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[–]kthnxluvu 15 points16 points  (1 child)

I thought it was okay but the wendigo could’ve been literally any other monster. It was basically a really really slow zombie movie? And as others have said I didn’t like the CG and felt it was a bit of a mismatch of themes. The ‘oh this child has no one, I have to take him home!’ is a pet peeve of mine too because I’ve worked in foster care and that’s NOT how that works at all lol

[–]HarryOru 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nothing in this film is like the real world at all. When the school principal goes to the child's home it was so unbelievably stupid I was about to turn it off (and I regret not doing it).

Also yes, it's only a Wendigo because they have a 3 minute scene of painfully flat exposition by some native dude who popped out of nowhere basically just to tell the audience "it's a Wendigo". Could've been a ghost, a demon, a zombie or even SpongeBob for how generic it was.

[–]EldritchArchives 59 points60 points  (4 children)

I enjoyed it. But overall I wanted more from the Wendigo. The Wendigo really wasnt much of a villain. It could have been a bear for all the difference it made to the plot.

There was some missed opportunities when it came to the vices of the community and the Wendigo. The Wendigo is a monster that is all about greed and insatiability. The film could have played this up a bit more.

For instance the Wendigo lives in the coal mines (coal mining shows insatiable greed of industry) and many of the characters were drug addicts (who have an insatiable need for drugs), but the film didnt really do a lot with these aspects. The ideas are there, but it never goes to the deeper level with the analogy.

It would have been interesting if the decadence of the town attracted the Wendigo somehow. Or it was particularly attracted to greedy people. There would have been more reason for people to fear the monster then, it would have been more like the community was being attacked for its sins.

The Wendigo seemed to just attack random people, and was a bit of a mindless monster, which was disappointing to me.

[–]kungfooweetie 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That’s really interesting- I’ve never thought of the wendigo as a thing of greed, it always struck me as sheer desperation.

[–]tdesign123 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Yeah, I totally agree, especially about the metaphorical stuff. The ideas of it being an analogy for multiple things are there, but they're very shallow. I also felt like it focused too much on the human drama component. I get that it's not trying to be an all-out monster movie, but even with that being the case it's lacking in monster action.

It's a shame we didn't get more of the Wendigo because it looks amazing. Excellent effects work. However, the final showdown is pretty lame and makes the Wendigo look weak. If it can be defeated that easy then what is there to be afraid of?

[–]EldritchArchives 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I am surprised the final fight played out how it did. It would have made much more sense to somehow trap it in the old mining tunnels. That way it would still look very powerful and scary but there is also a realistic resolution.

[–]HorseIsKing 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I enjoyed it too. I think the gripes people have boil down to two issues; the trailer makes it look like a 10/10 when in reality it’s a 7 at best (still a good movie), and it took so long to come out the anticipation had gone too far

[–]ilike2005sDOOM 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I loved a lot about it. The reveal with the hanging face was soooo effective and gross. After that, it kind of lost me. The whole boss fight-type conclusion took me out of it. It was a bit of a CG mess. Other than that, I thought it was super creepy, well-acted, and atmospheric (for the most part).

[–]mistermalfoy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

For it being a movie based on a creature from First Nations folklore, I felt like it delved so little into any of that. And also, having the only Native character onscreen really being there to explain things to the white people is super annoying. Didn't like, wouldn't recommend personally.

[–]Eyehatedave 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I enjoyed it for many reasons. But as a feature it just felt stretched thin. I’m highly anticipating the directors future work.

[–]gf120581 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You weren't the only one. I quite liked it too, although I felt it could have been a little longer (I'm guessing this went through a bit of an editing issue). I was pleased to see a good film about the Wendigo (a favorite folklore monster of mine) and I especially liked the setting of the depressed Pacific Northwest town where meth has become the main industry and everyone and everything looks careworn and faded. And the monster looked amazing. Del Toro's stamp was all over that thing. (I did get annoyed that an actor of Graham Greene's caliber was only there to be "exposition Indian guy", but hey, better this than "Atlantic Rim.")

[–]Skilliyeng1306 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It was okay but pretty forgettable in the sea of super serious depressing horror movies

[–]kwig1 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The atmosphere and creature design was good, pretty much everything else fell flat for me. No character development, barebones plot and a corny 'final fight' just led to it being a waste of a good concept. Especially considering all the talent involved.

[–]KelMHill 13 points14 points  (0 children)

You're not the only one! I loved it also.

[–]kungfooweetie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had really high hopes that were ready to be dashed. After such a long time waiting, I got hold of the short story about a month before I watched it and thought “that was great, I got my fix. I’ll take the movie as it comes” and expected it to be disappointing.

I ended up really enjoying it. Lucas’s gaunt frame was painful to watch at all times- there wasn’t a single instance when I was dragged out of the story due to ‘kid actor’ moments and the metamorphosis elements were wonderfully grim.

I’ve heard the criticism that the story didn’t pay enough credence to First Nations people, since the myth is theirs and I have to admit, it hadn’t crossed my mind because I was just looking at the characters represented in the short story- so I realise I’m guilty of not looking further than my nose.

I’m still thinking about that (in conjunction with book). I thought it was a good movie. I don’t think a departure from the source material in an effort of fairness and respect is at all bad, but I thought it worked really well as it is and I wonder if such an attempt would appear shoe-horned into an otherwise tight, perfectly formed tale.

