Fun and entertaining low-budget disaster epic produced by the king of low-budget, Roger Corman (His style: Light, and get away...). Obviously made on the heels of disaster blockbusters like The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, and Earthquake, Avalanche is a pretty standard disaster film -- it gathers a large number of broadly portrayed characters to a location, then proceeds to put them into deadly peril. But since this is Corman, we don't have the big-name cast here -- the biggest name is Rock Hudson, not exactly Heston or Newman, but you work with what you got. The special effects are cheap but effective -- they may be double exposures, stock footage, and Styrofoam blocks but the editing is tight and the shots are generally well composed. The acting is middle of the road, TV melodrama kinda stuff, but wholly serviceable for the genre. Plus, at about 90 minutes, it doesn't ever drag on -- Corman's efficiency at work. And watch for a scene involving a pot of soup which is downright hilarious.
This film really deserves a 6, but it made me smile, and was original enough (there's not that many disaster films out there about avalanches, after all!) for me to grant that extra point. If you like disaster films, then check out Avalanche.
This film really deserves a 6, but it made me smile, and was original enough (there's not that many disaster films out there about avalanches, after all!) for me to grant that extra point. If you like disaster films, then check out Avalanche.