Antlers

***Antlers*** is a 2021 supernatural horror film directed by Scott Cooper, and stars Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan. The screenplay, written by C. Henry Chaisson, Nick Antosca, and Cooper, was adapted from Antosca's short story "The Quiet Boy", originally published in *Guernica* magazine in January 2019. The film follows a school teacher as she suspects one of her students is suffering from personal problems in his home life, not knowing that the student is harboring a dangerous entity in his house.

The project was announced in July 2018 with Cooper attached to direct, and the cast joining the next month. Filming took place in British Columbia in October and November 2018.

*Antlers* premiered at Beyond Fest in October 11, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 29, 2021, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Searchlight Pictures, after being delayed twice from an April 2020 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cinematography, acting and the horror elements, but lamented the screenplay's underdeveloped themes.

## Storyline

### Plot

In an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher and her sheriff brother become embroiled with her enigmatic student whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with a legendary ancestral creature who came before them.

### Genres

* Drama
* Horror
* Mystery
* Thriller

### Motion Picture Rating

* **16** (Argentina)
* **MA15+** (Australia)
* **16** (Brazil)
* **18A** (Canada)
* **14** (Chile)
* **15** (Colombia)
* **15** (Denmark)
* **12** (France)
* **16** (Germany)
* **IIB** (Hong Kong)
* **A** (India)
* **D17+** (Indonesia)
* **16** (Ireland) (theatrical rating)
* **15** (Ireland) (video rating)
* **VM14** (Italy)
* **B15** (Mexico)
* **16** (Netherlands)
* **R16** (New Zealand)
* **15** (Norway)
* **R-16** (Philippines)
* **16** (Poland)
* **M/16** (Portugal)
* **18+** (Russia)
* **NC16** (Singapore)
* **16** (Spain)
* **15** (Sweden)
* **18+** (Turkey)
* **15** (UK)
* **R** (USA)
* **18** (Ukraine)
* **15+** (United Arab Emirates)

## Cast and Crew

### Writing Credits

* Henry Chaisson (screenplay by) (as C. Henry Chaisson) and
* Nick Antosca (screenplay by) and
* Scott Cooper (screenplay by)
* Nick Antosca (based upon the short story "The Quiet Boy" by)

### Cast

* Keri Russell - Julia Meadows
* Jesse Plemons - Paul Meadows
* Jeremy T. Thomas - Lucas Weaver
* Graham Greene - Warren Stokes
* Scott Haze - Frank Weaver
* Rory Cochrane - Daniel LeCroy
* Amy Madigan - Principal Ellen Booth
* Sawyer Jones - Aiden Weaver
* Cody Davis - Clint Owens
* Lyla Marlow - Jasmine Drury
* Jesse Downs - Harrison Crawford
* Arlo Hajdu - Arlo Kebbins
* Dorian Kingi - Antlered Man
* Ken Kramer - Dr. Gerald Ferguson
* Dendrie Taylor - Carol Reynolds
* Andy Thompson - Feather Meadows
* Jake T. Roberts - Forensic Officer
* Glynis Davies - Nurse Lorraine Byrd
* Michael Eklund - Kenny Glass
* Charmaine Wilson - Market Cashier
* Jay Brazeau - Dr. Francis
* Katelyn Peterson - Young Julia
* Lisa Cromarty - Ojibwei Narrator (voice)
* Emily Delahunty - Evie (uncredited)

### Producers

* Nick Antosca (executive producer)
* J. Miles Dale (producer) (p.g.a.)
* Guillermo del Toro (producer) (p.g.a.)
* David S. Goyer (producer) (p.g.a.)
* T.K. Knowles (associate producer)
* John O'Grady (associate producer)
* Jim Rowe (executive producer)
* Kevin Turen (executive producer)

