Wendigo

Rating:
Summary: Algernon Blackwood spins in his grave...
Review: The director of " Wendigo," Larry Fessenden, claims in a short interview on the DVD that he first learned of this supernatural monster from a teacher during his days in elementary school. Intrigued by the idea, and apparently inspired by it as well, Fessenden decided to direct a film utilizing the eerie idea of a half man, half beast creature roaming through the snow covered forests of the Catskills. The director is seemingly unaware that the Wendigo was arguably one of Algernon Blackwood's most effective spook stories. This British author set his tale in the wilds of Canada towards the end of the nineteenth century where a hunting expedition undergoes a horrific encounter with the bloodthirsty Indian legend. The yarn is creepy to the nth degree, one of the best horror stories I have ever read. Sadly, Fessenden's take on the Wendigo legend fails to live up to the high standards set by author Blackwood. What a shame, too, because a movie incorporating even a tenth of the atmosphere found in the written version would have been a worthy endeavor indeed. Oh well, cinematic adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft stories rarely entertain either. Perhaps someday someone will do justice to the Wendigo legend--oh, I forgot! Someone did accomplish just such a feat. Its called "Ravenous."

"Wendigo," Fessenden's version anyway, introduces us to Kim, George, and their son Miles. This is a family with problems, but we do not learn about them until well into the movie. We first see this big city trio driving into the Catskills in order to spend some time at the country house of a family friend. Both parents have stressful jobs: Kim is a psychiatrist and George is some sort of graphic artist. The son has his own problems, mainly a tentative relationship with his "too busy to spend time with him" father. The trip, therefore, will provide a chance for the family to reconnect. Problems emerge almost immediately when the car hits a deer on the road a few miles away from their destination. It soon becomes apparent that some local hunters were tracking the animal up until the time George mashed it to bits. The hunters are understandably upset about this unfortunate incident, especially Otis, one of the more obnoxious members of the group. George and Otis get into it over the dead animal, as does Kim when she screams and shouts about these guys having guns so close to her precious little son. Despite the hard feelings, the locals help pull George's car, which went into the ditch due to the deer, up onto the road.

The weirdness continues once the three reach the house. Otis cruises by on the road near the house, glancing ominously up at the building before roaring off. An even more sinister incident happens when George and Kim notice someone fired a bullet through the window. It is clear Otis has a problem with these outsiders, a problem soon exacerbated by the bickering between Kim and George about their son and the father's inability to step back from his career. Still, the movie soldiers onward. A trip into town results in a peculiar encounter between Miles and a local Indian who tells the boy about the Wendigo legend and then gives him a figurine of the beast. Funny thing is, nobody knows anything about an old Indian in town. It seems that Miles experienced a supernatural incident. Meanwhile, more bullet holes in the house have just about worked Kim's last nerve to a frazzle. The police arrive on the scene too late to prevent a genuine tragedy from taking place. The movie concludes with a weeping Kim and a shocked Miles wondering just went wrong. Not surprisingly, the look on my face probably resembled Miles's visage to some extent, as I too wondered what had just taken place.

Deviating significantly from Algernon Blackwood's story constitutes the gravest error of Fessenden's "Wendigo." I would have preferred a shot by shot version of the story than yet another movie about a family in crisis expressed against the backdrop of a supernatural event. So what if Kim and George have numerous problems? What else is new? Everybody has difficulties within the family. The emphasis on a dysfunctional family might have been enough to save the movie if the characters were interesting. They are not: Kim is shrill and nagging, Miles distant and uncommunicative, and the problems I had with George are too numerous to list here. Suffice it to say he is a massive jerk with a bad haircut. When he and his wife started in on the hunters, my sympathies went to the locals. Here's an abrasive pair of big city know it alls trying to tell people what to do. They should have left them in the ditch. The good points of the film, namely the beautiful Clarkson, the occasionally oppressive mood, an interesting soundtrack, and a bit of violence are not enough to make this a film worthwhile. In fact, "Wendigo" reminded me of another indie clunker I saw recently called "Kaaterskill Falls." This is not a good thing.

