FRIGHT FEST: ANTLERS

 The final film on tonight's double feature is Antlers.

The Native American myth of the Wendigo is a fascinating one. When a man eats the flesh of another man, he goes crazy and will soon only crave human flesh. Eventually, that man will morph into something inhuman. This new thing's hunger knows no bounds, it will never be full

In Antlers, we open with Frank (Scott Haze), a scummy drug dealer who has set up shop deep in the local mine. Not the best choice of locations as he is mauled by something, and returns home to his two sons not quite right. When his condition worsens, and young Aiden (Sawyer Jones) grows sick as well, it falls on older brother Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas) to care for and feed his family.

School teacher Julia (Keri Russell), senses something is wrong at home  with Lucas. Fearing abuse, she enlists the help of her brother Paul (Jesse Plemons), the town sheriff. When she digs too deep, Julia unwittingly unleashes the Wendigo upon the entire town. With bodies dropping at an alarming rate, will Julia be able to save Lucas?

Jesse Plemons and Keri Russell do what is required of them plus a touch more as our heroes. They are given minimal development and little meat to chew on, but they do the best they can. Surprisingly, Jeremy T. Thomas as Lucas is given a lot to work with as a young boy who has been forced to mature much faster than usual and is dealing with a severe amount of trauma. He plays it all very well, and his reactions are convincing. Graham Greene appears in a supporting role as Warren Stokes, an ex-sheriff who is familiar with the myth of the Wendigo. He also isn't given much to do, but his presence does add something to the film.  

Antlers is adapted from a short story by Nick Antosca (Channel Zero), with a screenplay by Nick Antosca, Henry Chaisson, and Scott Cooper (who directs as well). The script itself isn't anything to scream about, but the cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister is impressive. The opening shot draws you right into the film. Hoffmeister uses greys and muted colors to match the dour themes Antler has to offer, and it works. Even when Antlers wanders (as it does often during the first two acts), it always looks nice. 

It's true not much really happens in the first two acts of Antlers. Our leads wander aimlessly about, Lucas cowers in fright (among other things), and we watch Frank's condition worsen. Luckily, there are more than enough horrific scenes in Antlers and they aren't all crammed into the final minutes either (they are sprinkled throughout the entire film). When Antlers wants to frighten or disturb you, it does.

When all is said and done, despite being a good Wendigo flick (and featuring plenty of Wendigo action), Antlers isn't really special. It borders on being generic or predictable with some of its plot beats and structure . While it's on, Antlers is mostly entertaining. It works as a Wendigo flick and as a horror film...it even attempts to add in some deeper themes. It's certainly not as bad as some would have you believe. At the end of the day, Antlers is a fairly solid (and certainly enjoyable) addition to the horror genre. It would make for a good watch this time of year.

3 STARS

And so another edition of Fright Fest concludes. I hope your spooky season was full of chills and frights. Till next year, pleasant nightmares.