The Last Winter (2006/Genius DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
The one
Horror film it has been hard for fans to rip off and imitate is John
Carpenter’s remake of The Thing
(1982, reviewed elsewhere on this site) because it seems most would-be filmmaking
fans do not live in the areas with much snow.
However, it is a Science Fiction/Horror area that is occasionally
revisited and Editor/Co-Writer/Co-Producer/Director Larry Fessenden attempts it
with some odd twists in The Last Winter
(2006) by adding environmental twists and make it into a thriller. He is as unsuccessful as M. Night Shyamalan!
Ron
Pearlman stars as the head of an expedition team out in the middle of the
arctic because of corporate interests when something strange begins to
happen. You guessed it, people start
acting weird, odd things start to happen, people loose their minds (if they had
minds to loose to begin with) and then dead bodies turn up.
Though
done with some great acting and ambition, this never takes off, has visual
effects that look unfinished and when it concludes, has no payoff and is only
staying something big in the minds of the makers who seem to have great
difficulty putting on screen what they want to show and say. There is not enough suspense and then this
ends. Too bad, because they had the
makings of at least a decent film, but it falls short and money has nothing to
do with it. James LeGros (Fincher’s Zodiac), Connie Britton, Zach Gilford
and Kevin Corrigan (Superbad) also
star.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is a little soft, but consistent for
what it is and made silly by the lame digital effects. Director of Photography Magni Agustsson may
have some good shots here and there, as filmed in Super 35mm, but the use of
the scope frame is very disappointing throughout and hurts the film in the long
run. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix has some
soundfield, dialogue is not bad and the Jeff Grace score is mix, while the mix
undistinguished. That too could have
been better. Extras include a making of
the film featurette and feature length commentary by Director Fessenden.
- Nicholas Sheffo
