And we're back! Missing summer yet? Of course you're not! We've had plenty of lake effect snow here in the greater Syracuse area and it's glorious. The perfect weather to keep your ass on the couch with a big ass mug of coffee and watch horror movies while the wind howls and whips and the windows.
For this latest edition, I'm looking at two films by art-horror auteur Larry
Fessenden-writer, director, producer, actor. Fessenden has made and/or appeared in several of the best independently produced horror films we fans have. The purpose of this series, of course, I'm focusing on his films WENDIGO and THE LAST WINTER. Both films were released through Fessenden's Glass Eye Pix and both films are the epitome of great winter chill horror.
In 2001's WENDIGO, a family (mother, father, and son) head to Upstate New York for a weekend in the country, but have an unfortunate run in with some locals that gets out of control and leads to the malevolent Native American legend, the Wendigo, manifesting itself from the imagination of the young son. A slow burn and immersive film, Fessenden does a deep dive into character drama, while the tension builds almost subversively. The third act is dizzying and harrowing.
2007's THE LAST WINTER, starring Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Blade II), James LeGros (Phantasm II, Drugstore Cowboy), and Connie Britton (American Horror Story), THE LAST WINTER is about an oil company in the frozen expanse of Alaska that accidentally release something ancient and deadly from the long frozen ground. THE LAST WINTER is the scarier and more fast paced of the two films, but also mines a bit of the same mythical territory as WENDIGO. This time though, its the ghosts of ancient earth lashing out against man for his trespasses against nature. It's hard not to make comparisons to THE THING, given the frozen setting and isolation/hopelessness faced by the characters, but the comparisons end there. THE LAST WINTER is very much it's own movie and plays up a more psychological horror that evolves into a supernatural descent into violence and destruction. It's a powerful and jarring film, but also very beautiful. And like in WENDIGO, Fessenden puts a
heavy emphasis on character development, ignoring the good guy/bad guy conventions of typical story telling, instead giving us flawed and real characters who exist in a more realistic gray area.
Both films take full advantage of their settings with Fessenden ratcheting up the terror and dread in thought provoking stories. I recommend both films, highly. THE LAST WINTER is streaming on Shudder right now, but WENDIGO seems a bit harder to track down outside of the LARRY FESSENDEN COLLECTION box set, which also includes the down beat urban vampire film HABIT.
Welcome back, fiends! I don't know how the weather is where you are, but up here in New York we've already had a major snowstorm. After thirteen years in North Carolina, I'm so happy to be back in the north. One thing I've missed greatly since leaving Boston is the snow. Real snow. Being up here has also given my creativity a huge boost as well. Seriously, when the temperatures started to drop around Halloween, my imagination was like a prowling beast.
So, here we go with the next installment of our new series DEAD OF WINTER, where we explore through new reviews the best winter themed horror films.
In 2010, Glass Eye Pix released James Felix McKenney's HYPOTHERMIA, a CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON inspired horror film that takes place during a family ice fishing trip. The desolate, frozen setting and strong performances from Michael Rooker and Blanch Baker help carry the film. Rooker fans may be surprised to see the usual hard ass playing a nice family man for a change.
The Pelletier family (Rooker, Baker, Benjamin Forster, and Amy Chang) expected to spend a quiet weekend on the ice fishing, but their peace is spoiled when another father and son (Don Wood and Greg Finley), from the city, arrive making a lot of noise and generally acting like douche bags. To make matters worse there's something under the ice; a toothy, eel-like humanoid starts to hunt the two families and it becomes a fight for survival.
The frozen setting plays a large part in the overwhelming sense of dread and hopelessness in HYPOTHERMIA. The creature is also a nice throw-back to the days of an actor in a rubber suit as
are the practical gore effects that look really good. McKenney takes the less-is-more approach giving us mostly short glances of the creature, which is kind of too bad. Some critics have been unkind to the monster suit/design, but had there been more full shots and action they may have had a different opinion.
The pacing is deliberately slow with an over-all downbeat feel, which is not too different than another Glass Eye Pix film, directed by Larry Fessenden, called WENDIGO. (I like these two films as a double feature.) Though it's a slow burn, HYPOTHERMIA is only an hour and thirteen minutes long, so the slower pacer shouldn't be a turn off for those looking for something a little punchier.
Really, the only thing I would complain about, besides there not being enough creature action, is that I wish the ending was a bit less ambiguous. (SPOILER ALERT) In the end Baker and Chang's characters are the only survivors and are chased off the ice by the creature. They collapse on the shore, clearly done for, but Baker starts trying to talk to the creature and then it leaves them. While some view this as a what-the-fuck moment, I don't think it was her speech that got them spared. I figure the creature is somewhat empathic and doesn't view them as a threat to it's hunting ground any longer. That's why they don't get killed. I don't know what the real intention of McKenney's was, but it's really a minor gripe for a film that is overall a very good horror flick.
