• Wide Release
• Director: Larry Fessenden
• Written by: Larry Fessenden
• Running Time: 91 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan, John Speredakos, Christopher Wynkoop, Lloyd Oxendine, Brian Delate, Daniel Sherman, Jennifer Wiltsie, Maxx Stratton, Richard Stratton, Dash Stratton, Shelly Bolding, Dwayne Navara, Susan Pellegrino, James Godwin, Joseph C. Felece, Daniel Stewart Sherman

Following the recitation of a Robert Frost poem (the ‘many miles to go’ one), George (Jake Weber) intimates to his doe-eyed son that “Frost takes a simple image and makes it seem deep.” George could just as easily be talking about “Wendigo” director Larry Fessenden in that “Wendigo” is a simple film dressed up all artsy like and made to seem much more profound than it probably really is. Ready to debate the deeper (or lack thereof) implications of the film, it seems two camps have arisen to suggest the film is a masterwork of atmospheric creation while others suggest it is a muddle of confusing emptiness with an ending that arrives far too soon and without the craftsmanship that comprised the earlier part of the film.

Personally, I fall somewhere in between. Like any good film geek, I marvel wide-eyed at the way director Larry Fessenden, through the use of an engaging murky soundtrack, inventive editing, film school 101 camera tricks, and bizarre, cross dialogue, was able to fashion such a foreboding, menacing ambience. In fact, it is the film’s greatest triumph and the thing that holds your attention for about 75 of the film’s running length. “Wendigo” only seems comfortable when it’s carousing in its constantly developing and always-prevalent disquieting, utterly disturbing snow-covered creepiness. Therein is the rub, as beyond the grandeur of fashion, there has to be something more and, well, there just isn’t. Less entertaining is the notion of consistently backtracking, in an attempt to make meaning out of what you are witnessing – that’s “Wendigo” in a nutshell. The sloppy ending was the tipping point, at least for me, in that I simply became disconnected from the wacky events playing out, including the herky jerky arrival of the mystical monster of the title and a shocking last second revelation that, in the midst of the folly, rings tragically hollow.

Smacking into a deer while on a backwoods trip to their friend’s snow-drenched cabin, the McClaren family find themselves facing down a trio of good ole boy hunters who emerge out of the forest to survey the damage. Apparently the deer has a cracked antler, and this frustrates the baddest of the good ole boys, Otis, who has been tracking the buck for hours. Following an uncomfortably long sequence where the family is forced to wait out the arrival of a tow truck, they eventually arrive at the quaint little way out of the way homestead. It’s been shot up, apparently, with a bullet still lodged in one of the walls. The dad, George (Jake Weber), finds it necessary to hide his findings from his son, Miles (Erik Per Sullivan), something of which seems to make sense considering that the kid's already quite traumatized from the contentious encounter with the hunters.

The next day, while on a trip into town with the fam, Miles decides to check out a shop and runs headlong into an old wise Shaman who recants to Miles the legend of the Wendigo, a mythical supernatural entity that can shape-shift, among other things. Oh yeah, and he’s hungry and the more he eats the more he wants, or something. He even offers him a memento, a little porcelain Wendigo, something of which mom, Kim (Patricia Clarkson), finds herself purchasing since, apparently, the Shaman wasn’t there and little Miles doesn’t have permission to walk out of the store with it. This is the first hint that we might be moving into some supernatural territory here. Cue the ‘Twilight Zone’ music, please. Did Miles dream it all up or does it have something to do with that strange book detailing various Native American legends that he was flipping through the night before? A fun day of tobogganing turns tragic as the film moves into its agonizing last lap, revealing a supernatural element (the Wendigo) that does not work maybe because we're never sure that it's not a mere hallucination... or dream... or maybe something real?

"Wendigo” is a film that throws a bunch of stuff at the camera (or throws the camera at a bunch of stuff), in an effort to distract the viewers from the fact that not a whole heck of a lot is happening. The story which would generally encompass the first twenty minutes of any other film is quite literally stretched out over the film’s 91 minute running time. In its wake we are left with whole pile of slogging-nothingness topped off by a zippy, misplaced ending.

As mentioned, Fessenden seems to concentrate mostly on the visuals and setting up atmosphere, and I won’t lie, he achieves what he’s shooting for. Utilizing a cadre of still frames, close-ups and 360 Matrix-esque shots, as well as a dreamy score from Michelle DiBucci; focusing his camera into the dark interior of the forest surrounding the McClaren’s makeshift hideout, Fessenden makes the creepy most out of his drab, monochromatic set location. The editing also helps, speeding up shots or slowing them down, he’s able to tap into that sense that anything can happen at any minute kind of vibe.

Sadly, that’s the problem as nothing really happens… ever, well if you forego the ending and a few dream sequences involving Otis crashing into Miles room from his closet like the boogeyman on crack. His insistence on drawing things out so that when the shock arrives we’ll be doubly astounded only works to skirt what he’s haggling for artistically. We’re bored, and we expect so much to arise from the tedium only to realize that nothing will arrive. The film is being told through the mindset of Miles, the child, as he attempts to make sense of all the bad shit the grown-ups around him are doing to each other. It becomes confusing. The final segment, where the Wendigo (more like a dude wearing a deer head) emerges from the brush to terrorize Otis, the villian of the film, is more hokey than fun. "Are you the devil?" Otis asks. Yeah, right. Granted, I did enjoy the way the film's only two children (one of the hunters has a child we discover) seemed to be connected, at least on some level. Both seem aware of the Wendigo's presence while the adults remain oblivious.

Jake Weber, Patricia Clarkson and John Speredakos offer strong performances throughout, as Fessenden seems willing to let them play out their scenes banging out all kinds of emotions in a single take. Weber has a very unpredictable acting style that I kind of enjoyed. John Speredakos is the stand-out, giving his cliched hillbilly character a subtle psychotic bent, something that factors into the film's most shocking moment when he is visited by the local sheriff. Erik Per Sullivan, as Miles, is good at conveying a sense of bewilderment and, judging from what he does in the film, that's all Fessenden really asked of him.

Having caught about a half hour of "Wendigo" about a year ago on APTN, I was quite interested in following through on the film. Finally, after landing a copy, I found myself lost in the tedium of it all. Yeah, the film has that windy Halloween-night-branches-scraping-off-the-window-thing happening, but it's lacking in just about everything else that makes a film interesting. Even those moments in the film where Fessenden attempts to layer his characters by offering glimpses into their marital and career frustrations, it's not something that'll stay with you. What's more, he doesn't really dive that deeply into the various social and class distinctions between the uppity professionals from the big city, the McClarens, and backwood, blue collar types like Otis which is at the heart of the problem. Everything in the film seems to stem from these differences, even when it isn't verbalized. The cracked antler seems to be a metaphor for the frustration that working-stiff Otis feels towards these rich out-of-towners just as the Wendigo itself feels like a metaphor for something else, however, I haven't got a clue what?