## Details

### Countries

* USA
* Mexico
* Canada

### Release Dates

* October 11, 2021 (USA) (Beyond Fest)
* October 13, 2021 (Spain) (Sitges Film Festival)
* October 15, 2021 (France) (La Roche-sur-Yun International Film Festival)
* October 15, 2021 (USA) (Chicago International Film Festival)
* October 21, 2021 (UK) (Celluloid Screams)
* October 27, 2021 (New Zealand) (Terror-Fi Film Festival)
* October 27, 2021 (USA) (Philadelphia International Film Festival)
* October 28, 2021 (United Arab Emirates)
* October 28, 2021 (Argentina)
* October 28, 2021 (Australia)
* October 28, 2021 (Brazil)
* October 28, 2021 (Germany)
* October 28, 2021 (Denmark)
* October 28, 2021 (Hong Kong)
* October 28, 2021 (Croatia)
* October 28, 2021 (Italy)
* October 28, 2021 (Cambodia)
* October 28, 2021 (Kuwait)
* October 28, 2021 (Lebanon)
* October 28, 2021 (Mexico)
* October 28, 2021 (Netherlands)
* October 28, 2021 (New Zealand)
* October 28, 2021 (Peru)
* October 28, 2021 (Singapore)
* October 28, 2021 (Slovakia)
* October 28, 2021 (Uruguay)
* October 29, 2021 (Bulgaria)
* October 29, 2021 (Canada)
* October 29, 2021 (Estonia)
* October 29, 2021 (UK)
* October 29, 2021 (Indonesia)
* October 29, 2021 (Ireland)
* October 29, 2021 (India)
* October 29, 2021 (Lithuania)
* October 29, 2021 (Latvia)
* October 29, 2021 (Norway)
* October 29, 2021 (Poland)
* October 29, 2021 (Sweden)
* October 29, 2021 (Turkey)
* October 29, 2021 (USA)
* November 11, 2021 (Greece)
* November 11, 2021 (Portugal)
* November 12, 2021 (Taiwan)
* November 17, 2021 (France)
* November 18, 2021 (Ukraine)
* November 19, 2021 (Spain)
* December 10, 2021 (Iceland)
* December 16, 2021 (Kazakhstan)
* December 16, 2021 (Russia)

### Trailer Release Dates

* Trailer 1 - August 20, 2019
* Trailer 2 - October 23, 2019
* Trailer 3 - December 10, 2019

### Home Media Release Dates

* January 4, 2022 (USA) (DVD)
* January 4, 2022 (USA) (Blu-Ray)

### Also Known As

* Antlers (original title)
* Espíritus oscuros (Argentina)
* Antlers (Australia)
* Espíritos Obscuros (Brazil)
* Pora (Bulgaria)
* Antlers (Canada) (English title)
* Les affamés (Canada) (French title)
* Espíritus oscuros (Chile)
* 鹿角 (China) (Mandarin title)
* Espíritus oscuros (Colombia)
* Duhovi tame (Croatia)
* Paroží (Czechia)
* Antlers (Denmark)
* Affamés (France)
* Antlers (Germany)
* 血魔獸 (Hong Kong) (Cantonese title)
* Antlers (India)
* Antlers (Indonesia)
* Antlers (Ireland)
* Antlers - Spirito insaziabile (Italy)
* Antlers (Japan)
* Brieža ragi (Latvia)
* Nepasotinamas alkis (Lithuania)
* Antlers (Mexico) (English title)
* Espíritus Oscuros (Mexico) (Mexican title)
* Antlers (New Zealand)
* Espíritus oscuros (Peru)
* Antlers (Philippines)
* Poroże (Poland)
* Faminto (Portugal)
* Оленьи рога (Russia)
* Рогови (Serbia)
* Antlers (Singapore)
* Parožie (Slovakia)
* Antlers (South Korea)
* Antlers: Criatura oscura (Spain)
* 鹿魔 (Taiwan)
* Boynuzlar (Turkey)
* Ненаситний (Ukraine)
* Antlers (United Arab Emirates)
* Antlers (UK)
* Antlers (USA)
* Espíritus oscuros (Uruguay)
* Gạc (Vietnam)

## Production

In July 2018, it was announced that Guillermo del Toro would produce *Antlers*, a film to be directed by Scott Cooper with Keri Russell in negotiations to star. It was planned to begin filming in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the fourth quarter of 2018. In August 2018, Jesse Plemons joined the cast. In October 2018, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Amy Madigan, Scott Haze, and Rory Cochrane joined the cast.

