Wendigo

Rating:
Summary: Showed Promise
Review: Man, every once in a while you find a movie that really could have been cool if it just had a little more money pumped into it. 'Wendigo' is a great example of this.

As many other reviewers have pointed out, the atmosphere was really eerie. I thought the director (Larry Fessenden) did a great job in setting the mood and directing his cast. Other reviewers seem to disagree, but I though it was well acted. Problem is though, it was almost as if Fessenden knew that the special FX were going to be lousy. It seems to me like he tried to cover this up by dragging out the opening sequences and limiting the ammount of time that the Wendigo is on the screen to the bare minimum.

This really ended up hurting his final product. I wound up feeling like the movie turned out to be no better then a "pretty good" X-Files episode. Simply put, it took too long to get started and then ended too quickly.

Bottom line is, if you can catch it on cable or rent it at a reasonable rate, it's not at all a waste of your time. However, I honestly just couldn't justify spending the money to buy a copy

Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE!! DO NOT waste your money on this sludge
Review: Boring, pointless, poorly done. Terrible acting, nothing explained at the end, or anywhere else for that matter of any consequence.

HORRIBLE. 1 star cause I have to, ohterwise -8000

Rating:
Summary: What a wretched, wretched movie
Review: I watched "The Others" immediately before I watched "Wendigo," and I was struck by the differences. Both films rely upon atmosphere, not gore, to provide their chills, and The Others proves that a good scary movie doesn't have to look as though it was shot in an abattoir to make the viewer squirm. HOWEVER, a good scary movie does have to scare you, or alarm you, or at least leave you feeling vaguely unsettled. There is not a solid "gasp" moment anywhere to be found in Wendigo. The movie is pretentious, pointless, and worst of all...DULL. The only thing I felt at the end of the movie was pity for Patricia Clarkson, whom I like as an actress. Please do not waste your money on this film.

Rating:
Summary: read this review before watching the movie
Review: i'll keep this short. all you doofuses out there who want cheep thrills, screaming, dumb teenage females, and ten million dollars spent on fake blood, go rent scream instead. this is not a monster movie, nor a slasher, but it is still a horror movie. i say that because this movie deals with two of the basic principals of true horror: ambiguity and the unknown. the film can be interpreted in differant ways. for instance, i'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this or not, but could it not be possible that Miles has somehow conjured the Wendigo from his own mind after hearing the story of the Wendigo, making it real to serve out his own unconscious desires? after all, the only ones who see anything "supernatural" are Miles and Otis, and Otis is the man who has shot Miles's father. Whether this be true or not is entirely dependant upon the individual viewer, but mark my words: this is not just simply a failed monster movie. that much is NOT dependant upon the individual viewer, but rather upon the individual viewers reasoning capabilities and maturity level.

Rating:
Summary: The Epitome of Ignorance
Review: As I journey through the sea of cheesy yet humorous B movies I'm always in search of that one movie that will stick out from all the rest and will thus have the honor of being labeled as the worst movie known to man. Though movies such as Back From Hell, Werewolf, and Zombie Lake have all come close to claiming this prestegious title, I would have to say that Wendigo not only surpasses them all, but also has the capabilites of forming a newer, more boring class of B movies known as C Movies as well.

The hue of the film and the way in which camera angles are used in this movie borrows heavily from the theatrical blunder - The Blair Witch Project. The story centers on a family who just so happen to be moving to an isolated cabin in upper NY or Connecticut and not only run into a conflict with hunters after hitting a deer, (which surprisingly leaves absolutely no damage to the car save a streak of fake blood), but also the mysterious legend of the Wendigo. In its entirety, the Wendigo is only seen at the very end and its image is so obscured that you'd think the film was damaged. The other 89 minutes of the movie mainly focus on the child's mental struggle with the surreal and the natural, as is depicted ONLY by: swirling camera visions of a somber forest, sullen shots of the boy's face, and an unforgettable array of melodramatic music. The movie is hardly worth anyone's time as I found myself falling asleep about 30 minutes before its "climactic ending".

There is a wide array of errors that attribute to this movie's putridity, but if I were to pick out one particular element that made the movie horrible, I'd have to say it'd be the sound. In nearly every word spoken by any actor save the indian, the sound of their voices come out muffled. I suppose had I been able to actually hear what the people were saying throughout this movie I would've been able to excuse a few of its flaws, however it just goes to show what you'll normally get when you watch low-budget films. Yet another shocking fact that disgusted me was finding out the movie was made in 2001. It looks as if it were made in 1981 which is something I personally find highly inexcusable in a film. Add to that the movie's dullness and lack of practically anything save a few random shots of schizophrenic hunters and of the child's sullen countenance, and you've got Wendigo.

