Rancher Grady Edlund (an excellent and unnerving performance by Doug Jones) returns home to his family after being lost in the mountains for several days. However, it turns out that Grady has been taken over by a deadly flesh-eating monster known as a wendigo. Director Larry Fessenden, working from an engrossing script by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, does an ace job of creating and sustaining a spooky atmosphere, delivers several moments of bloody'n'brutal violence, and builds the tension to a bloodcurdling fever pitch as the plot unfolds towards a bold ambiguous conclusion. Moreover, Fessenden keeps the horrific premise on an extremely intimate and hence genuinely harrowing level. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps things humming: Jones does stand-out work in the lead, with sturdy support from Molly Hagan as Grady's concerned wife Elena, John Pyper-Ferguson as Grady's bitter ranch hand brother Rowdy, Gordon Tootoosis as the wise Eddie Bear, and Brett Dier as surly teenage son Derek. Better still, the possessed Grady manages to be both scary and pitiable, while the conflict between Grady and Rowdy provides an extra shattering poignancy. Jeff Grace's shuddery score and Lynne Willingham's shadowy cinematography further enhance the overall skin-crawling mood of this effective and unsettling episode.
Review of Skin and Bones
