These two indie horror movies came out a year apart and tell nearly the same story (but one clearly stands out)

In horror, creativity often lies not in the core concept but in the delivery. That sentiment holds true for two relatively lesser-known indie horror comedies—the Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) and Werewolves Within (2021).

Released a year apart, both films sport an almost identical premise: a malevolent werewolf is attacking a quaint, snowy town, and an overly helpful stranger attempts to sift through the chaos to figure out what actually happened.

While one of these films fuses horror elements with biting irony and social commentary, the other succumbs to infighting due to its indeterminate tone. Despite the moderate budget placed on both films and the critical acclaim they received, only one truly howls with originality.

A hairy premise: Small town, big problems

The Wolf of Snow Hollow, directed and written by Jim Cummings, and Werewolves Within, directed by Josh Ruben with a script based on an Ubisoft video game, appear captivatingly striking on the surface. It's as if both creations share very similar core frameworks.

Both appear to have:

Gruesome unexplained murders
An overly suspicious and anxious outsider is trying to take control
A rural American town, blanketed in snow
The townsfolk's imaginations are occupied by whether the culprit is a monster or something else, kind of like the saying “heads or tails”

These are key points for both films. Although many parts are fabricated differently in both stories, and the outcome is utterly dissimilar in each case, the tone, manner, and impression brought forth are completely the opposite.

The one that stumbled: The Wolf of Snow Hollow

The Wolf of Snow Hollow Source: Orion Pictures

As a creature feature, a satire, and a psychological drama all at once, Cummings’ The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a balancing act. Jim Cummings appears as John Marshall, a cop struggling with anger issues and an alcohol addiction, alongside a broken relationship with his daughter.

Cummings descends into increasingly volatile shifts in emotion as body counts rise around him—questioning his sanity and whether a werewolf really is terrorizing them.

Cutting the prequel doesn’t do justice to the keen ambition within the film. Despite its brilliance, the voice and flow of the movie’s tone batters between quirky and tragic grim—sometimes in a single scene, making the whimsical yet clinical moments unsettling in themselves.

Character portrayals are seamless but lack the necessary comfort for you to care about them. The ‘horror’ isn’t quite nauseatingly scary, and the comedy falls short of hilarious.

The one that howls: Werewolves Within

Then, to cap it off, Sam Richardson leads as Finn Wheeler, a soft-spoken ranger of a forest who enters a New England town divided between its staunch local residents and wealthy outsider newcomers.

‘Werewolves Within’ is a movie that demonstrates the extent of impact exceptional casting and tonal harmony can create. Not far off, there is an energy pipeline deal in question, and of course, a werewolf on a rampage somewhere nearby.

As was the case with Snow Hollow, the characters themselves, melancholic and dysfunctional, were the focus in this movie. With Vayntrub, Watkins, and Guillén, Werewolves Within offers Comedic precision and makes fools of its ensemble cast, who play their eccentric parts with comic precision.

Not overly forced comedy is paired with scares being slyly executed. Everything that is told acts as social satire, but without preachiness.

None of this takes away from the warmth and coziness that “Werewolves Within” brings while the body count continuously rises. While the film is not overly entertaining, it does make viewers feel welcomed, and congratulations will be granted for piecing together the unfolding of the mystery.

So which one stands out?

Both of these films represent innovative takes on an overused theme. Even so, Werewolves Within takes the cake in the end because it has an extraordinarily clear vision, a consistent tone, and a real affection for its characters.

This movie is no ordinary horror film. It's not a tight-knit community dramedy wearing werewolf fur. And in a genre that often gives an advantage to cynicism or brutality, Werewolves Within not only faces this difficulty to be both joyful and thrilling. This is a rare feat and one that one can rejoice in.