***MINI-PLOT SPOILERS?*****

It is hard to spoiler the plot of a production of this SyFy caliber. The movie opens with ominous music as a gift is placed on the doorstep of the Miller family during Christmas season in Normal, Alaska. It reminded me a bit of the beginning of "Evil Toons" but without porn stars. But I soon discovered one does not have to be a porn star to be a bad actor. If you missed the films, "Earthquake," "Avalanche" "Jumanji," "Volcano," "Ice Age 2012," and "ROTK" you are in for a real treat.

The gift is opened by "Dragon of the Crown" player Rudy (Dylan Matzke) the young boy. It contains a snow globe that contains a detailed replica of the town. Within about 10 minutes you will figure out whatever happens inside the evil snow globe, happens to this now isolated town. The question is who left it and why, something guessed at, but never fully explained.

Meanwhile the world's greatest snowboarder, Derrick Reed (Jeffrey Ballard) charters a helicopter with Beth Miller, (Laura Harris) the mom, who brings along her impressionable, slightly flirty teenage daughter Jennifer (Magda Apanowicz). It seems in December in Alaska it is hard to find a place to go snowboarding so champions charter helicopters to take them to mountain peaks.

During the course of the film the town is attacked by earthquake, avalanche, exploding ice storm, stalagmites, and a volcano. The armies of Mordor can be defeated once The Ring is cast into the fire of Mt. Doom.

What this film teaches us:

1.) If a Christmas gift is heavy, it's fruitcake. 2.) Game expansion sets make for stocking stuffers. 3.) If the dog barks at the gift, it is bad. 4.) Flirting is worse than ogling. 5.) Having a snow boarder autograph your arm is the best Christmas ever.

While adults will have problems watching the film because of the simplistic plot, bad acting, and CG effects, I can imagine tween kids or younger possibly enjoying the film.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Some bloody faces and people die. I saw more horrific stuff when I was 5. A "Nanny State" PG-13.

Just as I was getting the smell of xmas spice candles out of my clothes along comes a wintery christmas movie courtesy of the Scyfy channel.

This Canadian made movie stars Laura "The Faculty" Harris and tells the odd tale of a snow globe that inflicts natural disasters on the town.

Scyfy originals have a really bad rap, I personally find them entertaining enough with the rare exceptions (Sharknado I'm looking at you). I consider them charming dumb fun and this is a fine example.

Snowmageddon is slightly above par, yes it has weak sfx and yes the whole thing is head scratchingly stupid in places but there is certainly entertainment to be found.

If you like Scyfy's goofy movies then you'll like this, if not then perhaps steer clear.

The Good:

Some good ideas

Cast do a great job

Scyfy charm

The Bad:

Usual ropey sfx

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I assume after he threw the globe into the lava the eagle picked him up right Gandalf?

Another week, another cheesy disaster flick from the SyFy Channel, shot in Canada as many of them are and with few redeeming qualities to recommend it. This one's about a family who receive a snow globe as a gift and soon discover that whatever happens in the globe happens in real life; they're caught in blizzards, ice storms and the like, and must fight for survival.

This is the usual run-of-the-mill type production in which an imperilled family are the focus of the story. All of the family members are either boring or unlikeable, so getting excited about the precarious situations in which they find themselves is difficult indeed. SNOWMAGEDDON plays out as a series of cheesy CGI spectacles, with vehicles and homes dropping into volcanoes and the like, and none of it is believable for a second. There aren't even any old time actors down on their luck to enjoy. Plus the whole snow globe angle is introduced and then dropped with little to no explanation; it's pretty annoying.