The Wendigo does make an appearance towards the end of the film, but it is a slightly cheesy effect tricked up with fast camera cuts to hide the inherent flaws of the monster. Extras on the DVD include an interview with Fessenden, a commentary, a behind the scenes feature, and storyboards. The movie's picture quality is excellent, for what that is worth, but since the movie tanks I think you would be better off spending your hard earned coin on something else. Art snobs might love a movie like this; heck, even I like cerebral pictures like this one on occasion, but not on this outing.

Rating:
Summary: Just because no-one believes...
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this original and intelligently made film, but I think that in order to do so, you really have to leave your pre-conceptions at the video shop door. If you pick a film wanting it to be something, then you're gonna be annoyed when it's not. My advice on Wendigo is just to watch it. Don't expect it to be anything, no matter what anyone says. Not deliverance, not a monster movie, not the blair witch, not Halloween. Give yourself some credit - you can watch something new and unique can't you? The story follows a young couple and their son on a weekend away up in the snow covered countryside. They have a run in with some local hunters on their way to the house, and as the weekend unfolds the young boy becomes aware of the Wendigo - a powerful spirit of Indian legend. Gradually the young family, the hunters, and the legend all become entangled as the film reaches it's conclusion. The performances are great, and the script is full of realism, purpose and pace. The dream sequences and visuals are extremely creepy, and atmospheric. The fact that a lot of people seem to think that this is a monster movie about a Deer-man is absolutely hysterical!! The Wendigo is an ancient spirit, one that takes on many forms (which incidently it does in the film). Just think about why it takes on the forms that it does, and then maybe you will draw your conclusions as to the spirit's intentions. And this for me was the real driving force and mystery behind the film. The Wendigo's purpose depends entirely on you. Maybe it is the unseen force that guards and provides the purpose in life. Maybe it's the keeper of the balance amongst all living things. Maybe it's just a big old tree that scares little kids. What you bring to this movie will ultimately determine what you'll take from it. Just don't dismiss it, open your mind and enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Psychological Horror at its BEST! ! !
Review: A masterpiece of low budget filmaking in the great and rising (once again) horror genre. A movie for adults with an appreciation of psychological horror. Not for the teen hacks who only get yesterdays blood splatter. Ignore all negative reviews of this film and you will see that Fessenden is a talent to be reckoned with. Remember that Peter Jackson aka Lord of the Rings made a dark little horror film called Dead Alive (not as good as this and of another ilk) and for another great title that sits as the GOD of this type of film see The Other based on the novel by Thomas Tryon ...Nuff Said.

Rating:
Summary: Great Promise - Big Letdown
Review: Ahh... this movie could've been something really special. After a strong opening in which a city family hit a deer on a snowy country road, the film slowly starts a downward spiral to an unsatisfying conclusion.
The story borrows a little too heavily from King's "The Shining". The boy(Erik Per Sullivan, in a very good performance) encounters people who don't exist in the material world and has premonitions of the horrors to come.
When we finally do see the Wendigo, the f/x are disappointingly primitive. I know this film didn't have the biggest budget, but I've seen school plays with more convincing special effects.
I gave this film 3 stars. The acting was slightly above average and the plot had a ton of potential. As it stands, "Wendigo" is watchable and better than a lot of the junk horror movie of late. But it could have(and should have) been a real gem.

Rating:
Summary: MILES AND MILES TO GO
Review: Eric Per Sullivan as the young Miles is a wonderful performance for a child actor. He portrays a young boy who finds himself enthralled by the legend of the Wendigo, an Indian folk legend that becomes horrifying real for him and his dysfunctional parents. Larry Fessenden's film is a slow moving one and even when it picks up it's almost in slow motion. There are, however, some truly eerie and ghostly scenes that merit it as a "horror" film, but as some reviewers noted, this is not a true representation of this film. There is much mysticism and there is a dense portrayal of a family in hurt trying to heal the wounds. Jake Weber and Patricia Clarkson are very effective as Miles' parents, but John Speradakos as the soon to be demented Otis is excellent in conveying evil in a soft, frightening manner. The locale is beautiful in its winter isolation; some of the cinematography is also brilliant. A disturbing film that leaves much to the viewer's interpretation, but definitely a different movie, well done on a shoestring budget.

