The Last Winter

[Shonokin]

I just saw this last night and would feel remiss in not letting people know it's out there. THE LAST WINTER is the latest film from indie horror movie auteur Larry Fessenden (WENDIGO [2001]).

If you go to http://www.thelastwinter.net/ you can find a ton of reviews and I have to say that none of them are hyperbole. This is a really good, moody, creepy, slow-burn horror movie.

I drove 65 miles or so to see it last night and feel totally gratified in the experience. I think this is one of the best movies I've seen in ages. It's not an action movie with Bruce Willis and it is not a wall to wall torture porn like SAW or a giant monster movie, even though there is a giant monster of sorts, though I don't want to spoil it so will just say that. What it IS, is great story-telling, acting, directing and cinematography.

The story itself goes as [quote]"Taking place at an oil-drilling compound deep in the lonely Arctic of Northern Alaska, The Last Winter opens with an advance team of technicians doing prep work on what is soon to become a work site. This will be the first time this part of the Arctic has been drilled into –- a move that concerns many environmentalists –- and tensions are high amongst the team, several of whom have more than mixed feelings about the project. Beyond that, something is very wrong about where the team is stationed. As a possible result of global warming, the permafrost is melting at an abnormal rate, releasing… something… into the atmosphere from deep within the earth. Something that has been buried for over 10,000 years, never having been privy to “the human experience,â€