I'm surprised so many people hate this

First, let me apologize for this being so long-winded. Second, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I just wanted to say that I am very surprised that so many people hate Wendigo, and that so many call it "the worst movie ever."

It wasn't a great movie, but it was interesting. It has its flaws, but many positives as well. I give it a 7 out of 10.

I'm wondering if some people hate it because they were expecting a true "horror" film, and instead got more of a psychological suspense/thriller.

Many people on this board have criticized the acting- this is interesting, because I think the acting was incredibly strong (Jake Weber is unsung). Truly, some of the best acting I've seen in a movie in a while. People also criticize the dialogue as being cliched- I found it was anything but- to me the dialogue was taken right out of everyday conversation (which is generally the exact opposite of dialogue heard in most films). All the acting and dialogue felt believeable and realistic. I can't think of how you'd paint a more realistic picture of a family spending a weekend at a cabin in the sticks.

People also say the sex scene was gratuitous and completely unnecessary to the plot- again, I think this is interesting because I feel exactly the opposite! This was a pretty young couple (ok, Patricia Clarkson looks a bit too old) on vacation, away from the city, they have some peace and quiet, and they're horny. Again, it seemed pretty realistic and painted more of the picture of the family. Was it NECESSARY? Maybe not. When is a sex scene EVER necessary though?

So, those initial things out of the way- I feel like maybe people had different expectations than I did. Maybe I'm wrong, but I assume most of you expected just a straight-up horror flick? All I knew about the movie was the description my digital cable gave me, something like: "Boy hears tale of ancient monster. Type: movie/horror." Since it was on IFC, I did not expect a straight-up "horror" film- I figured it was going to be pretty weird and probably more psychological than bloody.

With that in mind, I was able to enjoy most of the movie. Even though the movie was slow, I gotta say I was pretty enthralled most of the time- I felt a real sense of impending doom- it left me with a sick feeling throughout the movie (which I think is a great feeling to have when watching a horror/suspense/thriller movie!). I knew something bad was going to happen, but I didn't know when or what. I also thought the opening scene was excellent, where Otis is at his anti-social best, tormenting and taking advantage of the family. A clash of city folk and backwoods folk.

I also enjoyed the photography for the most part. The director did get a bit too fancy in many places (most notably near the end where he uses techniques reminiscent of the "bullet time" photography from the Matrix), but overall the cinematography was pretty beautiful. I don't know why this sticks out in my mind, but I love the imagery when they first enter the five and dime store- it shows a close-up of little army men, a gun, and model WWII airplanes. They were displayed like photos. I liked it because if I was a kid at that store, those are exactly the things I would've looked at.

The main negatives- yes, the Wendigo was incredibly lame looking. Laughable, even. This definitely hurt the movie. I think it would've been much better if there was no monster shown at all. In many ways, that's scarier.

I think the main negative, and it's a big one, is that the story is wholly inconclusive, confusing, and unsatisfying. There isn't much of a resolution. It seemed the director couldn't really decide where he wanted the movie to go.

That being said, Wendigo was a very interesting and unusual movie, with some notable flaws. Therefore, I give it 7 out of 10.

Sorry this is so long. I can understand not liking this movie- but I am very surprised some people hate it so vehemently.

Comments are welcome.

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