Rating:
Summary: Bosh Hubris
Review: I must have come into this film with unjust pre-conceptions of it being a B-grade 1970s horror-film-laugh-a-lympics in the same vein as Wolfen or Zombie, because I came away rather disgusted and feeling cheated. What little plot this movie had was lost in its club-footed slowness and aloofness. You never really get to know anything and by the time you do you already have a great animosity for the characters and wish the greatest amount of harm to be inflicted upon them. The banal and "who-cares" combination of storyline and characters is the most unsympathetic feeling I've ever experienced watching a film. It wasn't even ennui or uneasiness, it was pure waking sleeplessness. A thudding into walls in the dark. Something you'd like to fall asleep to after a root canal because it lacks both the capacity to hold or be remembered by as anything but second-rate.

Rating:
Summary: Algernon Blackwood spins in his grave...
Review: The director of " Wendigo," Larry Fessenden, claims in a short interview on the DVD that he first learned of this supernatural monster from a teacher during his days in elementary school. Intrigued by the idea, and apparently inspired by it as well, Fessenden decided to direct a film utilizing the eerie idea of a half man, half beast creature roaming through the snow covered forests of the Catskills. The director is seemingly unaware that the Wendigo was arguably one of Algernon Blackwood's most effective spook stories. This British author set his tale in the wilds of Canada towards the end of the nineteenth century where a hunting expedition undergoes a horrific encounter with the bloodthirsty Indian legend. The yarn is creepy to the nth degree, one of the best horror stories I have ever read. Sadly, Fessenden's take on the Wendigo legend fails to live up to the high standards set by author Blackwood. What a shame, too, because a movie incorporating even a tenth of the atmosphere found in the written version would have been a worthy endeavor indeed. Oh well, cinematic adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft stories rarely entertain either. Perhaps someday someone will do justice to the Wendigo legend--oh, I forgot! Someone did accomplish just such a feat. Its called "Ravenous."

"Wendigo," Fessenden's version anyway, introduces us to Kim, George, and their son Miles. This is a family with problems, but we do not learn about them until well into the movie. We first see this big city trio driving into the Catskills in order to spend some time at the country house of a family friend. Both parents have stressful jobs: Kim is a psychiatrist and George is some sort of graphic artist. The son has his own problems, mainly a tentative relationship with his "too busy to spend time with him" father. The trip, therefore, will provide a chance for the family to reconnect. Problems emerge almost immediately when the car hits a deer on the road a few miles away from their destination. It soon becomes apparent that some local hunters were tracking the animal up until the time George mashed it to bits. The hunters are understandably upset about this unfortunate incident, especially Otis, one of the more obnoxious members of the group. George and Otis get into it over the dead animal, as does Kim when she screams and shouts about these guys having guns so close to her precious little son. Despite the hard feelings, the locals help pull George's car, which went into the ditch due to the deer, up onto the road.

The weirdness continues once the three reach the house. Otis cruises by on the road near the house, glancing ominously up at the building before roaring off. An even more sinister incident happens when George and Kim notice someone fired a bullet through the window. It is clear Otis has a problem with these outsiders, a problem soon exacerbated by the bickering between Kim and George about their son and the father's inability to step back from his career. Still, the movie soldiers onward. A trip into town results in a peculiar encounter between Miles and a local Indian who tells the boy about the Wendigo legend and then gives him a figurine of the beast. Funny thing is, nobody knows anything about an old Indian in town. It seems that Miles experienced a supernatural incident. Meanwhile, more bullet holes in the house have just about worked Kim's last nerve to a frazzle. The police arrive on the scene too late to prevent a genuine tragedy from taking place. The movie concludes with a weeping Kim and a shocked Miles wondering just went wrong. Not surprisingly, the look on my face probably resembled Miles's visage to some extent, as I too wondered what had just taken place.

