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*SPOILER ALERT*
I too was extremely disappointed in this film – it had Ron Perlman in it for goodness' sake! It should have been a classic.
I wonder if they ran out of money or the studio interfered? I can't see that the film was supposed to end that way!
Anyone still considering renting/buying this film I have two words to say to you: "Smoke Dragon"
You have been warned
Despite some questionable last reel CG the Last Winter stands as a stunning example of intelligent, thought provoking independent horror movie making. Intense, atmospheric and served well by a cast of solid character actors, what it lacks in the sheer unnerving rawness of Fessenden's early work it more than makes up for with slick, studied panash. A movie that isn't afraid to take its time or to be oblique in its storytelling (much to the obvious chagrin of some of the other reviewers on here) The Last Winter is a must for viewers who think that the horror genre deserves better than to relegated to a ghetto of stupid slashers and obnoxious remakes.
Well it wasnt all bad thats all i got to say. The movie had b list icon Ron Pearlman in it. So thats something it had a interesting premise that i dont think a majority of the people watching this film completely understood. I mean what is Windigo other then people who have reseached Windigo i dont think a majority of the people even care about the idea of spirits possesing people and trying to take back their land this movie was verry verry flawed.
despite alot of mixed reviews on here ...(many that are negative) the movie could have been the next big thing ...the only movie to be on level with "the thing" .....the tension the closed quarters feel was their ....it was going so well ...it had my attention ....even the first time you saw the creature ...it was creepy ...and it made you think and want it .......then ....the unthinkable happened .....SOme of the worst CG effect's ....looks like their from the original ghost busters...but come to think of it ....ghost busters looked wayyy better ....its just ashame they diden't put more into it ...or rely more on the "not knowing" then ...building it up for something silly ...oh well..
This movie was absolutely a waste of time. After nearly 2 hours of watching (that felt like much more), I don't have the slightest clue what that movie was about. There was something to do with global warming and something about giant ghost reindeer? Were those two things related somehow? I can't believe anyone liked this movie. I would give it less stars if I could. Don't bother watching this one.
As the credits rolled, I said to myself, "I honestly have no idea what they were trying to accomplish with that film".
I haven't seen a movie recently that was more... pointless. Don't bother.
(On a more light-hearted note: Am I the only one who thought the female lead was a classic Seinfeld "Two-Face"? In some scenes-really cute. In others-her face looked like beef jerky.)
Let me start by saying there is one and only one slow-paced arctic horror movie that ever worked and it's John Carpenter's The Thing. Anyone who thinks they can remake—er, rip-off—the experience is setting themselves up for failure from the start. In this case, The Last Winter is not just a failure, it's a laugh-out-loud joke from start to finish.
Let me start out by saying the casting is terrible. Ron Perlman is so over-the-top as the main leader it was like watching an old, clichéd war cartoon with the stereotypical big/loud commander. Hilarious. Then you have all the men referring to Connie Britton's character as drop-dead gorgeous, when she's just flat-out ugly in this movie. Awkward. The rest of the cast is an attempt at recreating the cast from The Thing, but in a politically correct way.
Then you get to the laughable plot. It's reminiscent of The Happening in that it never outright says "Global warming is making things kill us!" but infers it in every single scene. I'm not about to go into the inconsistencies in the global warming debate, but, please, can someone explain to me how global warming makes ghost reindeer? Because as you see in the second scene, ghost reindeer are as scary as "The Scariest Movie of the Year!" (L.A. Daily News) gets.
Wait . . . you're still reading this reveiw as if I'm talking about a serious horror movie? The last time I saw ghost reindeer was on those old claymation Christmas cartoons.
If all of the things I just mentioned weren't enough for you to pretend this film is sitting in the comedy section of your local video store and not to horror section, I haven't even gotten to the level of boredom. Point blank: there is a MAJOR difference between building atmosphere and just pointless scenes. The original '70s Alien did not have a single pointless scene, because every single scene added something to the atmosphere. The Last Winter is the exact opposite, and just has boring, pointless scenes for the sake of boring, pointless scenes. The atmosphere is paper-thin, except what the arctic naturally creates on its own. There isn't a single scene of action or thrill until the last 20 minutes, and that is the only scene of action or thrill in the entire movie.
The characterization consists of your typical off-screen sex scenes, just like in every other movie with forgettable characters. At one point you even get to see one of the men strip off his clothes—following the rules of political correctness and obscuring his crotch—and run around with his bare butt getting screen time. Unless the director has the maturity level of a 13-year-old boy, can someone please enlighten me of the point of this? Am I really the only person out there who sees no point of cheesy on-screen nudity for the sake of "Eh, every movie has it, so I can't go against the grain"? Well, folks, this is what you get when you give your money to cheesy, pansy directors.
A few last complaints:
- The script has the realism of something written by a 6-year-old.
- The Last Winter isn't scary and it certainly isn't fun or gory.
- Cheese drips off every scene. Especially the ghost reindeer.
- The flash-cut directing worked in the Saw franchise, but it's downright laughable here.
Do I really need to go on any further, even though I really could? The Last Winter is just a terrible green film with no intelligence and even less entertainment. It's just a cheesy, wholesale cliché example of the overdone cabin fever-type movies. It's like watching the work of a kid who saw The Thing and had a wet dream, then got worked up in global warming, then became a director and welded his two loves together with cheese and unoriginality.
This movie was freakin awsum. The atmosphere was very creepy and the tension was off the hook.Ron Pearlman need i not say anymore. I highly recomend this movie.I read a review in here that said where the hell is the action , keep in mind The Shining didnt hav much either. u dont need action to hav a great horror movie!!!!!
Posted By: dherna7704 at 8:13pm, September 19, 2008
this movie was awesome-- not many actors or directors can pull off subtle horror without it just getting boring...but this was very well done. :) 8/10!
I agree with most of the users here. The movie is very eerie and you wanna know what the hell is going on, but in the end I was a bit disappointed. Ron Perlman carried the whole movie, he was awesome.
This film was very eerie and wonderful to look at. A very interesting idea makes this film one of the most clautraphobic horror films I have ever seen. My only complaint is that they should not have shown the monster. But, the ending is wonderful and this film is brilliant and Larry Fessenden's best film
This movie has an interesting premise, inherently creepy setting, and you usually can't go wrong with Ron Pearlman. After a slow start there are a few interesting teases to something sinister/supernatural happening, but unfortunately they are only teases. The movie limps along toward the finish with no real climax and absolutely no explanation of what is going on. And in the end we're left with...uh...angry ghost reindeer??? Gimme a break.
seriously... where the hell was the action? this movie is a boring piece of a trash and obviously the la times who called this "the scariest movie of the year" either loved an inconvient truth or just hasn't seen any other horror films.
you think it just starts out slow and speeds up, but it stays at the same speed the whole time with two flashes of a monster. AWFUL FILM.
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