THE WENDIGO movie poster | ©2023 Terror Films

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Tyler Gene, Hunter Redfern, Matthias Margraves, Taylor Grace Davis, Laura Rodriguez, Jake Robinson, Paul Hurley, Austin Pigza
Writer: Jamie Brown, story by Jake Robinson
Director: Jake Robinson
Distributor: Terror Films
Release Date: August 4, 2023

THE WENDIGO is short by almost any running time standard, clocking in at seventy-eight minutes and fifteen seconds. It is made with clear affection for the found-footage horror genre, with dialogue that is plausible for the circumstances, and mostly good acting.

We first meet video influencer Logan (Tyler Gene), who performs various stunts on dares from his subscribers. Tonight’s “stunt” is live-streaming while alone in the woods at a lakeside. The area is supposedly inhabited by a wendigo, and according to Logan, you’re not even supposed to say the word, but he repeats it, CANDYMAN-style.

We see an ominous shadow cast from outside the tent, and then Logan is evidently dragged outside. During all of this, we also see the comments on the livestream, about equally divided between scornful and alarmed, flowing up the side of the screen.

Titles inform us that the video went viral, with viewers divided as to its legitimacy. Other influencers in Logan’s circle tried to create a video chronicle of their search for Logan. The titles conclude with “The footage was recovered and compiled. It has been edited for time.”

We then meet aspiring Internet star TJ (Jake Robinson, who also directed THE WENDIGO) and his videographer pal Jay (Hunter Redfern). Neither of them is sure whether Logan is genuinely missing, or just playing a prank to get clicks.

They enlist their eccentric but folklore-knowledgeable friend Matthew (Matthias Margraves) to join them on their quest.

Cassi (Laura Rodriguez), who is wearing a lot of makeup for a long day of hiking, and her beleaguered assistant Kaylee (Taylor Grace Davis), also show up. Kaylee and Jay used to be involved, and it doesn’t take long for Cassi and Matthew to squabble over the spotlight.

We are about forty-five minutes in before much actually happens.

Director Robinson, who wrote the story for the script written by Jamie Brown, gets credible, relaxed performances from the majority of the cast. Acting as his own cinematographer, he also has decent notions of how to shoot sequences without making us ask why the camera is where it is.

But there are a number of issues. One is that the mythology, even though we get a large expository speech, is murky when it comes to exactly how a wendigo does what it does, and why. Indeed, the speech raises some fascinating points that THE WENDIGO doesn’t then explore. A mid-end credits sequences raises even more questions.

Then there is the design of the wendigo itself, which eventually makes itself known. It’s a great concept. However, the discrepancy between the size of the creature’s shadow and the creature itself, and the quizzical way it holds its head, both make it more intriguing-looking than actually terrifying.

For fans of true-life speculative material or reality programming about people forced to spend time together, the long set-up may be entertaining. For those who find one of the virtues of narrative filmmaking to be that the filmmakers can set their own pace and aren’t hampered by lack of exciting footage, THE WENDIGO may resemble the kind of Internet material it dramatizes a little too closely.

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