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Wendigo

EMAILPRINTMagnolia Pictures

Wendigo reviews
63
5.4 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Horror

Written by: Larry Fessenden

Directed by: Larry Fessenden

Release Date:
Theatrical: February 15, 2002
DVD: December 17, 2002

Running Time: 91 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for a strong sex scene, language and violent images.

Starring Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan, John Speredakos, Christopher Wynkoop, Lloyd Oxendine, Brian Delate, and Daniel Sherman

A fluke accident sets off a chain of events that alters the lives of a family forever and conjures up the ferocious spirit of the Wendigo, a Native American Myth made manifest in an eight-year old boy's imagination. (Magnolia Pictures)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

A smart and scary voyage into the uncanny realm where hard realities,mind-spinning myths, and hallucinatory visions blur.

Read Full Review >
90

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Grounded in Fessenden's handheld camera, stuttering montage rhythms, and time-lapse photography, the engagingly primitive animated special effects contribute to a mood that's sustained through the surprisingly somber conclusion.

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90

Variety Scott Foundas

A mostly superb bit of modern horror from the writer-director-editor previously responsible for the Frankenstein story "No Telling" and the urban vampire pic "Habit."

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83

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Until it goes off the rails in its final 10 or 15 minutes, Wendigo, Larry Fessenden's spooky new thriller, is a refreshingly smart and newfangled variation on several themes derived from far less sophisticated and knowing horror films.

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80

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

The film's best and scariest moments come when Miles is confronted with scenes that he translates into proof of the Wendigo's power.

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80

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Though Wendigo has weak spots, including an ending that is not as satisfying as it might be, the film remains memorable despite its flaws. This is a properly spooky film about the power of spirits to influence us whether we believe in them or not.

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80

The New York Times Dave Kehr

For those in search of something different, Wendigo is a genuinely bone-chilling tale.

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70

TV Guide Ken Fox

Fessenden uses an unsettling mix of montage, time-lapse photography and animation to create an atmosphere of great, unknowable menace that closely approximates the haunted spirit of Algeron Blackwood's unforgettable tale "The Wendigo." These hills are indeed alive.

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63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The ending doesn't work, as I've said, but most of the movie works so well I'm almost recommending it, anyway -- maybe not to everybody, but certainly to people with a curiosity about how a movie can go very right, and then step wrong.

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63

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

The intriguing elements never quite coalesce into a consequential whole; we leave this yuppie nightmare feeling both unsettled and unsatisfied.

63

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

A thriller fusing the primal elements of "Bambi" with those of "The Blair Witch Project."

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60

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Stylistically lively and generally well acted. Thematically, however, it's somewhat incoherent.

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50

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Fessenden cooks up a likably offbeat horror movie. But somehow, it never jells, never really scares us.

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50

Boston Globe Janice Page

Ultimately, this film is only scary if you're afraid of artfully self-conscious, grainy cinematography.

50

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

If you think it all adds up to a bald-faced rip off of ''The Shining,'' you'd be right, with a crucial difference: Wendigo trades the puffed-up metaphysics of middle-class murder for the no-budget spectacle of...an incredibly fake-looking monster deer.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

A skillfully acted and psychologically well-crafted but ultimately disappointing thriller.

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40

Film Threat Tim Sanger

Wants to be a monster movie for the art-house crowd, but it falls into the trap of pretention almost every time.

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40

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

The problem with Wendigo, for all its effective moments, isn't really one of resources. At its heart, the story seems confused, as though the director has given it one too many twists.

25

New York Post Megan Lehmann

It all falls apart when the Wendigo unleashes its fury - no doubt upset at being neutered to look about as frightening as Bambi.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jack gave it a 10:
Almost perfect little spook movie. Refreshing and fun, despite the odd ending.

Adam B. gave it a 7:
Almost something special. Evokes much of the tension of the Blair Witch, and the low budget special effects actually fit given the suggestions that the monster may be all in the little boy's head. Wonderful cinematography, though sometimes the rapid-fire still photographs feels forced and detracts from the tension. The repetition of a speech about the wendigo made by a mysterious Native American gets a bit annoying the third time around. Worst of all, the ending was very rushed, and although you can see what the filmmaker was trying to do, he didn't quite get it right. However, the creepiness of the setting, the slightly bizarre relationships established between the mom, dad, and son, and credibility of the tension built through much of the movie make it worth watching.

Vince M. gave it a 0:
Only Mystery Science Theater 3000 would give this movie the treatment it deserves. I could almost forgive the hokey deer-suit as an inevitable consequence of a low budget production. In the Making Of special feature on the DVD, the design and engineering crew who made the wendigo costume showed real ingenuity and artfulness. The real downfall of the movie had to be, in rough order: 1 The confused script, alternately preachy, condescending, and inarticulate on the supposedly central matter of myth, nature and spirituality; 2 The characterizations, stereotyped beyond parody (whiney, "intellectual" city dwellers versus Deliverance-style locals). Almost immediately, right from the first scene, I wanted the family to die they were so annoying. The locals looked like they had walked straight out of "Redneck Rampage." 3. The wendigo is a ravenous, all-consuming monster. A deer eats twigs and leaves. Anyone who's seen Godzilla versus Bambi should have that much figured out. My favorite part of the movie had to be the beautiful scenery. I like the wintry bare hillsides, trees and stony streams. Luckily, the cinematographer was able to get a lot of nice footage of the Catskills in winter, which the producers of the movie stuffed into the gaps where the plot failed to hold much interest.

R. Marzolph gave it a 0:
This sad attempt at a horror film is one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life! It has a rediculous uneven plot. Terrible cinematography, non-existant special effects and the least frightening movie monster ever. By the end of the film me and everyone else in the room was laughing uncontrollably at the rediculous climax and resolution to this complete and utter failure of a movie.

Glen M. gave it a 4:
In light of glowing reviews I was looking forward to seeing this, but found it to be confused and pointless. When it gels the tension builds admirably, only to diffuse prematurely. It seems to confuse ambiguity with cleverness, and ultimately fails. Disappointing.

Russ H. gave it a 10:
The movie was a multi-layered view of the new American Civil War. That is to say the battle between urban and rural world views overlaid by the deep Native American magical thinking. The only thing the film lacked was budget, but it was definitely a triumph over the Disney McWorld films we normally are compelled to see.

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