Friday, October 25, 2024

31 DAYS OF HORROR - Day 25: ANTLERS (2021)

 

Flesh-eating indigenous horror approaches.

Oregon: A teacher suspects one of her young students is being abused, and her suspicions escalate when her younger brother goes missing. She investigates, and her findings bring her into direct confrontation with the ancient indigenous horror of the Wendigo, a cannibalistic spirit that has possessed the boy's father and has left a trail of half-devoured human bodies in its wake.

ANTLERS is a well crafted piece, but it the slowest of slow burns, and I had to repeatedly scan back to where I left off because I kept falling asleep on it. That said, the film has more mood than actual visceral scares, and the gore is relative restrained. The realization of the Wendigo is impressive, but it takes about an hour for it to show up and let us see it for its impaling and devouring thing. 

Bottom line is that out of this year's films that I watched for the first time, this one ranks at the bottom of the list, despite not being what I would consider "bad." It was just too tepid and plodding for my tastes, though it gets points from me for breaking out a Native American monster. Your mileage may vary.

Poster for the theatrical release.

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