On the eve of the grand opening, David throws a party to celebrate. By the end of the evening, Caroline, having rejected David’s desperate advances, ends up going home with Nick instead. Love triangle! Douchey ski pro Bruce also pairs up with a woman other than the one he’s with (and is later caught in the act), and poor old David ends up spending the evening with his secretary. Scandalous! After a night of lovemaking and infidelity, the resort’s opening is in full swing as professional winter athletes show up the next day to participate in a number of exciting events including figure skating, snowmobile racing, and skiing. During this time, Nick steals some explosives to trigger a small avalanche, hoping that will alleviate the threat of a larger, more destructive avalanche. Unfortunately, he is unsuccessful. About an hour into the film, David sends his assistant on an errand to fly in some important paperwork despite the dangerous weather conditions, and of course this results in the small plane crashing into the side of the mountain, triggering the titular avalanche. Oh boy, does it pay off. Skiers and snowmobile racers are swept away, people are trapped on chairlifts, there’s an explosion, and a great deal of the resort is absolutely demolished. The remainder of the film, as you’d expect, is all about the rescues. Some make it, many don’t, and the search and rescue teams show off how ineffectual they are. In the end, before David is buried under a considerable amount of paperwork and legal trouble, Caroline is able to find closure with her ex-husband before heading home.



Fans of Roger Corman should find lots to love about Avalanche. Sure, the script isn’t very good, but Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, and Robert Forster, being competent actors, are able to elevate the the material from bad to watchable (even enjoyable at times). Despite a few moments where he comes across a little creepy, Hudson is excellent in the role of David, and Farrow is wonderful, bringing a natural vulnerability to Catherine. The two are a joy to watch together (mostly). Forster, of course, is great, just as he is in everything else. Without a talented cast, the first 50 minutes of the film, which is mostly a relationship melodrama, could easily have been a real slog, but they manage to pull it off reasonably well. That said, the real star of the show is the special effects work. Corman, always one to put every dollar on the screen, absolutely nails the big disaster sequence. Once the avalanche is triggered, what follows is a 10 plus minute smorgasbord of destruction and mayhem comprising of stock footage, miniatures, and actual on-site set pieces cut together to make up an incredibly impressive disaster sequence. Each of the characters we’ve been introduced to gets a moment to shine here, but by far, the best moment involves Tina, the unfaithful wife who caught her lover Bruce with another woman, sitting on her bed with a handful of pills and a glass of water when suddenly, WHAM, her entire room collapses on top of her, burying her beneath mounds of snow and wood paneling, completely undercutting the inherent darkness of the moment. It’s a true WTF moment if ever there was one.

If there’s one thing that could have been handled better, it’s the final 20 minutes when the search and rescue team moves in. There are a few more jaw-dropping WTF moments, but despite them, it still drags a bit. And the final scene between Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow wraps up their narrative entirely too neatly. I mean, the entire resort was just destroyed, people have died, and they’re still worried about whether or not they’ll get back together. Tonally, it’s a bit off-putting. But since the movie is practically over by this point, it’s a minor grievance.