Popular reviews

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  Review by Ian West ★★★★ 2

  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

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  Review by pd187 ★★★★½ 4

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

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  Review by 1313: Tony the Terror🌨️ ★★★★ 10

  Everybody’s Into Weirdness Challenge

  Film 7/34 - another film by Larry Fessenden

  I just discovered Fessenden’s films and I’m really enjoying them. This one is about a family from the city that goes for a vacation in the country, have a run-in with some locals, and find themselves deep in some local Native American mythology. While I think I preferred The Last Winter a bit more, this was still very good. Just like that movie, this one is an allegory for the environment. It’s much more subtle in this movie, but it’s still an interesting take on the prices that must inevitably be paid when nature tries to restore the balance we mess up.

  Fessenden has some real talent behind…

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  Review by Adam Nayman ★★★★½ 2

  I didn't actually watch this again on October 29 but I did go see Scott Cooper's baldly derivative - and wildly inferior - Antlers (out of a sense of theatrical-release completism. my bad) and I thought maybe saying a few words in praise of my favourite Larry Fessenden movie here would motivate some folks to check it out as Halloween-night viewing.

  This is a beautiful film that juxtaposes a kind of abstract conceptualism against fine-grained emotional details; the words "appetite" and "separate" are spoken aloud during a father-son game of flashcards and speak to the ideas and feelings Fessenden is putting into play - the myth of the Wendigo as the insatiable emblem of consumptive human need reconfigured into a…

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★½ 6

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

  SPOILERS PERTAIN TO VEGAN ALERTS ONLY

  I have such a backlog of reviews of films I've seen during the Coronavirus lockdown. However, this movie deserves to be reviewed right away, because it's special. It's also very laughable in parts. However, I knew that with Patricia Clarkson playing the mother, it would definitely be worth the time.

  There is not much worth talking about, because it's worth discovering the movie for yourself. It was mystique through local lore. It's not heavy handed and it seems a lot of reviewers found this movie slow or boring; that is absolutely shocking to me! Let Wendigo draw you in.

  Vegan alert:
  -Outline of a buck that was shot after it was run over
  -There are lots of hunters and hunting
  -Meat recently cut out from the animals lying out when visitors arrive

  Vegan points:
  Kid asks about the dead deer's family and overall, seems to care about the animals.

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  Review by Geoffrey Broomer ★★★★½ 18

  If Doctor Sleep is reminding you how much you loved Kubrick’s Shining with an almost rehashed intensity, I’d direct your attention to another tale of a man, woman and child dealing with supernatural forces in a snow covered remote location.

  I first came across Larry Fessenden in the early 2000s, around the time of Wendigo’s DVD release.  It sounded like a high concept creature feature that was the culmination of a decade honing’s one craft in the indies.  I was intrigued, but at the convention in question, I was also on a mission to track down a VHS copy of The Doctor Who/Eastenders special, and assumed that accessibility to this wouldn’t be an issue.  Hindsight.  This was harder to track…

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  Review by Logan Kenny ★★★★★

  budget and equipment is clearly limited as hell but that doesn't stop fessenden in fact it encourages him to be more creative and experimental, the lack of any sort of high production qualities gives him the opportunity to go absolutely wild with what he does have, maximising every opportunity for fear or cultivating atmosphere. the formalism is unreal, i've genuinely never seen anything quite like this, it has the kind of abrasive textures and warped editing style accustomed to a lot of digital auteurist works but with absolutely no beauty or high quality, this is grimy and grey and intensely discomforting. the locales feel oppressive, the camera's frequent franticness makes everything feel unhinged and unsafe, this is an environment of…

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  Review by Evan “Kaizō Haya-shill” Pincus ★★★★★ 3

  My favorite interview in the world is this one, in which Larry Fessenden explains how most of his work since Wendigo has been Wendigo stories. Somehow, with this tragically underseen film that didn't get much high profile acclaim, he managed to get typecast as "good at Wendigos". If you watch this, it's absolutely clear why. Fessenden is a master, matching naturalistic "mumblecore" scripting with frenetic editing and minimal effects, creating a tense, atmospheric masterpiece. It's nearly impossible to describe Fessenden's style in text, as it's so densely visual, but it's one of the more unique styles I've seen a horror director work with. I was worried I'd like this less on rewatch, but no- returning to this movie was an absolute treat.

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  Review by 💀EmperorCupcake🧁 ★★★½

  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

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  Review by Lee W 💫STAR & CROSS MY EYES 💫 ★★★★½

  genuinely improved by the shite two-pixel-having copy I watched, and by the fact about a dozen people saw it on release. Wendigo feels destined to exist on the peripheral, in its digital textures and abrasive editing. genuinely unnerving, it’s lonely images constantly towing the line between beauty and distress. definitely one to revisit in the winter months

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  Review by Ian West ★★★★ 6

  Weeeeendigo

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  Review by joecamel ★★★½

  Very cool stuff I really enjoyed it. Takes a while to get started but the build up is pretty effective.

  This movie has a cold and eerie atmosphere to it that I really liked. Gorgeous scenery and setting, pretty good visual flare too though some of the shots and editing techniques feel like needless style for the sake of style. Similarly love the graininess of some movies from this era. Idk why but that really appeals to me. I also appreciate that is an accurate and thoughtful portrayal of real Wendigo lore. As opposed to being a dumb monster movie that just so happened to Wendigo flavoured.

  The characters are alright the dad character has his moments but also feels…