Wendigo

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."

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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