29 May, 2006
Wendigo
I've been trying to get ahold of this movie ever since my wendigo fever began. It is a low budget, independant film written and directed by Larry Fessenden. When I began watching this movie, I was expecting a typical horror/monster movie. You know, a family is on vacation in an isolated, small community when all of a sudden pets and people begin to disappear... et cetera, et cetera. Well, I couldn't be any further from the truth.
The film begins with a Manhatan family, George, Kim, and their 8 year old son (played by Erik Per Sullivan), travelling to a friend's vaction home for a weekend vacation in upstate New York during the winter. On the way, they hit a deer and end up stuck in a snow bank. As they wait for the tow truck, they meet up with the hunter who was tracking the deer. As in any situation where a country personality meets with a city personality, there is conflict. But Otis does give them a tow out of the snow bank and sends them on their way. A lasting impression is left on the family though. A mercy killing of the deer by Otis, seems to frighten Miles. Miles has nightmares of Otis shooting him and as the boy says, that man knows where we live.
As the movie progresses, we learn of Miles's creative imagination. Partially thanks to his fathers inattention of him. On a visit to town, Miles meets an old, mysterious indian, who tells him of the wendigo.
On giving this film a rating, I am having a real hard time. I liked how the direction of the film broke the traditional monster movie mold and created it's own style. But I felt the movie kindof dropped off at the end, since the run time is only an hour and a half I felt that more could have been done with the conclusion. On the other hand, I do enjoy a movie that does not tie up every loose end. A movie that leaves a viewer thinking (I know this can be dangerous). As a IMDB user suggested, the movie is intelligent and thought provoking. The yahoo users and critics both are so widespread in their ratings that nothing can be decided from them alone; they range from an A to a F!
I have decided that the most appropiate rating is that of LAST MAN STANDING. A middle ground between dying spree and killing spree. In terms of Unreal Tournamnet (UT), this film is not blown away but neither does it blow it's competition away. It finds a nice place to hide and wait for the rest to eliminate each other ;)
But adding a new rating to the scale fo this movie seems kindof lame, so if my hand were to be forced, I would choose Killing Spree for the rating.
The film begins with a Manhatan family, George, Kim, and their 8 year old son (played by Erik Per Sullivan), travelling to a friend's vaction home for a weekend vacation in upstate New York during the winter. On the way, they hit a deer and end up stuck in a snow bank. As they wait for the tow truck, they meet up with the hunter who was tracking the deer. As in any situation where a country personality meets with a city personality, there is conflict. But Otis does give them a tow out of the snow bank and sends them on their way. A lasting impression is left on the family though. A mercy killing of the deer by Otis, seems to frighten Miles. Miles has nightmares of Otis shooting him and as the boy says, that man knows where we live.
As the movie progresses, we learn of Miles's creative imagination. Partially thanks to his fathers inattention of him. On a visit to town, Miles meets an old, mysterious indian, who tells him of the wendigo. The wendigo is an angry spirit, not an evil spirit, but a spirit to be feared, nonetheless. The wendigo is always hungry... when a wendigo eats it grows larger and hungrier.Upon their parting, the old indian gives Miles a small carving of the Wendigo. Stangely, none of the other characters in the film meet this new friend. The film continues on towards it's climax, a collision course between a Manhattan family, an angry hunter, and an ancient myth. As you watch the film, it is obviously a low budget movie, but the writing is clever and unique. The acting is well done, especially by Erik Per Sullivan (known for playing Dewey on Malcolm In The Middle). I really enjoyed much of the camera work, I thought this film (like many independant films) had a real artsy apporach.
On giving this film a rating, I am having a real hard time. I liked how the direction of the film broke the traditional monster movie mold and created it's own style. But I felt the movie kindof dropped off at the end, since the run time is only an hour and a half I felt that more could have been done with the conclusion. On the other hand, I do enjoy a movie that does not tie up every loose end. A movie that leaves a viewer thinking (I know this can be dangerous). As a IMDB user suggested, the movie is intelligent and thought provoking. The yahoo users and critics both are so widespread in their ratings that nothing can be decided from them alone; they range from an A to a F!
I have decided that the most appropiate rating is that of LAST MAN STANDING. A middle ground between dying spree and killing spree. In terms of Unreal Tournamnet (UT), this film is not blown away but neither does it blow it's competition away. It finds a nice place to hide and wait for the rest to eliminate each other ;)But adding a new rating to the scale fo this movie seems kindof lame, so if my hand were to be forced, I would choose Killing Spree for the rating.
# posted by Patrick Wellner : Monday, May 29, 2006