Deviating significantly from Algernon Blackwood's story constitutes the gravest error of Fessenden's "Wendigo." I would have preferred a shot by shot version of the story than yet another movie about a family in crisis expressed against the backdrop of a supernatural event. So what if Kim and George have numerous problems? What else is new? Everybody has difficulties within the family. The emphasis on a dysfunctional family might have been enough to save the movie if the characters were interesting. They are not: Kim is shrill and nagging, Miles distant and uncommunicative, and the problems I had with George are too numerous to list here. Suffice it to say he is a massive jerk with a bad haircut. When he and his wife started in on the hunters, my sympathies went to the locals. Here's an abrasive pair of big city know it alls trying to tell people what to do. They should have left them in the ditch. The good points of the film, namely the beautiful Clarkson, the occasionally oppressive mood, an interesting soundtrack, and a bit of violence are not enough to make this a film worthwhile. In fact, "Wendigo" reminded me of another indie clunker I saw recently called "Kaaterskill Falls." This is not a good thing.

The Wendigo does make an appearance towards the end of the film, but it is a slightly cheesy effect tricked up with fast camera cuts to hide the inherent flaws of the monster. Extras on the DVD include an interview with Fessenden, a commentary, a behind the scenes feature, and storyboards. The movie's picture quality is excellent, for what that is worth, but since the movie tanks I think you would be better off spending your hard earned coin on something else. Art snobs might love a movie like this; heck, even I like cerebral pictures like this one on occasion, but not on this outing.

Rating:
Summary: Very scary... in a bad way.
Review: First off, Wendigo has to be one of the most terrible movies I have ever seen. In a way, Wendigo is a scary movie, but only because it is frightening that such an awful movie could ever find its way to a producer. Oh God, there are just so many things wrong with this movie...

Now, I can tolerate a cheesy movie if the directing is good. And sometimes I can tolerate a bad storyline too, given the directing is good. However, Wendigo has a lame storyline and even worse direction. The director of Windego tries some interesting effects, but they just seem so out of place and confusing, that instead of thinking "Wow, that was nice", you are left with a gaping mouth wondering what just happened. The director doesn't seem to have any apparent "style" in this movie, that is, unless chaos and utter confusion is considered a style.

The "monster" in Wendigo, when first shown (not until the last 20 minutes) was deer-shaped monster made of sticks. The second time it appeared, it was a half-man half-deer monster which was nothing more than a bodybuilder with a deer outfit on and wearing alien-hand gloves. I have seen movies made in the 60's with more believable beasts. In fact, the monster looks so terrible, that it is only shown in brief clips, moving VERY quickly and jittery so you can't tell how bad it looks.... too bad even this effect doesn't work.

Where do I go from here? Bad storyline. Mediocre acting. A disgrace to the legend of Wendigo. Tie all this in with one of the worst endings I have ever seen and the question you are left asking is.... why watch this movie? It's not even good enough for a rental to laugh at. I would like to see the producer and the director sent back to film school (if they ever went). Bottom line: I hate this movie. If you are interested in the legend of Wendigo, then buy Ravenous.

Rating:
Summary: a chiller that delivers the goods
Review: a family of 3 (Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber and Erik Per Sullivan) travel to a house in the woods but when a deer hits there car things go a little wrong. they are being stalked by a crazy guy named Otis who has a dark past. The family go shopping one day and the kid buys a Wendigo toy that a old indian man told him that it has magical powers and eats souls and eats and eats and eats and gets more hungrier. The kid and his father George go sledding and his father is mysteriously thrown off and the kid is knocked down. His mother comes, gets him and they find his father. They go to the hospital. They believe the kids dad was shot and so his wife sends the cop to Otis and Otis kills the cop. At this point we get to see the Wendigo in action as it chases Otis and kills him. In the end the kids father dies and the screwy thing is that the wendigo toy he had was sort of channeling to Otis and the kid killed Otis, freaky huh. The Wendigo creatures are awesome. Some moments of chills and others expected, how you say formulaic. Better then most of the damn stupid gory films out there. This one makes you think and feel. theres also a steamy scene between the parents with that Otis guy watching outside the window (creepy)

Rating:
Summary: Where is the rest of it?
Review: This movie ends suddenly, seemingly without warning. The plot staggers along without really getting started and finishes with nothing having been revealed or resolved. The movie has moments that seem reminiscent of Stephen King's work, but there is no storyline to draw events together. The "Wendigo" monster, once finally revealed looks like Bullwinkle on steroids and is more comical than frightening. Overall, this movie should never have been released. It should have been finished and then re-edited into something at least semi-worthwhile.