Wendigo

Plot synopsis:
George (Jake Weber) is a highly-strung professional photographer who is starting to unravel from the stress of his work with a Manhattan advertising agency. Needing some time away from the city, George, his wife Kim (Patricia Clarkson), and their 10-year-old son Miles (Erik Per Sullivan) head to upstate New York to take in the winter sights, though the drive up is hardly relaxing for any of them.
George accidentally hits and severely injures a deer that ran onto the icy road. After George stops to inspect the damage, he's confronted by an angry local named Otis who flies into a rage, telling George that he and his fellow hunters had been tracking the deer for some time. An argument breaks out, which leaves George feeling deeply shaken. When George and Kim arrive at their cabin, they discover that a dark and intimidating presence seems to have taken it over.
The next day, when they stop at a store in a town near the cabin, a shopkeeper tells Miles about the legend of the Wendigo, a deformed beast from Indian folklore who changes from a human to a hideous beast after engaging in cannibalism. The Wendigo also has supernatural powers and can change its appearance at will. The shopkeeper then gives him a small figurine of a Wendigo. Shaken, Miles can't help but think the Wendigo has something to do with the dark forces at work in the woods near the cabin.
Later that day, while sledding together, George suddenly falls to the ground, leaving Miles alone and lost in the woods. Frightened, Miles approaches his dad when he is chased by the wendigo and passes out. He is awakened later by a frightened Kim, who went looking for her family once they didn't come home.
Kim and Miles begin a trek deep into the forest, until they end up at the house, where they find a bloody George crawling towards the car claiming Otis shot him. Frantic, Kim and Miles put George in the car and drive to the nearest hospital. It is revealed that George and Miles were sledding near a shooting range and Otis shot George in the liver with a high powered hunting rifle. George undergoes emergency surgery and Miles walks into the hospital, hallucinates that his father is being assaulted by the Wendigo and faints. He awakens only to find that George has died.
Otis is confronted by the local sheriff, but he kills the sheriff and drives away into the night, being stalked by the wendigo until he crashes into a tree and runs away into the forest, eventually ending up on a road where he is hit by the sheriff deputy's squad car. The movie ends with Otis being carted into the emergency room of the hospital, and being followed by the Indian shopkeeper while Miles watches it all, caressing the Wendigo figurine.

Tags: haunting

Review:
The marketing of Wendigo is geared towards those who want a quick, scary creature flick, where they'd expect a grand battle with some supernatural monster who is defeated in the end, and everything is tied up neatly except for an opening for Wendigo 2: The Monster Returns, but that's not what this film is.
Fessenden and director of photography Terry Stacey find some great shots in beautiful locations, and created some interesting slide show like montages (such as the cards, or the Indian wendigo images from the book).
Wendigo is better shot and edited than many big budget films.Other technical aspects are good for the budget.
The lighting was usually good--there were a few times that dark scenes weren't as clear as they could have been, but it seemed to be more of a problem with the film stock (it could have been digital instead) or transfer.
Although I didn't really notice the score, it must have been okay, or I would have noticed it with a negative judgment.Overall, Wendigo is a very good film that deserves to be watched without preconceptions, as long as you don't mind having to think about the movies you watch..
Also, in the beginning as the family is traveling to the house they hit a deer, then get held up, then they argue with the locals about it, and the little boy surely didn't find this introduction to the woods pleasant at all.The "Wendigo" is ultimately what his young, innocent mind fabricates to explain all of this.
"Wendigo", the third of his horror-themed films is probably the weakest of them, but it has many of the unique characteristics of Fessenden's film-making that make it stand out among the genre.A young family of three heads to upstate New York hoping to spend a time relaxing hoping to relieve from the stress from the city.
As he learns about the legend of the Wendigo, Miles will learn to face the harsh world that is out there.Very loosely based on the Anishinaabe legend of the Wendigo, the movie is a haunting drama mixed with horror that perfectly combines a lucid visual style with a clever storyline.