McKenney also makes some kick ass art toys called SEA BORGS, check them out HERE.
Laying back a bit for the month of November. There will be posts, but fewer than there was in October, as we prepare for our next big series of reviews; DEAD OF WINTER; The Best Winter Themed Horror Films. Right now I've got three guest posts lined up and they are kick ass writers and I'm very happy to have them on board.
DEAD OF WINTER seems like a no-brainer since, ya know, winter is coming, but really Stranger hasn't spent a lot of time in the snow and there are some really good movies I've been itching to write about, but just haven't gotten there yet.
I hope you've been enjoying our filmography series, which will be ongoing. If you've missed it, so far I've covered Rob Zombie and David Cronenberg and guest poster Albert Muller wrote an extensive and fantastic John Carpenter in the 80s piece. I plan to tackle Bill Lustig, Frank Hennenlotter, Abel Ferrera, and Wes Craven in the near future. I see this series as a sister piece to MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MONSTERS. Speaking of...
I had always planned fifty chapters of MHHABM, before I turned the series into a book. Well, Part 50 is right around the corner, but instead of ending the series I believe Part 50 will instead be a chance for a bit of course correction. If you've been with me a while, you'll have noticed (I hope) an improvement in content, presentation, and focus, because admittedly I had an idea about what I was doing, but at times lost focus. The big relaunch in October was meant to signal the first part of this course correction, and Part 50 will catch up and reboot MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MONSTERS and it will start to become more like the book I've always envisioned.
Since the October relaunch the site's numbers have been great! So thank you all for stopping by, I can't tell you how much it means to me to have so many people read my dumb little blog. I mean, lets face it-Stranger With Friction is far from the only horror blog out there and that you take time to pop in and read one of my articles, that's very humbling and awesome! I wish I got some comments though! I'd love to become more interactive with my readers. Let me know what you think, even if you think I'm full of shit.
Ok, I've got to get back to writing. I'm committed to getting my next book, MOTELS ON FIRE, out HERE.
early next year and it ain't writing itself, sweet heart. In the mean time, the first 'single' from MOF is available on Smashwords for you e-readers and a physical copy will be available very soon. The story is called THE LAST MASS and I'm really wearing my love for Fulci and Carpenter on this one. The 'b-side' is called SEEING HER AGAIN and it's a bit more of a down beat, slice of life story. You can get that e-book
Adrian Garcia Bogliano stunned me with his last film, Here Comes The Devil, an art house possession flick that dealt head on with a crumbling family unit, sexual abuse and incest. It's a jarring and unforgiving film with one of the best endings I've seen in a horror film. The Spanish director's follow up is an even smaller, more intimate story of a blind war vet being dumped in a retirement community to wait for death, but not the death he expects.
Late Phases wastes little time getting to the horror. Only a few minutes in we get our first glimpse of our werewolf pass by a window and the sight made my wife scream a bit. Like the demons in Here Comes The Devil, the werewolf sets the movie up and then takes a backseat, while Bogliano delivers a moving character drama about fatherhood, death and estrangement. Nick Damici (Stake Land) is perfect as Ambrose, a widowed Vietnam vet who's gone blind along with dealing very poorly with his disintegrating relationship with his son. Ambrose is a course and stand offish man who gets on the wrong side of some of his neighbors while charming others. He finds a sort of friend and confidant in Father Roger, played by the always fun to watch Tom Noonan (House of the Devil, Manhunter).
On the horror side, Late Phases does not let viewers down. It's a scary, gory, and tense film that defies expectations, doesn't dumb things down, and goes for the throat with very cool creature FX and action. It's yet another win for Dark Sky Films and Glass Eye Pix, who will be remembered in film history as fondly, if not more, as Hammer or Universal. Late Phases works, not because its a good werewolf movie, but because it's a good movie with werewolves.
I've got to say I was a little put off by the title of Oklahoma Ward's film, starring Nicole Alonso, but this trailer caught me off guard and I'm really looking forward to seeing this claustrophobic horror thriller!
For my money I don't think the comic is better than the show, or vice versa. They both have their highs and lows. I'm enjoying following the parallel stories of Rick Grimes and company. The 4 minute trailer for season 4 looks pretty damn good!
Walking Dead Season 4 from Comic Con
From Glass Eye Pix, the great Larry Fessenden returns to the director's chair with this tense looking killer fish film.
