What really fuels independent filmmakers is the chance to make something unique, something that will be timeless. John Carpenter still haunts the fall season with Halloween, a film without much blood and allows us to watch as an escaped mental patient silently stalks a group of babysitters for (at the time) no reason. No motive was necessary and his aura was pure evil which helped elevate the film to the status it now has so many decades later. Even something like The Blair Witch Projectwas a risk no studio would take as audiences never got a glimpse of who or what was terrorizing our filmmakers. Instead, we got weird noises at night and the tension between the three friends as they find themselves lost and frustrated in the woods that might be haunted by a witch. These movies both helped influence many others years after and were made for pennies compared to the Hollywood fare we see advertised several times during network must see television. While the financing might be a huge setback, the lack of corporate involvement allows a creative freedom to go as crazy as they choose to and that’s exactly what director Adolfo Kolmerer does with SNOWFLAKE.
Gathering funds from friends, private investors and the ever so popular crowdfunding method, Kolmerer delivers an absolutely insane ride of meta induced adventures that’s difficult to describe. After having an unsatisfying meal, two brothers, Javid and Tan, embark on a mission to avenge their family’s death. Quickly, they discover a screenplay that strikes similarities to their own reality. Line by line, these pages seem to know their every move. They find the writer, a geeky dentist named Arend, who acts all naïve, but seems to take glee in playing God to these two.
These brothers are impulsive and the script takes them to not so safe characters including a couple of hick brothers who like to sport animal heads while making their sacrifices. There’s even a vigilante who goes by Hyper Electro Man that’s making headlines and going viral, Kick Ass style, but he may truly be a legit superhero. The script tells of an angel name Snowflake who will save Javid and Tan and they decide to include her as part of the plan.
It’s a question as to whether these other players are as self aware that they may not exactly be in charge of their own destinies, but the larger scope of things plays on the bloody fun everyone goes through. There’s no doubt that Kolmerer is a fan of Pulp Fiction and Tarantino would be proud of what could be considered a fan film inspired by his filmography. Events are told in nonlinear fashion and the humor plays on the sick scenarios they find themselves in. I would have never believed this was a small budget project filmed on weekends with a group of friends as SNOWFLAKE feels grand and knows what it wants to be. The struggle here though is if audiences are going to play along. I can see this being a cult favorite being played at late night screenings with drunk fans cheering for their favorite movies, but this could also be quickly buried for easier fare if the right fanbase doesn’t find it soon enough. Luckily, there’s plenty of venues to present SNOWFLAKE so the not so absent minded can discover it and be the start of a social media discovery.
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