Wendigo

Larry Fessenden, director of the acclaimed independent horror films Habit and No Telling, crafts another unique tale of terror and suspense with this supernatural drama. George (Jake Weber) is a high-strung professional photographer who is starting to unravel from the stress of his work with a Manhattan advertising agency. Needing some time away from the city, Jake, his wife Kim (Patricia Clarkson), and their son Miles (Erik Per Sullivan) head to upstate New York to take in the winter sights, though the drive up is hardly relaxing for any of them. George accidentally hits and severely injures a deer that ran onto the icy road; after George stops to inspect the damage, he's confronted by an angry local named Otis (John Speredakos) who flies into a rage, telling George that he and his fellow hunters had been tracking the deer for some time. An argument breaks out, which leaves George feeling deeply shaken. When George and Kim arrive at their cabin, they discover that it's next door to Otis' property, and they soon find that a dark and intimidating presence seems to have taken over the cottage. Since, when they stopped at a store en route to the cabin, a shopkeeper told Miles about the legend of the Wendigo, a beast from Indian folklore who is half-man, half-deer, and can change itself at will, the child begins to wonder if the creature might have something to do with his family's sudden misfortune. Wendigo was enthusiastically received in its premiere screening at the 2001 Slamdance Film Festival.