An Arctic research facility located in Northern Alaska, is tasked with exploring the possibilities of drilling for oil in an area which used to be some type of wildlife preserve. As the team gets closer to the possibility of drilling, they begin to experience bizarre happenings which are unexplainable. Larry Fessenden's 'The Last Winter' is horror film that fit's beautifully into the "Nature strikes back" sub-genre. Touching on the destruction of human greed on our environment, we see these team members one by one begin to experience things which are unexplainable. From the temperature rising at an alarming rate, to crew members having strange hallucinations, it begins to come clear to the various crew members that this isn't something as simple as global warming. The film creates a great atmosphere with the cinematography and sound design, capturing the isolation and loneliness of the setting. Shot on a small budget, typical of anything by Fessenden, the film relies on some stylized camera work that is very observational which can only be described as a character of it's own, creeping around the facility - creating an omnious tone. The Last Winter builds suspense through the less is more approach, creating a very clever treatment of how mysterious events come to fruition. The Last Winter relies heavily on the mystery and tension it is able to create, ending in a way that is quite mean-spirited in its depiction of "Nature's revenge", offering no nice message about how we can change, rather a warning that if we don't, Nature will surely outlast us. 8/10
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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