Basing its scares on mood and atmosphere makes the film a rare species among modern horror movies, and the excellent camera-work makes the film look a lot better than other low-budget independent films.Fessenden visual approach may seem a bit "style over substance" at first, but he takes a good time in developing the characters and their relationships.
The impact Otis has in the family and the Wendigo's legend work perfectly as plot devices to make the film move.The lead cast is superb, with Erik Per Sullivan being an excellent actor despite his young age.
The Wendigo spirit, an important part of the plot, is very well recreated and despite its cheap low-budget look, Fessenden camera-work make it work very good.Sadly, the movie is not perfect and despite having a very strong start, the movie loses steam and by the end it falls short to the expectations built.
Larry Fessenden offers a creative and actually haunting film that is severely hurt by the lack of a competent conclusion, a shame if one considers that the characters are very well developed and the plot has lots of potential.
While the movie has enough good things to be called a great film, it's disappointing pay-off and lack of conclusion are a big stain.
Like I said it is pretty good, I just expected the Wendigo to play more of a part in the movie like the title says..
A local hunter takes a disliking to the husband (Jake Weber) while the couple's son becomes increasingly concerned about their environment and a Native American legend -- the Wendigo, an angry spirit that can manifest as man, beast, tree or wind."Wendigo" is not a conventional creature feature so if you're looking for a typical monster flick look elsewhere.
Yet this is reminiscent of films like "The Birds," where the main characters and a sense of realism are well established before things get going."Wendigo" is a mood piece more than anything else.
Cult director Larry Fessenden has gone back to horror movie basics to achieve a palpable tension in his film: black shadows in every corner of a very-underlit rural house, creaky floorboards, shrieking nighttime winds.
His film starts to unravel when he pushes to far - the appearance of the Wendigo, an Indian spirit that travels on the wind, is at first frightening but ultimately overplayed; Fessenden feels compelled to reveal the monster in an extended attack sequence on the films hillbilly badguy, and in doing so belies the slyness with which we had so successfully frightened us up to that point.
George and Kim are traveling with their young son Miles to a remote cabin in upstate New York when their car hits a deer and swerves into a ditch.But what seems to be a mere occurrence of misfortune marks the beginning of a terrifying journey,where myth becomes reality and a flesh-eating spirit,half animal and half man Wendigo,haunts a small town..."Wendigo" by Larry Fessenden is a thought-provoking horror film that often tenderfoot's into a somber family drama.The acting is great,the characters are well-developed and there are some bone-chilling moments.The subtle glimpses of Wendigo are handled effectively and it's never clear what is real and what is imagined,or even if the story is taking place entirely in Miles' head.Overall,"Wendigo" is my first contact with Larry Fessenden's work and surely won't be the last.Give this film a chance,if you don't mind watching something unconventional.8 out of 10..
However apart from all the other events that occurred between the adults I think the main character to notice was the parents' son who seemed to have this interesting fascination with Natives......that one particular scene where the boy was in his bedroom looking through that book on the American West/Plains Indians......he took it out of his knapsack and started reading it in such a manner that he was really getting into it.But.....
My friends and I rented this movie as we were looking for a horror film to either laugh at or be impressed by.
Photographer George (Jake Weber), his wife Kim (Patricia Clarkson), and their son Miles (Erik Per Sullivan) travel from the city to spend time together at a friend's Catskills retreat; en route, they hit a stag being pursued by a group of hunters and get into an argument with redneck Otis (John Speredakos), whose dislike of city folk leads to tragic events.Those expecting to see a straightforward monster movie will probably be disappointed by director Larry Fessenden's somewhat arty and ambiguous Wendigo, its mythical titular creature only making fleeting appearances towards the end of the film, which may or may not all be in the imagination of youngster Miles.
Fessenden's direction is innovative and his editing skilful, the film-maker using his bleak snowy locale to maximum effect, building plenty of eerie atmosphere, and his cast all give strong performances.While it might not be the 'spectacularly scary' horror film that the quote on the DVD claims it to be, Wendigo is still a worthwhile effort, with just a suggestion of possible mysticism to keep things interesting (did Miles actually conjure up a Wendigo with his Indian totem to take revenge on Otis?).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb..
