Wendigo (2001)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Larry Fessenden

Writer:

Larry Fessenden (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A new hallucination from the director of HABIT.

Plot:

George is a high-strung professional photographer who is starting to unravel from the stress of his work with a Manhattan advertising agency...

Plot Keywords:

Deer | Wendigo | Indian | Hunter | Snow

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Patricia Clarkson	...	Kim
Jake Weber	...	George
Erik Per Sullivan	...	Miles
John Speredakos	...	Otis
Christopher Wynkoop	...	Sheriff Tom Hale
Lloyd Oxendine	...	Elder
Brian Delate	...	Everett
Daniel Sherman	...	Billy
Jennifer Wiltsie	...	Martha
Maxx Stratton	...	Brandon
Richard Stratton	...	Earl
Dash Stratton	...	Little Otis
Dwayne Navara	...	Mechanic
Shelly Bolding	...	Store Owner
Susan Pellegrino	...	Nurse

MPAA:

Rated R for a strong sex scene, language and violent images.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Germany:16 | USA:R | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Kingston, New York, USA

Company:

Antidote Films (I)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When George falls from the sled, the snow beneath him already has a body imprint before he lands atop it.

Quotes:

Otis Stookey: I dug you out of that ditch...you could have asked!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Frame on the Wall: The Making of 'The Door in the Floor' (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hold Out

Is it in your head, or is it really out there?

This is one of those unique horror films that requires a much more mature understanding of the word 'horror' in order for it to be appreciated. The main thing people may fail to realize that this story is told through the point of view a little boy and, as with most younger children, he gets frightened easily. Mainly because he simply doesn't understand things, like why his father is hardly ever there for him. From watching the film you can see the husband arguing with his wife the balance between work time and family time and you can easily understand it, but the little boy doesn't. Also one can imagine the boy being afraid of the woods, as it is established early on in the film, that the family is from the city. 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. There is the American Indian legend, but when looking at the scene where the young boy hears about about it, it is explained to him like bluntly and simplistically. Not because that's what the Wendigo actually is, but because that is how he understands it. When you look at the film from this point of view you can really begin to appreciate it. Obviously it was low-budget and shot cheaply, but the jumping montages, use of light, and general eeriness more than make up for it. And the final question the film asks is: is it all in your head, or is it really out there? 8/10

Rated R: profanity, violence, and a sex scene