Wendigo

I don't understand why this film has upset some reviewers so much. All I can guess is that they were looking for some 'Nightmare on Elm Street' style bloodbath with plenty of latex special effects and screaming teenaged girls in cheerleader outfits.

Well Wendigo doesn't have much of that going on it's true. What it does have is a sustained and unsettling atmosphere that means you truly don't know what is going to happen to the lead characters - although you fear the worst. The opening breakdown sequence with strangely threatening locals stopping to help, the unpleasant discoveries in the house they have rented and the neighbours' gutting deer in the backyard all conspire to set the viewer on edge and keep him or her there for most of the running time. Sure there are weaker moments here and there; the wise old Indian stuff is a bit daft for instance. But the wintry landscapes and the similarly icy dynamics both within the family and in their relationship with the villagers, the unseen presence of something far worse and the final descent into horror all make this a pretty satisfying spooky tale.

A wonderfully atmospheric chiller, 'Wendigo' is beautifuly made, intelligently scripted and extremely well acted. There is no real 'plot', the director more interested in creating atmosphere, studying characters and presenting us with various symbolic images. It is a real shame that a perfectly crafted piece of cinema as this does not get a cinema release or the praise it desverves. True, it will probably only ever reach a small but appreciative audience; but Darkness Falls got a major theatrical release and ad campaign and this film slips barely noticed onto DVD/video! This is a film full of superb sequences, and the ending - where a character's death is represented by stillness, silence and the placement of a dirty pair of shoes, instead of the kind of histrionics too often found in genre offerings - is truly heartbreaking.

A couple and their little boy take a short break from their busy lives in the city to enjoy a couple of days in the countryside. It's the middle of winter and roads are slippery. They have an accident involving a deer and an even more unpleasant run-in with the men who were hunting it. The couple are angry, the hunters are angry and the little boy is upset. Negative emotions are generated all round. The family finally reach their destination only to find unwelcoming signs of the hostile neighbours. Their feelings of unease increase when they notice that the menacing hunters are based close by. The day after the accident, they go into town and the little boy meets a Native American who takes a shine to his innocent belief in the spirit of the Wendigo, and gives him a small idol of the angry spirit. From this point on, the boy seems to sense the presence and get the occasional glimpse of the Wendigo who, in turn forms a link with the boy.

There are a couple of problems with the film, the biggest is the difficulty in making out the dialogue. A large proportion of the story is taken up with the couple talking quietly to each other. It's possible to get the gist of what they're saying but, frustratingly, it's hard to catch most of it. Subtitles would have been very helpful, but there are no subtitles. Another problem is that most of the potential customers for this DVD will be hoping to see a scary horror film with a terrifying supernatural monster. However, most of the fear and tension is provided by the sinister hunters, one of whom is particularly creepy. When we finally get to see the Wendigo, it's fabulous, but it must be about two thirds of the way through the film before it finally puts in an appearance. I almost enjoyed the film but I would have liked more of the amazing Wendigo and less of the (not very original) human conflict. The winter woodland, the sense of impending doom and the representation of the Wendigo are worth high praise, but the poor sound spoils it.