Avalanche (1978)

I'm an avid fan-boy of 1970's disaster movies. Not so much because they're intense and captivating since, quite frankly they're not, but actually just because they're so exaggeratedly clichéd and kitschy. You can easily summarize ALL the 70's disaster movies ever made with one and the same synopsis, only the nature of the disaster differs. It can be a fire, flood, volcanic eruption, virus, shipwreck or – like in this case – an avalanche! The main difference between this film and the majority of classic titles (such as "The Towering Inferno" and "The Poseidon Adventure") lies in the budget. Usually Irwin Allen produced this sort of stuff and he had plenty of money to spare. "Avalanche", on the other hand, is a Roger Corman production and he's mostly (in)famous for delivering cheap and extremely low-budgeted cult films. A half-decent disaster movie is simply impossible to accomplish without a bit of budget, and this clearly shows in "Avalanche". The special effects are pitiable, with whole bunches of people getting buried underneath thick and oddly shaped boulders of Styrofoam. But, aside from the budgetary restrictions, "Avalanche" does live up to four out of five essential disaster movie trademarks. #1: there needs to be at least one major star and a long list of secondary stars. Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow were big names around the time, but the supportive cast is a bit disappointing. I assume that Roger Corman spent all his actors' budget on the aforementioned two names and Robert Forster. #2: The characters are usually split into two camps with completely opposite ideals and/or initiatives. Why, yes! Although the "righteous" camp is extremely small this time. Rock Hudson is the owner of a fancy winter sport resort in Colorado and he keeps on expanding the area to lure more tourists. Robert Forster is the tree-hugging reporter who endlessly warns him that the expansion needs to stop otherwise there will be avalanches. #3: regardless what type of disaster we're dealing with, variants of the exact same perilous situations are always applicable. Too true, we have people that are buried alive, trapped in ski lifts, crushed or dead in gas explosions. #4: always remember that, when the situation appears to be at it worst, it can and will still get even worse! That's another true cliché of the disaster film! In "Avalanche", for example, there's a sequence in which an ambulance transporting people who narrowly escaped dead already, crashes into a ravine! Only for die-hard disaster movie fanatics.

Avalanche (1978) ** (out of 4) Rather cheap disaster film has Rock Hudson playing a tycoon who builds a state-of-the-art ski resort even though some warn him that danger could strike. At the opening a photographer (Robert Forster) tries to warn the tycoon once again before taking his ex-wife (Mia Farrow) to bed. Sure enough, the next day an avalanche takes place. This was produced by Roger Corman and I must admit that I was a little shocked to see his name attached to a disaster film. It's clear he stuck to his guns and didn't spend too much money on special effects but it's also clear that everyone involved seems to have wished they were somewhere else. This is a really, really bad movie that is thankfully bad enough to where bad movie lovers will find a few things to be entertained by. I guess we could start with the performances since the majority of them are embarrassingly bad. Just check out the first scene where we see Hudson and look at how badly overacting he is. None of his performance gets better as it's clear he was just picking up a paycheck. Farrow also sleepwalks through her role and Jeanette Nolan gets the part of the elderly woman who tries to give the film a few laughs. Cathy Paine is rather embarrassing as a jilted lover. Other actors fail in cardboard character roles but at least Forster comes off fairly good in his brief, supporting part. The biggest disaster in this disaster flick are the special effects. Corman apparently wanted to skip the majority of the special effects and just buy up stock footage from real avalanches but this is so incredibly silly that it's obvious when this footage comes up. It never makes much sense in terms of what's going on with the avalanche because the footage, when mixed together, seems extremely out of place and the bad editing doesn't help cover this up. When the real effects are used it just seems like fake pieces of ice being thrown around as people scream. One of the dumbest scenes happens with a woman is skiing on some ice as people all around her are screaming and getting crushed yet she never notices. We even get an ultra-cheap explosion where people are so fakely thrown back and into various objects. All of these supposed dramatic moments just contain one laugh after another. I guess the most shocking thing is that this PG-rated film contains several nude scenes including one with a female going full frontal. Fans of the disaster genre will probably want to watch this just so they can say they've seen it all but this is a very bad movie. It's not nearly as awful as WHEN TIME RAN OUT... but it's still pretty bad. Thankfully, it's bad enough and campy enough to get several laughs.

Though Rock Hudson is my favorite actor, his acting in this film is very amateurish and highly unbelievable. Mia Farrow's performance is also wooden and I have seen better acting in school plays by grammar school students. Of course, the fact that other than a fake avalanche, there is no substance or story line that I could perceive to this film. The only good actor was Robert Forster and he also had the best script. I couldn't believe it was made in 1978 because I felt it probably was one of the training films made by new actors and actresses in order to develop their craft for Mia and Rock. I wouldn't view it again.

Checking in rather late, though not at the tail end, in the 1970's disaster movie cycle, this Roger Corman cheapie is only entertaining in fits and starts. Hudson (looking ragged and drunk at times) has just built a huge winter paradise in the mountains of Colorado. His ex-wife (Farrow) comes to the opening, for old times sake, while employee Forster foresees danger in the snow caps. Hudson's mother (Nolan, in a white fright wig) wines and dines with abandon. There are also trite and annoying plot threads about a studly skier, a TV show host (Primus) and his unfaithful wife and a nervous ice skater. Aside from having less than stunning production values, the film's main problem is that it takes an hour for the title event to occur and then races through all the resultant carnage with choppy editing and distorted timing. The viewer must endure a shabby, clichéd script and some bad acting while waiting for the Styrofoam chunks and plastic snow to may their way down the hill. Hudson is bad. He barks and yells inappropriately when he isn't wooden. Farrow looks idiotic much of the time and is completely mismatched with Hudson. (She learned nothing from this experience as she was soon to film the disastrous "Hurricane", another career killer. Thankfully, for her, Woody Allen was just around the corner!) Forster actually outshines the others with his charm and conviction in a thankless part. Nolan shamelessly hams up her role in a desperate attempt to add life to the often dull proceedings. She is funny, but not always in the way intended. Primus had worked for Corman before, so he should have known what he was in for. On the plus side, there are a few hooty lines of dialogue and some unintentionally hilarious, overwrought, emotional scenes among the lesser players. Also, a few of the ice and snow effects and destruction scenes are solid (most, however, are shoddy.) One hilarious scene has a skater spinning obliviously while snow encompasses her. In another, folks digging a hole out of an enclosed lodge keep knocking against the rubber "snow" so that it springs back! Then there's the rescue workers who, after witnessing an electrocution, allow the victim to fall onto the ground instead of into their net, which is right under him! There's also an ambulance door that apparently flies open simply by leaning against it. One distinction: This has to be the only 1970's disaster film that has nudity. Hudson (in a bid to reinforce his heterosexual image?) has a secretary that walks around his chalet naked! If the film had spent a half hour getting to know the people and an hour rescuing them (instead of the opposite), it might have been more entertaining. The way it stands, viewers wind up not really liking the characters and can barely keep up with the rescues!