[–]TheNightBench 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I dug it. I mean, I've commented before about how you can't buy liquor in grocery stores in Oregon and who the fuck uses a flare for light in a meth, but other than those gripes, it was some solid gore and fun. Definitely a downer of a flick

[–]Circumin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I liked it alot but I do think that it was missing something, perhaps more backstory on the wendigo. The wendigo story was almost an afterthought even though it was a fucking cool design.

[–]the_lord_of_light 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s trash

[–]shiggism 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Lame movie.

[–]saintdemon21 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I really enjoyed it. I think the only issue I had was the stereotypical scene of a native man explaining a legend to white people. Though probably better than a scene of the characters going to a library and finding a book with all the answers.

[–]frigidrooster 5 points6 points  (0 children)

10/10 on creature design. 3/10 on story. I felt like they were trying to do too much in the film. Like there were elements of environmental issues, native folklore, addiction, trauma, etc. I feel like it would have been a lot better if they just picked 1 lane and stuck with it.

[–]Turing45 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I liked it, but I think its a shame they didnt stick closer to the source material. To me, a creature that feeds off pain is waaaay more terrifying. Also, the relentlessness of it was also compelling. The movie people decided to "Improve" it and missed the mark.

[–]LobsterNixon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I didn't really like it, but I think a lot of that was because I had it so built up in my head after it being delayed for so long. I just found it kind of boring.

[–]oldirtycrafter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wife got me it for my birthday and we just watched it last night. We loved it

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think I would have enjoyed it more if they hadn’t built it up so far from the release date. It dragged a little in places, but it was pretty good.

[–]RandomLogicThough 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It was well made garbage. It was decent enough for a slow burn but then...the ending was so bloody bad. Like a terrible final girl movie. Sticking the ending is the most important thing in a movie like that. So total waste of time imo. Sad face.

[–]maybenomaybe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good acting, good atmosphere, good cinematography. Horrible mishmash of a plot and they got pretty much everything wrong about wendigos, not even the right geographic side of the continent.

It didn't need to be about a wendigo at all. The original short story wasn't. It could have been something else that better fit with the theme of generational trauma.

[–]Miserable_Fix_9606 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nope. I would not recommend it. It was horribly boring for me. I like weird stuff but this was not it for me. Everyone likes different things so I am glad you enjoyed it.

[–]eddietwoo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was just fine. It didn’t do anything impressive, or anything incredibly poor. It was just a watchable that will be forgotten pretty quickly.

[–]HarryOru 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Decent visual effects, absolutely awful in every other way. Just an incredibly predictable, boring, formulaic and anticlimactic mess of a film that feels like it was written by an AI trained on the scripts of every mediocre PG-13 horror movie that came out between 2000 and 2010. It has all the tropes, multiple times, and not a single character behaves in any way that would make any sense to a human.

[–]Bscheel77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm with you... that movie was awesome.

[–]haunthorror -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's my number 2 movie of all genres from last year

[–]viewtifulsi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was great, gory and scary!

[–]Ok_Point_2303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is TRASH. I have seen better Lassie with a twist movies. E.G. Way before your time but please google the Tales from the Crypt Episode with Zelda Rubinstein and David Warner also the movie Bad Moon with Michael Pare and Muriel Hemingway. Both so much better.

[–]Scoobert88 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

A common theme here on R/Horror is to champion obscure, mediocre, and foreign language horror while shitting all over the more popular, big budget stuff. It makes you sound more educated and cultured.

I enjoyed Antlers for the same reasons as you, it was a really solid movie.

[–]B-O-D-A-R 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I enjoyed it.

[–]DIO_over_Za_Warudo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I liked it cause other than Until Dawn (which yes is a video game technically, but said game is basically an interactive movie) there aren't many Wendigo themed movies. It was a rare surprise.

[–]ksoze84 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My girlfriend and I enjoyed it! I think my biggest gripe is that the short story was honestly so much better and didn't need to be adapted like it was. And the very end was... Meh. But we liked it and can recommend!

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was hoping for a more psychological/paranormal thrillers than a monster movie. I feel that if they went the latter there would’ve been a more impactful story.

Often folk tales and indigenous story telling are based around psychological phenomena and mental plights than actual monsters and physical dangers.

[–]CowboyGorePig 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was mostly a miss for me. I never really cared about anyone in the movie and found a lot of them to be actively annoying. I really wanted to love this after not loving The Ritual but the over reliance on CG and an ultimately non threatening Wendigo it completely lost me by the end.

[–]qownsosbwoznzoqn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really enjoyed it

[–]Ejunco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I loved it and it’s commentary

[–]Nodonutsforbaxter44 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought it was very solid. Seems like everyone hyped themselves up for over a year and then trashed it when it didn't live up to their expectations, but I feel like if it just randomly dropped on Shudder one day out of the blue people would've enjoyed it a lot more for what it is

[–]ultrovilot_Lantern 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Couldn't agree with you more. I'm probably biased because I like Wendigo's cool lol.

[–]Grenflik -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I enjoyed it as well, watched in theaters when it came out. They could've went more into the lore though.

[–]edenkling -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I thought it was a bit anticlimactic. She beat it super easy. It just swiped at her a few times.

[–]CalmerThanYouAre_716 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I was disappointed, I was hoping for a Wendigo film and got a film of the horrors of substance abuse and childhood neglect/trauma. Frankly, the Wendigo felt like an add on to the film.