Avalanche (1978)

A recently divorced woman (Mia Farrow) visits the popular winter ski resort in Colorado owned by her ex-husband (Rock Hudson). He wants to get back together but she's not so sure. But a deadly avalanche soon dwarfs their personal problems. Possibly the least seen of the 1970s disaster films (and justifiably so), AVALANCHE was produced by Roger Corman, known for his low budget films and it shows. The film lacks the production values of the big budget Irwin Allen movies with shoddy special effects and stock footage that only emphasize the cheapness of the film. Other than Hudson and Farrow, there are no other big stars so the supporting characters, for the most part, are played by generic actors. When the avalanche hits, we're not quite sure who is who and what their relationship to each other is as the film's script doesn't devote much time to character development. So, the audience doesn't have much invested in the characters. The cliched underwritten script is no help and the movie feels like a made for TV knockoff rather than a big screen adventure. Hudson's days as an A-list leading man were pretty much over and Farrow was at a low point in her career, her resurrection as Woody Allen's muse a few more years away. The excellent underscore by the modern classical composer William Kraft is the only first rate thing about the film. Directed by actor turned director Corey Allen (REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE). With Robert Forster, Jeanette Nolan, Steve Franken, Joby Baker, Antony Carbone and Barry Primus.