Avalanche [VHS]

Yes, this movie was made by Roger Corman, but I think that this is actually one of his better films! The plot is very interesting, and VERY 1970's, but it is still a relevant plot for today's audiences. Plus this film has that '70's camp feeling (although I hate camp! But oh well...)

The film is about a ski lodge owner (played by Rock Hudson) who invites his ex-wife (Mia Farrow) to the grand opening of the lodge in the Colorado Rockies. Hudson really wants to get back together with Farrow, but she has a thing going with a nature guy (Robert Forster) who is a ranger or something; he does plant the bombs to start 'controlled avalanches' I know that much.

Anyway, a lot of famous skiiers and ice skaters also show up, one of them, a pro skiier with his new wife, who is traveling with her sister, a pro ice skater, and the wife's ex-husband, a famous news reporter also shows up, so there's a kinda pointless love triangle going on. Then, at dinner, Hudson's hilarious drunken mother (a sweet little old lady by day) starts thinking she's in Hawaii and then The famous Skiier and Ice Skater get drunk and go have sex in the guy's cabin. His wife then enters, and runs out into the snow, half naked, screaming her head off.

The next day the wife shows up in the cabin and threatens her husband, but he throws a glass of milk at her, tells her that if she's going to kill anyone, it should be herself, and then kicks her out of the cabin. Then Hudson, who wants to get back with his wife, but who always becomes bright-eyed at the sight of his secretary, gets a glass of OJ in his hot-tub from his nude secretary. He then demands that some guy fly out to the lodge today to bring him some important papers. Meanwhile, Farrow and Forster have spent the night together in his cabin in the middle of nowhere; Forster has gone to trigger another controlled avalanche. Hudson is then judging an ice-skating competition, and the famous skiier has gone up the mountain to ski. Then the plane with the guy with the papers gets caught in fog or something and crashes atop the mountain, exploding, and setting off some of the worst, grainy, avalanche atock footage i've ever seen! Then the snow (which up close is a whole bunch of styrophome chunks) traps a lot of people, kills many, and destroys half of the lodge. Then there is the whole aftermath of trying to save the people who are trapped, which goes pretty fast. Then another protagonist, who had just been rescued from being burried alive, gets put into an ambulance which skids off the road, falls into a gorge and explodes, pretty brutal. Then we get to the ending which is really, odd...well you'll just have to watch the movie.

So, overall, "Avalanche" is actually a fairly well done B movie from 1979, i actually enjoined the soap opera-like love triangle and and the suspense of "who will survive?" So, although the effects are dated, the dialogue pretty dry and sappy, and the plot full of holes, the movie is actually pretty good!

The title says the tale. It is a forgone conclusion that ice and snow will fall, but the plots and subplots are intriguing. Albeit the special effects aged, but the cast is superb, I really enjoyed this film.

With Roger Corman's name attached to a movie, you know what you are likely to get. "Avalanche" features half-hearted performances, poor lighting and sound, minimal plot, ... "special effects" and some of the choppiest editing known to mankind. In fact, the only thing this dud is good for is a couple of unintentionally hysterical moments. The plot involves a newly built resort in Durango, Colorado. The owner is warned that he is in danger of triggering an avalanche because he is cutting down a lot of trees on a hillside. Characters are grossly underdeveloped and the film really goes nowhere. I advise you to stay clear of this one unless you are a Roger Corman fan.