Wendigo (film)
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| Wendigo | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Larry Fessenden |
| Produced by | Jeffrey Levy-Hinte |
| Written by | Larry Fessenden |
| Starring | Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan |
| Music by | Michelle DiBucci |
| Cinematography | Terry Stacey |
| Editing by | Larry Fessenden |
| Distributed by | Magnolia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 2001 |
| Running time | 91 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Official website | |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Wendigo is a 2001 horror film by Larry Fessenden starring Patricia Clarkson and Jake Weber.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
George (Jake Weber) is a high-strung professional photographer who is starting to unravel from the stress of his work with a Manhattan advertising agency. Needing some time away from the city, George, his wife Kim (Patricia Clarkson), and their son Miles (played by Erik Per Sullivan) head to upstate New York to take in the winter sights, though the drive up is hardly relaxing for any of them. George accidentally hits and severely injures a deer that ran onto the icy road. After George stops to inspect the damage, he's confronted by an angry local named Otis who flies into a rage, telling George that he and his fellow hunters had been tracking the deer for some time. An argument breaks out, which leaves George feeling deeply shaken. When George and Kim arrive at their cabin, they discover that a dark and intimidating presence seems to have taken it over. The next day, when they stop at a store in a town near the cabin, a shopkeeper tells Miles about the legend of the Wendigo, a beast from Indian folklore who is half-man, half-deer, and can change itself at will. The shopkeeper then gives him a small figurine of a Wendigo. Shaken, Miles can't help but think the Wendigo has something to do with the dark forces at work in the woods near the cabin. Later that day, while sledding together, George suddenly falls to the ground, leaving Miles alone and lost in the woods. Frightened, Miles approaches his dad when he is chased by the wendigo and passes out. He is awakened later by a frightened Kim, who went looking for her family once they didn't come home. Kim and Miles begin a trek deep into the forest, until they end up at the house, where they find a bloody George crawling towards the car. "He shot me! He fucking shot me!" George cries at Kim and Miles. Franticly, Kim and Miles put George in the car and drive to the nearest hospital. It is revealed that George and Miles were sledding near a shooting range and Otis shot George in the liver with a high powered rifle. George under goes emergency surgery and Miles walks in and hallucinates his father being assaulted by the wendigo and faints and awakens to find that George has died. Otis is confronted by the sheriff, but he kills the sheriff and drives away into the night, being stalked by the wendigo until he crashes into a tree and runs away into the forest, eventually ending up on a road where he is hit by the sheriff deputy's car. The movie ends with Otis being carted into the ER being trailed by the Indian shopkeeper while Miles watches it all, caressing the wendigo figurine.
[edit] Cast
- Patricia Clarkson as Kim
- Jake Weber as George
- Erik Per Sullivan as Miles
- John Speredakos as Otis
- Christopher Wynkoop as Sheriff Tom Hale
- Lloyd Oxendine as Elder
- Brian Delate as Everett
- Daniel Sherman as Billy
- Jennifer Wiltsie as Martha
- Maxx Stratton as Brandon
- Richard Stratton as Earl
- Dash Stratton as Little Otis
- Dwayne Navara as Mechanic
- Shelly Bolding as Store Owner
- Susan Pellegrino as Nurse
- James Godwin as Wendigo
[edit] Reviews
This unsettling and odd film, directed by Larry Fessenden, begins with a tight, sharp story about a New York City family who accidentally hit a deer late one night while driving upstate for a vacation. When a group of hunters arrive and are enraged by the death of their prey, the family's fear and paranoia is palpable, and a creepy "Deliverance"-like atmosphere takes hold. But when Fessenden begins to move his film into a more supernatural plane (the Wendigo is a forest spirit), the story collapses into mumbo-jumbo. -Bruce Diones Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
[edit] External links
- Wendigo at the Internet Movie Database
