-name actors (regardless of what armchair critics claim), so what’s it missing beyond the staples noted? I would say more fleshed-out characters and better dialogues, such as what Tarantino does in his flicks. There’s some of this, admittedly, like the discussions on mass hysteria and that Russian experiment on sleep deprivation; it just needed more.
So, this is a little too dull as a viewing experience, but there’s enough good in it IF you’re up for a moody psychological drama set in a snowbound ‘cabin’ with scanty horror elements.
It runs 1 hour, 19 minutes, and was shot in Morgan, Utah, which is a 45-minute drive northeast of Salt Lake City, on the other side of the Wasatch Mountains.
GRADE: C+/B-