Principal photography began on October 1, 2018, and finished on November 30, 2018. The film is primarily shot in and around Hope, British Columbia.

## Release

*Antlers* premiered at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles on October 11, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 29, 2021.

The film originally previously scheduled to be released on April 17, 2020, but was removed from the release calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then rescheduled to February 19, 2021, before being removed from the release calendar again.

## Reception

### Box office

As of January 13, 2022, *Antlers* has grossed a worldwide total of $18,535,194.

In the United States and Canada, *Antlers* was released alongside *Last Night in Soho* and the expansion of *The French Dispatch* and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,800 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.7 million on its first day and went on to debut to $4.2 million, finishing seventh at the box office. In its second weekend, the film dropped 53% to $2 million.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 166 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It struggles to find a successful balance between its genre and allegorical elements, but *Antlers* is sharp enough to recommend as a richly atmospheric creature feature." On IMDb, the film has a rating of 6/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 33 critical reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 59% positive score, with 42% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Todd Gilchrist of *TheWrap* gave the film a mostly positive review, calling it "a handsome, meticulous, yet overly serious entry in a horror sub-genre explored too infrequently; Guillermo del Toro was right to choose Cooper, but what the film needs is more of del Toro's own exuberance to truly bring it to life." Linda Marric of *The Jewish Chronicle* gave the film a score of 3/5 stars, writing, "*Antlers* is both dark in tone and aesthetically stunning to look at. Cooper does a fantastic job in creating a suitably dark and disturbing atmosphere to go with the film's decidedly dark body horror narrative", but added that it "eventually leans a little too heavily on jarringly obvious allegories about drug addiction and child abuse, losing all the things it had built on in the process". Jake Wilson of *The Age* gave the film 3/5 stars, describing it as "murky but interesting" and writing that it "is a lot less goofy than you’d expect from a horror movie called *Antlers*, certainly less goofy than it would have been if its producer Guillermo del Toro had directed it himself". John DeFore of *The Hollywood Reporter* wrote that the film was "thoroughly successful both as icky art house horror and as an allegory of generational trauma" and praised Jeremy T. Thomas' performance. Brian Lowry of CNN wrote, "The net effect isn't necessarily bad assuming that expectations are modest, and there's something to be said for a more understated, small-scale approach to horror that doesn't confuse body count with scares."

Eric Eisenberg of *CinemaBlend* gave the film a 2.5/5 star rating, saying in a mixed review, "Given its promise and everything it does right, *Antlers* winds up being a frustrating experience." Meagan Navarro, writing for *Bloody Disgusting*, also gave the film 2.5/5 stars and said that Cooper takes it too seriously, putting the emotional trauma at the forefront and saving the horror for the finale. She labelled the film a "monologue". Kevin Maher of *The Times* gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "A sterling performance from Keri Russell is wasted on this po-faced yet inherently silly horror film about a mutant killer humanoid stag monster." Benjamin Lee of *The Guardian* also gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "There's probably a semi-decent creature feature here and maybe, with a hefty amount of redrafting, a semi-decent human drama but as it stands it fails at both, a satisfying, coherent film buried underneath copious amounts of animal guts." Clarisse Loughrey of *The Independent* gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "There are measured performances here by both Russell and Plemons, two unfailingly talented actors, and a host of well-crafted practical effects... But all the trickery in the world can't conceal how inauthentic *Antlers* feels at heart." Barry Hertz of *The Globe and Mail* wrote, "*Antlers* is a gross film... But the film's *eeeeeghghgh* quality isn't limited to its on-screen viscera – Antler's gross-ness extends to its screenplay's slop-bucket collection of overused but underdeveloped themes, and a visual style that cough-gurgles poverty-porn fetishism." Anna Bogutskaya said on BBC Radio 5 Live, "It's really egregious, I think, how it just pulls out First Nations mythologies, like the mythology of the Wendigo, and the only First Nations actor that they cast in the film, Graham Greene, basically just delivers a bunch of spooky exposition and then disappears."

