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Wendigo
Metascore
63 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 19
  3. Negative: 1 out of 19
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  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    A smart and scary voyage into the uncanny realm where hard realities,mind-spinning myths, and hallucinatory visions blur.
  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    90
    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.
  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    90
    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."
  4. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    83
    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.
  5. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
    80
    The film's best and scariest moments come when Miles is confronted with scenes that he translates into proof of the Wendigo's power.
  6. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    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.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    80
    For those in search of something different, Wendigo is a genuinely bone-chilling tale.
  8. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    70
    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.
  9. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    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.
  10. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    63
    The intriguing elements never quite coalesce into a consequential whole; we leave this yuppie nightmare feeling both unsettled and unsatisfied.
    All this critic's reviews
  11. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    63
    A thriller fusing the primal elements of "Bambi" with those of "The Blair Witch Project."
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    60
    Stylistically lively and generally well acted. Thematically, however, it's somewhat incoherent.
  13. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    50
    Fessenden cooks up a likably offbeat horror movie. But somehow, it never jells, never really scares us.
  14. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Janice Page
    50
    Ultimately, this film is only scary if you're afraid of artfully self-conscious, grainy cinematography.
    All this critic's reviews
  15. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    50
    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.
  16. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    50
    A skillfully acted and psychologically well-crafted but ultimately disappointing thriller.
  17. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Tim Sanger
    40
    Wants to be a monster movie for the art-house crowd, but it falls into the trap of pretention almost every time.
  18. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    40
    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.
    All this critic's reviews
  19. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Megan Lehmann
    25
    It all falls apart when the Wendigo unleashes its fury - no doubt upset at being neutered to look about as frightening as Bambi.
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