Expertly edited, unnerving throughout, well casted “city folk go to the country” horror... in the snow! I really like Wendigo... the tension mounts nicely, I’m low key fascinated by Wendigo stories, and the homemade indie vibes that thrive throughout really shine in the best possible way. There’s something about the cinematography and cold/lonely atmos in this movie that really jolts my tension meter—Habit is still my favorite of his movies but this is a close second.

Larry Fessenden is the patron saint of east coast indie genre films.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeendigo

Maybe it's because I'm from rural, upstate New York but god fucking damn am I sick & tired of movies w/ NYC.H.U.D.s going upstate for a relaxing vacation away from their highly evolved/professional lives to find themselves treated like shit by the uneducated/poor people who reside there, I bet we're actually a lot more friendly and helpful to our non-existent tourists than y'all transplants are down there, YA EVER THINK OF THAT FILMMAKERS? I demand more horror movies with someone from the shores of Lake Ontario going to NYC to find that the cold, biting & bitter people can be as monstrous & unwelcoming as the bed bugs, cockroaches and rats.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

“a lot of people make up stories to make sense of the world. it’s a big world after all, and nobody really understands how it all works. maybe for that guy it’s comforting to think that the wendigo is responsible for all the bad stuff out there”

this is a very straightforward story. one of an evil man who has his sights set on harming a family. but to a child, especially one as mythologically inclined as miles, this carnage can’t comprehended under such simple terms. so he fills in the blanks of which reality can’t explain. the blistering cold forebodes unseen forces, comeuppance is contextualised as a spiritual revenge/correction. by the end it all registers as if miles has recalled the experience this way to reconcile how meaningless this violence was. something i’m all too familiar with.

Weeeeendigo

Stone cold bummer, but a pretty good stone cold bummer. Extra half star for the wonderfully immersive feel of the film. I absolutely love how this was shot; coming off 5 months of lonely, isolated winter, I felt every individual snowflake in my bones. Loved the scene in the thrift store, it reminded me of traveling through countless folksy little towns as a child and stopping at every souvenir store for treasure. There was an authentic "magic wonder of childhood" feel there that, unfortunately, was gone by the ending. Stone cold bummer.

30 days of Prime watch #5

Night #18 of Hooptober VII.

I love Wendigo stories, so I've long been excited to check this out, and glad I decided to finally watch it on a sufficiently chilly, foggy day. The cold, isolated atmosphere is perfection, and the fluid camerawork combined with breakneck editing creates a level of surreal discomfort akin to something like Jacob's Ladder. I was impressed how engaging it remained despite steeping itself in ambiguity and psychology for the bulk of its runtime; and while the final moment felt a little lacking in light of that buildup, I was glued to the screen during the climax. Stellar creature effects work, I didn't expect to see so much, in so many forms; loved it. Adored the darkly quirky score as well. This is an absolute treat.

one of the only movies about cryptids/folkloric beings that "gets it"

Such a waste. Such a fucking waste.
-George

More of a family drama where you are waiting for the other shoe to drop, which is effective in building tension but a lot of people are not going to like that.

Part of:
Horroctober Part 10: DuLac X

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Degrees of Separation from Last Movie:
-Wendigo with Patricia Clarkson
-Was in The Pledge with Dale Dickey
-Was in The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love with Toby Poser
-Was in The Deeper You Dig

Night #18 of Hooptober VII.

I love Wendigo stories, so I've long been excited to check this out, and glad I decided to finally watch it on a sufficiently chilly, foggy day. The cold, isolated atmosphere is perfection, and the fluid camerawork combined with breakneck editing creates a level of surreal discomfort akin to something like Jacob's Ladder. I was impressed how engaging it remained despite steeping itself in ambiguity and psychology for the bulk of its runtime; and while the final moment felt a little lacking in light of that buildup, I was glued to the screen during the climax. Stellar creature effects work, I didn't expect to see so much, in so many forms; loved it. Adored the darkly quirky score as well. This is an absolute treat.

first venture into mumblegore maestro Larry Fessenden. visually and sonically impeccable, some of the finest editing of the 21st century. creeps up on you at a snail's pace emotionally and frightfully.
for me it wasn't till the final 25 minutes that i was hit with how invested i was, each natural interaction between this mid-atlantic family building on the last, only for their measly problems to be dwarfed by an inevitable rush of senseless violence. Fessenden holds a gentle and convincing grasp on the imagination of a coping, spirtually-inclined child, who's arc hits like a goddamn freight train. exceptionally detailed and empathetic regional work.

#10 HALL(2020)WEEN

The winter’s bone is withering at the joints.

#16 of 31(+) Unseen Horror Flicks of October (2💀2🎃) 👻 - Wendigo (2001)

Larry Fessenden takes an ancient Native American myth - crafting and forming it with his own creative touch into an engaging whole commendably. It's not people turning cannibal form as the legendary myth would have - however I'll keep from spoiling what exactly the Wendigo is here, yet it's really cool and fits right in with the North East. This might be too slow for some - yet for others who love a good slowburn, the Upstate New York setting bleeds that cold snow-filled atmosphere feeding into this dark woodsian nightmare.

Such a waste. Such a fucking waste.
-George

More of a family drama where you are waiting for the other shoe to drop, which is effective in building tension but a lot of people are not going to like that.

Part of:
Horroctober Part 10: DuLac X

---------------------------------------------------
Degrees of Separation from Last Movie:
-Wendigo with Patricia Clarkson
-Was in The Pledge with Dale Dickey
-Was in The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love with Toby Poser
-Was in The Deeper You Dig

Ultra-minimalist digital horror. Pretty janky in a lot of parts but that occasionally works to the films effect.

“a lot of people make up stories to make sense of the world. it’s a big world after all, and nobody really understands how it all works. maybe for that guy it’s comforting to think that the wendigo is responsible for all the bad stuff out there”

this is a very straightforward story. one of an evil man who has his sights set on harming a family. but to a child, especially one as mythologically inclined as miles, this carnage can’t comprehended under such simple terms. so he fills in the blanks of which reality can’t explain. the blistering cold forebodes unseen forces, comeuppance is contextualised as a spiritual revenge/correction. by the end it all registers as if miles has recalled the experience this way to reconcile how meaningless this violence was. something i’m all too familiar with.

More emotionally depthful than anything else. This is about familial anxieties, spiritual confusions, anger about displacement, all in collapse, synthesized through folklore meant to hurt, not terrify. The 16mm + zippy frame-rate + near constant fades + whispery sinister soundscape is the stuff of dreams. If my directorial debut leaves others with the same feeling this left me with I'll be more than fulfilled.

Really impressed by those frenzied, still photo stop-motion transitions as it was the most effective device the film used to create the isolated atmosphere of snowy Upstate New York. The wendigo itself looked kinda lame but Fessenden wisely knows just how much to actually show and when to use retraint. I’m certainly gonna have to try and check out the rest of his filmography later this month because I really appreciate the lowkey approach to horror that he brings.

Didn’t expect it to be as moving as it was. While being completely submerged in a tense and unsettling atmosphere all the way through. Genuinely scared me a couple times in ways I didn’t predict. It had me fully invested in the child’s subjective fears and made me tear up a little bit too. Love everything about the way it looks, the editing is phenomenal. And also Patricia Clarkson is in this movie. 

This interview makes me love it even more