All in all, this movie is probably the worst piece of trash that I've ever seen. The movie had no plot whatsoever as the elements failed to tie together, sound that had me thinking my audio adjustments were off, about 75 minutes of pointless events, and the worst acting I've ever seen in ANY movie. If for any reason you want to watch this, I highly recommend that you watch it on Cinemax or Showtime because you will hate yourself for spending the $5 at Blockbuster and even more so for the ridiculous price that Amazon.com offers.

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent and Subtle, but Still Bone-Chilling
Review: Indie auteur Larry Fessenden's horror film WENDIGO is an intelligent and bone-chilling psychological sojourn to a nebular domain where Native American myth and reality converge. It tells the story of an urban couple and their son Miles who, during a winter getaway to rural upstate New York, inadvertently provoke a prolonged fracas with an unbalanced local resident. In the midst of the feuding, young Miles learns to cope with his ensuing anxieties and fears by placing his faith in The Wendigo, a wrathful spirit he has learned about from a mysterious Native American shaman. But is the ancient spirit real, or is the boy's faith naively misplaced?

Though produced on a meager budget, WENDIGO offers top-notch writing and direction from Fessenden; excellent cinematography, despite the 16mm-to-35mm blow-up technique used; outstanding acting, especially from the three principals; and simple but very effective special FX that should put more than a few big-budget Hollywood productions to shame. The beautiful musical score, by composer Michelle Dibucci (1982's CREEPSHOW), is just this side of New Age stylistically, yet it is flavored with enough Native American elements that it cleverly echoes the film's dichotomous cultural subtext, while at the same time being ethereal enough to compliment the spooky and otherworldly atmosphere required by the basic plot.

WENDIGO serves up a subtle and tasteful nerve-tingling horror that is a refreshing alternative to the gore-laden horror movies that Hollywood often cranks out these days. And like a lot of great art, this film requires that the observer exercise the ol' gray matter a little. The younger crowd, therefore, will probably feel WENDIGO is too slow and lacking in blood-and-guts FX, but an audience with more mature tastes will really enjoy it.

The DVD offers an crisp, clean digital transfer with good sound, as well as some interesting extras such as a behind-the-scenes featurette and a feature commentary from WENDIGO's creative and somewhat eccentric director. Well worth the reasonable cost of admission!

Rating:
Summary: Fessenden does it (very well) again.
Review: Wendigo (Larry Fessenden, 2001)

Larry Fessenden gave the world his first entry into the hip, not-scary horror genre a few years back with Habit, an utterly engrossing vampire flick that's not as much about vampires as it is about its main character's slow descent into alcoholic madness. Well, Fessenden is back with his second foray into the genre, Wendigo, and we get the same treatment here we got in Habit. In other words, if you hated that one, don't bother with this one.

Wendigo isn't a horror movie as such. It's more a family drama (not as in "appropriate for the whole family," mind you). George (American Gothic's Jake Weber) and his wife Kim (the highly underrated Patricia Clarkson, recently in The Station Agent) have borrowed a country house for the weekend from a business associate, and headed up with their son, Miles (Erik Per Sullivan, Malcolm in the Middle's Dewey). What at first seems to be a regular weekend family trip opens up into the beginnings of an attempt at a journey to heal an unspecified fracture in George and Kim's relationship; we learn this, but we're never sure what the specific event was. We find out why; George is self-obsessed and stubborn, Kim is distant and unable to understand why her nagging George about his self-obsession and stubbornness won't change him. But the two have been married a while, and they have that dynamic about them. (Which is good, because any chance to see Patricia Clarkson unclothed should be eagerly snatched by the oversexed male film viewer.)

The weekend is marred by an event on the way to the cabin, given to us in the opening scenes of the movie; George loses control of the car and hits a deer which is being pursued by a number of hunters, led by Otis (John Speredakos, recently in Rules of Engagement). Otis is not a nice guy, not at all. He seems perennially hopped up on something, is twitchy, nervous, and a little too fond of his rifle. Adding Otis into the equation makes things that much harder on the family. After all, once Otis is part of the equation, he's going all the way through to the solution.

(The Wendigo itself, though it does play a part in the film, is a minor character at best, and is, perhaps, only a mass hallucination.)

