The Last Winter (2006)
A team working to exploit the oil resources of Alaska find themselves succumbing to unknown fears amidst warnings that the Arctic tundra is thawing.
Wendigo director Larry Fessenden has pulled off another brilliant piece of man vs a supernatural force cinema. Much in the style of Wendigo, The Last Winter's evils are largely unseen, possibly not even real, just the disorientation as each team member as they succumb to unknown forces. Throughout the film Fessenden gives us the explanation that we are destroying our own planet and this is nature's way of fighting back.The films final scenes showing the spirits of long dead animals now back roaming the tundra's as the melting ice free's their fleshless corpses is extremely eerie and superbly executed. Its clear that Fessenden blames global warming and he backs up his arguments with filmed proof throughout which may irritate non believers but to me its a small price to pay for a fascinating film. *
Again as with Wendigo, The Last Winter is a slow paced film, patience from the viewer is required but your time is suitably rewarded with breathtaking photography and brilliant performances from leads Ron Perlman, James Le Gros and Connie Britton. The Last Winter is a beautiful piece and extremely haunting, it's Arctic landscapes both vast and yet claustrophobic at the same time. The unknown threats unravelling the minds of the crew whilst slowly working its way under the skin of the viewer.
The Last Winter would have made a fine prequel to Carpenter's The Thing as it is everything last years CGI heavy debacle is not.
* Do i believe in the theories of global warming? To be truthful i'm not sure, there are valid points both for and against. But i know one thing. Something makes it piss down in Lancashire for forty nine weeks of the year
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