Hollywood
seems to be reverting back to the good old days of creepy horror
films. "Jeepers Creepers" has restarted the movement
and did so with using the simple techniques that made horror films
such a dominant force in the late seventies and early to late
eighties. "Wendigo" is an attempt to capture some of
the lost horror magic in Hollywood. It succeeds glowingly.
A young
couple, Kim (Patricia Clarkson) and George (Jake Weber) take their
young son Miles (Erik Per Sullivan) on a weekend vacation to the
Catskills. On the way in, they hit a deer, thrusting them into
a terrifying encounter with a maniacal hunter named Otis (John
Speredakos). After the encounter with the deer and the hunter,
the weekend turns into one nightmare after another for the family.
The film goes along with taut suspense and pretty decent horror,
culminating into an ending that some have found rushed and absurd,
but which I found to be fitting considering the legend of the
Wendigo itself. What other ending could you place on the film?
Director
Larry Fessenden has a knack for horror films, evident with "Wendigo",
and his direction is quite memorable and fitting. I have
always wondered when they were going to make a horror film based on
the Wendigo, and I am happy that this film is the end result of my
waiting and anticipation. John Speredakos is chilling as the
hunter, and Erik Per Sullivan from TV's "Malcolm in the
Middle" is what I guess you would call the 'star power' behind
this film, though it is Speredakos and Christopher Wynkoop as the
Sheriff who steal the show.
There is
one especially creepy scene where an old man gives Miles a small
doll representative of the Wendigo. When he tells his parents
and they ask the woman behind the counter, she says she is the only
one who works there. Well made, well acted, and well written,
this is a horror film that takes us back to the time before horror
films became action films with monsters. This is truly a nice
piece of film.