Again, as with Habit, what you see is not necessarily what you get. Those expecting a horror film are going to be disappointed; those expecting a heartfelt tear-jerker are unlikely to get that, either. It moves too slowly to be a thriller (which is probably the closest established genre to what Wendigo really is), but too quickly to be a slice-of-life film. In other words, it's uncategorizable.

And perhaps that is why Wendigo is one of those films that will stay with you long after you've finished watching it. Everyone in the film portrays their characters wonderfully, and all the tension between the family members is believable. Otis is very much the backwoods dangerous redneck, and unlike most rednecks of recent years, something about him seems uncompromisingly dirty; the kind of detail one only expects to find in Lucio Fulci films, but that Fessenden never fails to do well (even in front of the camera, a la Session 9). Otis may be one of the most disturbing characters in modern film, on a visceral level; there's nothing that makes you sit up and say "whoa!," just a vague feeling of unease whenever he's onscreen.

Wonderful stuff. Not for everyone, but the few will adore it. ****

Rating:
Summary: Very bad low-budget horror that is not a horror movie!!!
Review: Apart from a really good child actor who walks circles around the rest of the cast, it is very dull apart from the opening ten minutes and after that just goes downhill in a very amateur way. Normally horror film makers on low-budgets do wonders but Wendigo is really very boring and nothing much happens in it at all. The acting is quite realistic though and that is why it gets one star but the movie itself is poorly constructed and very confusing at the best of times.

The story is about a family that move to a cabin only to be stalked by a hunter who has a grudge against them. There is a supernatural subplot that does not really show up until the final few minutes. In fact it is not really a horror movie at all and this is why it fails. The trailer and DVD box do little for it in that respect. If these guys are out to make a horror film then MAKE a horror film and not something that pretends to be a horror film and is in fact a boring "drama" about a family where nothing happens. If the DVD cover had a family sitting around an open fire in a log cabin with some guy standing outside with a gun.. well that would be more apt.. but lets face it - it would not sell that way and so they have boxed it up as a screaming horror film instead. In short, the distributors are cheating everyone here. Wendigo is a very bad marketing gimmick that wasted people's money. The film makers should be shammed. Take notes and names and remember them in future. Directed by Larry Fessenden. Distributed by Artisan.

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent and Admirable
Review: 'Wendigo' really is the sort of movie that you'll either love or hate. Wrongly classed by most as a horror movie, I had to watch it twice in order to fully appreciate it (I'm very glad I did), and, after reading this review, I hope you'll have a better understanding of why it's such a misunderstood film.

A brief synopsis of the plot: Kim, George and their son Miles are taking a vacation in the Catskills, at the holiday home of a friend. Before they ever reach their destination, a collison with a deer and a nasty exchange between some hunters spoils their vacation, and things go from bad to worse as they are plagued by an angry local and the spirit of a Native American God, the Wendigo.

Firstly, and most importantly, this is not a horror movie in the strictest sense of the word. It does have a supernatural baddie, but the real tension and atmosphere of 'Wendigo' comes from the beautifully-executed scenes of human conflict. John Speredakos is outstanding as the malevolent Otis, and turns in a performance as realistic as it is genuinely unnerving. The direction, too, is superior, with the hitherto relatively-unknown Larry Fessenden making excellent use of shocking rural North American-imagery and enigmatic Native American folklore to create a sense of the supernatural.

'Wendigo' is a strange cross between psychological and supernatural horrors - picture 'The Silence of the Lambs' crossed with 'Anaconda' and you'll get the general idea. Although the titular 'Wendigo' does appear in the movie, he's merely secondary to the brilliantly realised tension between Otis and George. It's odd that such a contrast exists, the movie wouldn't actually make sense without a Demon, even though the human scenes are far superior. I don't know why, but it just works. The special effects for the demon are shoddy, but this is remedied greatly by Fessenden's heavy-handed use of unstructured camera work. A special mention, too, must go to Erik Per Sullivan as Miles - an excellent child actor playing his part with endearing realism.

All in all, 'Wendigo' should be watched without any preconcieved ideas as to what a horror movie ought to be. It's a rewarding, surprisingly good offering and if you can put your previous experiences of horror aside, it's one of the best offerings of recent years.

Rating:
Summary: A pretty neat film
Review: After readings countless good reviews for this film i decided to go down my local video store and rent it. Wendigo is an extremely enjoyable film for the small budget it was made from and it builds tension superbly. All the actors are very good especially the very convincing erik per sullivan as spooked miles. But despite being a very good film the wendigo itself is laughable and the ending is a bit of a kop out,like there's a scene missing. I still enjoyed wendigo despite the ending and i recommend you check it out.