## Company Credits

### Production Companies

* Searchlight Pictures
* TSG Entertainment
* Phantom Four Films
* Double Dare You
* Mirada Studio

### Distributors

* Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2021) (Worldwide) (theatrical)
* Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2022) (USA) (DVD)
* Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2022) (USA) (Blu-Ray)

### Special Effects

* Legacy Effects (animatronic creature and specialty effects created by)
* Mr. X (visual effects)
* Deluxe VFX Toronto (visual effects)

## Trivia

* This film is based on the story "The Quiet Boy" written by Nick Antosca.
* The narration at the beginning of the film is in the Ojibwe language, which is still spoken nowadays.
* *Antlers* was filmed from October 1, 2018 to November 30, 2018, but wasn't released until October 2021.
* *Antlers* was filmed in the same location and town as *Rambo: Last Blood* (2019).
* This is the third time that Jesse Plemons plays the role of a sheriff in a film, he previously played a sheriff in *American Made* (2017) and *Game Night* (2018).
* For the physical look of the Wendigo, director Scott Cooper got together with producer Guillermo del Toro, Shane Mahan, and creature concept designer Guy Davis. "We talked about how do we make this Wendigo pay homage to the Native American folklore, which we know is a kind of deer-like creature with antlers. And we discussed that it felt like our Wendigo should come from the Earth's core, from its mantle, that it should evolve out of a coal mine or an iron ore mine," Cooper says. "We wanted it to represent a couple of things; the destruction to our natural resources, but also a metaphor for how we're destroying, not only our bodies and our minds and our souls, but also the earth in general." Shane Mahan shares how growing up in Michigan, "There was a very profound Native American influence there." He says creating the Wendigo character was brand new territory for him. "I'd always known what a Wendigo was from books and things, but we [at Legacy Effects] never got a chance to do one. You can only do versions of werewolves and vampires so many times." They wanted to make something, in Mahan's words, "super eerie and frightening," that also would serve the story. "If you're a down-and-out person and you're just a mess, you're a vulnerable vehicle for this spirit to take over." In addition to the highly detailed 3D concepts being worked out by Legacy Effects designer Jared Krichevsky, Mahan emphasizes the importance of the color palette that drove the look of the Wendigo. "We were doing color explorations based on Guy's art, which was kind of colorful, kind of blues and reds." Mahan continues, "At one point, Guillermo said, it's a God, it's iron ore, it's dirt from the earth. And I was like, oh, that's cool. So then we started using elements of the earth."
* This is the first film directed by Scott Cooper since *Crazy Heart* (2009) not to have Masanobu Takayanagi as the director of photography as well as Cooper's first digitally shot film.
* Rich Haugen mechanized the Wendigo's head and neck, which were positioned above and forward of the performer's head and mounted to a backpack rig. To demonstrate, Shane Mahan raised his hand above his head, motioning like a dinosaur's neck. "The neck was on a telemetry device and the whole head moved independently." Operators would then control the head, neck and hands remotely. He says, "It was really quite graceful as a puppet but that took a while to figure out." Mahan says that the eyeless Wendigo was an element that came late. "We had lots of options with eyes. It all kept feeling kind of standard until I think [Scott] Cooper or Guillermo said, 'it's just like a skull with no eyes at all. It just senses where you are.'"