Larry Fessenden's Wendigo is a film that has stuck with me since I saw it years ago, a glowing textbook example on how to create chilly, effective and engrossing horror on a minimal budget, to maximum creepy effect.
I am drawn to watch horror movies, mostly because I like them as an art form, rather than trying to evaluate how scary they are.
It added to the tensions of this movie to see the boy frightened by his own peculiar illusions, and we wouldn't like this to happen to us either.Don't worry, I'm not trying to analyze the entire movie, but since others have bad-mouthed the sex scene, here is why I thought it was effective.
It was a good horror movie sex scene; Otis is observing their every move, and he doesn't even care that they may see him.
I would not call it a horror film (as an actual horror movie is supposed to terrify you in one way or another), the label "mystery thriller" is more fitting (although it has not too much thrill in it either).
Although i was disappointed it is still worth wathing this film,there are some great scenes and good acting..
If you understand the director's intentions, the blunt ending does make sense (for those of you who have seen the movie already, check out the very fascinating and hilarious interview with Larry Fessenden at filmcritic.com), but I can't help saying it was not pulled off quite right.This probably could have been resolved with as little as ten more minutes of material before the climax.
(But for those of you who don't write or make films, you should know that crafting a story arc with the proper timing is a HUGE pain in the butt, and I am certainly not making this critique from any kind of pedestal!)Wendigo feels to me like a masterpiece that was given up on before it was finished.
Although this may sound like a terrible criticism for a horror movie--I don't know, it still worked for me in some crooked way.
Good cast, well acted, great atmosphere and some really creepy things happen in this movie!
I saw it as maybe the fifth film in a 14 hour horror movie festival and i liked it.
Unlike a great horror movie, like Scream, where the tension is leavened with humorous scenes and you can ID with the characters in situations other than impending doom, the tension in Wendigo never lets up--you're always keyed up for carnage, and then you come to be disappointed when the carnage is art-movie carnage.
Then it all turns to the worse.One of the reasons for my fairly high expectations is that the story and setting in my opinion is ideal for the kind of horror/suspense movies that I like.
About half-way through the movie there are actually some mystery/suspense starting to build up, and we get a crash course in the nature of wendigos.
But good acting is just one part of a whole, and can rarely - although there are exceptions - compensate for a storyline found wanting.To sum it up, "Wendigo" had the promise of becoming a great horror/mystery/suspense movie, OR it could have been a drama, had the supernatural theme been left out.
Directed, written, and edited by Larry Fessenden, also responsible for the equally fine (but very different) Habit, Wendigo is set in the snowy reaches of the Catskills, where a family of three (Jake Weber, indie queen Patricia Clarkson, and Malcolm In the Middle star Erik Per Sullivan) are taking a break from their stressful big city lives.
First off, from the trailers etc used to promote this film, it seemed to me that they were promoting Wendigo as a psychological thriller and horror flick that would leave you thinking about it for days after.
Movies like this will be the end of the low budget horror genre - because they are not scary!
The only person who deserves any merit on this project is the graphic artist who designed the dvd cover box and tricked me into thinking this might be either a horror film or a story about the mythical beast called Wendigo!
Sure enough the creature I remembered that ate human flesh with horrible, viciously sharp, yellowish fangs and was so thin that he could only be seen head on was the wendigo of legend.I only wish the director of this pathetic film had done a bit of checking about his monster before beginning this waste of celluloid he calls a film.I do have to say that even if I had checked out other people's reviews of this movie on IMDB or anywhere else I probably would still have rented this movie because I never listen to others about films I should avoid because I ADORE monster/horror/suspense films and have always found something to appreciate in any of them I have ever seen......until I saw this thing.
Even the recent movies that ended in disappointment for me (like Jeepers Creepers) have something good to offer (the tension and all too possible terror in the unknown trucker following the kids in the beginning of Jeepers); and without the (pathetic to some)efforts of the oldies working with little more than makeup, patience, and groups of single frame changes we would not have the more explosive and tension causing effects we see today.
