Wendigo (2001)
Larry Fessenden's film is an excellent mixture of harsh reality and American legend. The film is alive with strong sounds and images of dread as the spirit of the Wendigo comes alive seemingly taking revenge on hillbilly types who slowly terrorize a family vacationing in the snowy woods.
The films cast, including Patricia Clarkson and Jake Weber, give strong performances throughout, in particular Erik Per Sullivan as the child who is given the effigy of the Wendigo. His acting is subtle and realistic, values rarely shown by child actors in low budget horror.
Fessenden directs the film at a languid pace allowing the strong atmosphere to take a hold over the viewer. In fact it's so languid that nothing supernatural remotely happens for the majority of the film but that at least for me gives the ending more power as psychological tendencies give way to the supernatural.
Much like Fessenden's other psychological folklore horror The Last Winter, Wendigo really won't be for all, but i really like it.
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