* Julia discovers that the only way to kill the Wendigo is to cut out its glowing heart. Actress Keri Russell would actually cut into the creature's chest to reach the organ. To accomplish this, Shane Mahan says, "I had to put in a piece of skin that was a gelatin piece and rig it and get ready to have her cut [the gelatin] with a knife. And [then she] pulls its heart out." "The Wendigo doesn't really have entrails. It has brambles, thorns, and pieces of sticks and grass. That's what comes out," continues Mahan. "So the heart was in there and it had a little smoke tube in it, it had a pumping device and she could cut into the chest, pull the heart out, cut it free and hold the heart in her hand." He says, "That was really tremendous fun to do. And then you could reset it." After each take, the Legacy crew would have to, as Mahan describes it, " frantically put it all back in and put all the brambles back into it. I think we did 5, 6, 7 takes of that to get it just right." For some shots, digital effects would be used. Mahan gives an example, "Sometimes, like when she pierces through the heart, there are areas where you augment, which was done by Mr. X, and [visual effects supervisor] Dennis Berardi's team." Mahan says the Antlers shoot had a tight schedule. "We had to shoot the mine fight in, I think, three days is all." He laughs, "Of course, you always want more time and you need more rehearsal and rigging to do whatever you can. But the crew in Vancouver were great." He says, "The stunt team and the wiring team helped a lot."
* To achieve the Wendigo's steaming breath, Shane Mahan says, "There was a tube in the nose that actually shot out hot steam, not smoke, but hot steam. So there was a device on the floor that followed this creature, that blew steam, that was about 300 degrees out of its nose. And after you do that, five or six times, the plastic around the nose starts to get a little soft. So I was like, 'Hey guys, you just lay off the steam, just give it a few seconds to get cold again.'" For the Wendigo's gross brown drool, Mahan used something different than the common methylcellulose. "There were tubes that ran coffee that were constantly dripping. We made coffee by the gallons. So it was like dripping iron... like a smelting pot. This creature was like an iron ore foundry. So hopefully that comes through."
* Julia tracks the Wendigo back to where it came from, the abandoned mine. For this scene, Legacy Effects would also contribute a bear carcass discovered in the mine before the final fight of the film. The bear was meant to look as though it had been killed earlier by the Wendigo and was lying on the mine floor. Shane Mahan says, "We made a lot of entrails for it." The Wendigo puppeteers would spend quite a bit of time practicing the motions of the creature bending down and feasting on the bear's entrails. "I knew this was going to be very difficult because there were only two or three of us operating. So we had these hand devices [that could operate the Wendigo's hands]." Mahan recalls how the Legacy team went about making the gore required for the bear carcass. "The night before, I went to a grocery store in Vancouver and got as much raw meat as I could. We shredded it and we put it on hooks and ran lines through the mouth so that [the Wendigo] could be eating, pulling meat, and swallowing it down." Mahan says, "You can make synthetic flesh and stuff but it never really looks as great as I can make it look with a piece of steak." He continues, "So you're pulling meat down its throat [as the Wendigo is] turning to reveal itself. So it was all perfectly timed... one of those great moments."
* When Frank's face finally slips off, it's revealed that the Wendigo face is more of a cracked deer skull with jagged teeth set in a crocodile-like jaw. Director Scott Cooper says, "I thought it was a really beautifully designed creature and also terrifying. And one of the interesting design elements is the lack of eyes. Because you can't really negotiate with something that doesn't have eyes."
* Legacy Effects was responsible for creating the practical Wendigo creature while Vancouver-based LSFX provided a number of grisly gore effects for the film.
* Early on in the design process, Legacy Effects put together a 'garbage bag' proof of concept test, much like the one created at Stan Winston Studio for the Alien Queen in *Aliens* (1986). Shane Mahan says, "Guillermo and Scott came, I said, listen guys, don't panic. This is just a proposal on how we can make this work on set." Mahan laughs. "It was carved out of foam and it was rather preposterous, but it was the essence of what we were going to do."
* The first time we actually get a good look at the Wendigo creature is when it attacks one of Lucas' bullies in the forest. Director Scott Cooper credited Shane Mahan and Legacy Effects for achieving the effect, even though some of the creature effects were digitally augmented. Cooper says, "The majority was [Legacy's] work and then we just augmented it a little bit with CGI."