Every past attempt to make our movie monsters come alive so vividly has helped the industry change and grow including the things that today's jaded movie patrons scoff at; the zipper up Ricou Browning's Creature from the Black Lagoon costume for example, stood out so clearly that it probably set some monster maker looking for the beginnings of what has turned into the amazing care that goes into things like the loose skin effect used so well on Vincent D'Onofrio in Men in Black.However, Wendigo was more than a disappointment.
Even the parts you could catch made little to no sense.I appreciate that he felt the hand held camera work would add to his film but it ended up making the atmosphere a bit like watching the video shot by a not so favorite uncle of the boat trip you spent hanging over the side being sick.
I say that if he ever finds someone interested in giving him the unlimited budget to make Wendigo over again the person with the money should call me first so I can tell them about some ocean front property I have for sale in Kansas.The only thing about this movie that gave me a true scare is the fact that I considered buying it without renting it first.
I consider my self to be a great fan of horror films....but when I rented Wendigo on DVD I was tremendously disappointed.
The ending, the story, the creature itself, the plot, the theme....nothing.I've not seen any of director Larry Fessenden work and I don't think I could stay awake doing so.
If anyone gives you this movie as a gift return it and get something you might enjoy, I'd personally recommend Dog Soldiers, this movie delivers and is truly a horror film.In closing I remember watching America's Funniest Home Videos as a kid and seeing Larry Fessenden's Wendigo on the show, only back then it was called the Jackalope..
Now I have been on here once or twice and read about films I have seen and thought had the people who write on here ever seen the same film I have, so I took what people had said with a pinch of salt and decided I had to watch this film with an open mind.90 mins later and all I had seen was a TV movie about a couple who are having some problems and a kid (who has no idea how to act!!) who go on a vacation to become more together, rub up a strange redneck the wrong way, he then does something and then he buys it!!.....oh and in there is some indian bloke and a very sad looking rudolf thing?!?!?And that was it!!......I thought I had got the wrong movie, I thought this was a suspensful horror, thriller type ride, but......hummmmmmm!!I would never watch this again, and I would not recommend it, but I have seen worse films, this at least had some quality cinematography and camera movements, BUT that can never make up for a lame film!!!Please listen to these people this once..this film is pants!!!.
Maybe some of the folks who didn't like WENDIGO were just expecting a straight-up monster movie.
That's what I said when this film ended.Seriously, this is probably the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life.This is unbelievably slow, and the characters lack the least bit of common sense, for the sake of the plot.
Those who defend this movie seem to think if you don't like this, you're into slasher movies, but not so - I love a good horror film that messes with your head.
When we actually see the Wendigo (BAD MOVE SHOWING THE CREATURE INSTEAD OF PLAYING UPON THE FACT THAT IT IS MORE A FORCE OF NATURE THAN A PHYSICAL ENTITY!!) it is represented in two ways: 1.When helping the father it is represented as a stick or bone creature with large antlers  2.When attacking the redneck it is shown as a fast-moving moose/dear creature that walks/runs upright and looks so made out of plastic it's a joke!As a lover of Native American folklore I was sorely dissapointed in this entire film.
Wendigo is a smart, suspenseful film that moves at a very deliberate pace, much like horror classics of the 1930's and 1970's.
This is a very different kind of "horror" movie that, much like the excellent "Session 9", will not appeal to the masses but will be a real treat for patient viewers who don't mind a quiet, rewarding film.
I couldn't figure out what they were really trying to do here, but when they finally revealed the Wendigo, it looked like they ran out of money and had to piece together some popsicle sticks to make a scary movie.
Wendigo looks great and it's unquestionably well acted (in particular by Clarkson, Weber and John Speredakos), but in the end it's an empty, unfocused film.Rating: C.
Larry Fessenden both wrote and directed this and I think he is awesome because he did a great job.The writing was unique and although I saw a likeness of many other films in the story, I have to say I've never seen a creature quite like that before.