Nice effects though.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I first saw it on Cinemax in the 80's & I liked the movie. They tried to show a sodom and gomorrah scene where sex was given away cheaply. Its the type of movie where the filmmakers were hoping interesting stuff would happen and then afterwards they could edit the good stuff together. But not enough interesting things happened. The VHS tape is a cut version at its proper speed. The cinemax version is time compressed. Both are 91 min.! I guess they were told 91 min. and no longer. I have not seen the dvd yet. I own the movie poster, paperback tie-in and soundtrack album. Guess I must like it. eh? The best scene is where the girl attacks the skier with a knife and he throws a glass of milk in her face. Its unforgettable.

One of Rock Hudson's early melodramas was called, Written on the Wind. I think the script for Avalanche was Written in the Wind. Some pages must have gone missing. Avalanche is a low budget, low production values feature. The viewer will endure fifty long minutes before they see the first snowslide. The wait isn't the issue. Backstory has to playout in this subgenre. It's that the characters we're expect to bear the cold with are rich bores and hysterical ski professionals. The payoff is a mixture of low grade effects and stock footage of snow's destructive potential. When catastrophe does come it is to desensitising effect. When the rescue proceedings begin we can immerse ourselves a little into the better part of the film and forget about the dull subplots that are never resolved.

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.

I am a bit embarrassed to admit I was in this movie. A bit, but, hey I had fun filming & was paid pretty well. Actually I was several scenes. I was a student at Fort Lewis majoring in Theater. Our troupe was invited to audition to be paid extras. It was spring break & I was earning money for my upcoming wedding. Not bad pay for a college student.The snow and cold was real. It snowed the whole time we did any outdoor scenes. A fun mess when you add shredded plastic, Styrofoam boulders, and huge wind fans.I lived in the area for quite a while & I too find this movie funny. I love the scene when Rock Hudson walks over to a window and states when he saw that mountain he knew he had to live there. That mountain is nowhere near Durango. As for the avalanche, well lets just say it is very hard for an avalanche to travel up mountain. But this one did to start at Tammeron and end up wiping out Purgatory mountain (now known as Durango mountain). Very funny stuff if you are from the area.In the original credits Fort Lewis College Theater Department was listed but I see we are not here. As I was the only member to stick around during th break to work on the movie I must say I am disappointed but not surprised.One of the premieres were held in Durango. I was not as pleased with the final product as I was when we filmed. We never saw the whole script so the movie was very different from what we were told. But all in all a good time and a not as bad as it could have been film. Wish I could say I went on to better movies but I went on to be a full time mommy and wife.If you ever lived in the area it is a fun watch. You will see bloopers in things others will never notice.