* Shane Mahan explains that it was decided early on that Legacy Effects' practical Wendigo would be used for graceful and intimate shots, but that motions like, "falling down or jumping up fast would need to be a CGI component because there's just the physics you're fighting." In the shed fight, for some shots, Legacy would simply put the creature head into frame for a reference pass. Mahan describes it as follows, "The effects team built a rig where the wall could smash in. The actor inside the suit was Dorian Kingi and he was giving it his all. It's a difficult costume because it's so encompassing. Sometimes we would take an arm off and it would be a CGI arm on a full body. That's why we made it a telemetry neck. So it's one performer doing most of the moves." For the fight in the shed, this meant that the Wendigo was achieved as a hybrid combination of practical and digital. Cooper credits his editor Dylan Tichenor with making the different elements in the scene work. "Some really wonderful editing from Dylan."
* Another of the Wendigo's victims is the local school principal Ellen Booth (played by Amy Madigan) who makes the mistake of going to check on young Lucas. The brutal Wendigo attack on Booth was handled with straight makeup by the on-set makeup artists. The LSFX team was responsible for constructing Principal Booth's corpse. Miller says, "The shop built that. One of our painters that works at LSFX is probably the best in the city. She's incredible. Bronwyne Sloley. You may have recognized her work on the Natalia alien in Star Trek Beyond, the one with the big seashell swirls. She painted that." Miller continues discussing the prop. "She painted the body and it was handed over to me. I placed it in the attic, how they wanted it to be posed." Scott Cooper decided that a flashlight playing across the corpse was washing out the paint job, so Miller touched it up a bit while the director watched on a monitor. "I was on radio and I just started painting. And I said over the radio, 'Scott, tell me when to stop.'" Miller punched up the bruising and marbling effects, adding intense purples, browns, and blues. "That's the only contribution I have with that body. Otherwise, that's all [the crew] at LSFX."
* Jay Brazeau, who plays a doctor in the film, was also in the similarly-named film *Horns* (2013).
* In the abandoned mine, Lucas' father Frank is infected by the spirit of the Wendigo, which slowly grows inside him. Frank's journey from victim to the Wendigo's eventual emergence from his body would be done in three stages. For the first stage, actor Scott Haze was made scruffy with a set of vacuformed, nicotine-stained teeth. Miller says, "This was brilliant because it saved a lot of time and effort by not requiring tooth stains and trying to maintain that throughout the whole day." A second pair of teeth were made for the actor to take home ahead of the shoot so that he could practice speaking with them. For the second stage Frank makeup, Miller added a forehead appliance and wig. Miller says Haze was, "painted with a little bit of marbling and mottling and veining. Some redness around his eyes, just making him look a bit sicker." The forehead appliance covered Frank's brows. "We wanted the forehead appliance to start the transformation into the next stage, which was very extreme. If we hadn't used something to manipulate his skull structure, the jump from Frank's human look into that kind of mid-creature look, would have just been too jarring. So it was a subtle appliance, but it had some 3D veins sculpted into it. The brow was a bit more pronounced, temples were sunken in, and then his wig was pulled back so it looked like the hair was receded a little bit." Again, Frank would wear the gross, discolored teeth. The third stage transformation makeup included a full cowl appliance consisting of forehead, cheeks, neck, and lip. "The hair was punched into the cowl, so no wig was needed there. We wanted the hair to look really thin and wispy, like he was losing big chunks of hair." The third stage makeup also included, as Miller describes it, "big monster teeth, contact lenses, and all the rest was paint from the neck down; below was just all painted, integrated into these silicone appliances." Once on set, in a situation similar to the Principal Booth corpse, Miller would punch up the colors painted on the Frank appliances to register better in the attic lighting. No prosthetics were used for Frank's torso. Miller says, "Haze went through an intense weight loss program. "He lost as much weight as he could and then during his performance he would do his best to stick his chest out and suck in his stomach so we could see the ribs. We went in and exaggerated all that with highlight and shadow. So it was a marriage between his physical acting, his weight loss, and our makeup." The eerie glow inside of Frank's chest that represented the Wendigo's heart would be added later by VFX. Miller says LSFX only used silicone, not foam latex, for the Frank appliances. With silicone, "you can bang out more appliances daily than you can with foam because you're not waiting on the baking process. So it's quicker that way, too, for production."
* Due to pre-existing contracts (with the likes of HBO), the film couldn't be released on streaming services or video on demand by Disney without releasing it in theaters first. It could've been either put on streaming or premium video on demand otherwise, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Julia is 23 in the original short story. In the film version, she appears to be in her forties.
* "As the Wendigo took shape, there were multiple meetings with Scott and Guillermo about the surfaces and the sculptural elements", said Shane Mahan. "And it came together in a magnificent way."
* This is director Scott Cooper's first film foray into the world of the supernatural. He credits Mahan and the crews at Legacy Effects and LSFX for helping him. "It certainly was a team effort." Cooper talks about how challenging the show was. "It was really quite a difficult show for a number of reasons. Tough material, working with younger actors who aren't actors and who don't at times know the difference between reality and make-believe. And, of course, you inject in a creature that's both practical and hybrid and in difficult shooting conditions. That was difficult. I thank Shane and all the gang at Legacy and LSFX for really helping me, as a neophyte in my first immersion into the supernatural."
* In creating the Wendigo beast, weight was a big concern. Shane Mahan says, "He fights [Keri Russell] and he eats a bear and he's killing people and it can't be a big, heavy thing that can't move." Mahan details how the artists at Legacy operated the Wendigo creature. "Basically the performer's arms come out and are attached to the [Wendigo's] arms. They'll be digitally removed and there'll be digital removal of the [performer's] legs."
* The film was released on October 29th, two days before Halloween.
* Another movie about a wendigo was released 20 years earlier called *Wendigo* (2001).
* Scott Cooper had previously directed Christian Bale in the western film *Hostiles* (2017). "Native American themes and issues are quite important to me," Cooper says. In order to stay true to the Wendigo legend, Cooper worked with one of the foremost authorities on the mystery of the Wendigo, Grace Dillon, professor at Portland State University. "She said to me, 'Scott, the Wendigo can manifest in many ways, but it's first and foremost a spirit.' And then in reading the screenplay, she and I discussed that this is a monster or creature of God that kind of reflects our own demons and feeds off of our worst potential." He continues, "The Wendigo represents kind of a surrogate for the issues that people would rather not confront."
* Lead special makeup effects artist Holland Miller said about Scott Cooper, "I love working with Scott he was so into everybody's input."
* Shane Mahan says that working on the film was "a labor of love for me. I was so happy because it was moody and it was atmospheric and it was, more importantly, a brand-new creature. I actually loved everything about the collaboration and the overall experience." He further added "The element of horror film and iconic horror film imagery is what made me so happy about this." In the end, Mahan gives a shout out to all of the crew involved at Legacy. "Let me just say one last thing. You know I'm spearheading these things, but the entire crew here at Legacy Effects, I just want to thank, because everyone works so hard. All the artists, everybody. It was a real piece of hard work that paid off."

## Connections

### References

* *The Exorcist* (1973) - Cited by director Scott Cooper as an influence for this film.
* *Halloween* (1978) - Cited by director Scott Cooper as an influence for this film.
* *Stalker* (1979) - Cited by director Scott Cooper as an influence for this film.