Antlers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Antlers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 28, 2022

Antlers supposedly takes place in my home state of Oregon, even if, to add horror movie locale insult to injury, it was evidently filmed in Canada. That said, the film revolves around the Native American myth of the wendigo, a terrifying horned creature which the Algonquin claimed was a kind of cannibalistic presence that could possess humans. Only here's the odd part: as those with some knowledge of indigenous peoples may know, the Algonquin were an east coast aggregation, and from what I've been able to glean in some admittedly cursory background reading in preparation for writing this review, they never pushed even close to as far west as Oregon. The fact that there are apparently "west coast versions" of a creature at least somewhat like the wendigo may help to give some credence to the tale that unfolds, but it seems like a rather curious and unforced geographical or perhaps terminological error on the part of a trio of screenwriters, though one of the three is author Nick Antosca, whose book The Quiet Boy evidently was the source novel, which I have frankly not read. A lot of the short supplemental featurettes included on this disc, many of which offer comments from producer Guillermo del Toro, wax poetic about the "meaning" of the wendigo, or at least what the filmmakers wanted it to mean, and as a symbol divorced from at least some of its history, it's an arresting and unabashedly frightening aspect to the film. And a lot of Antlers tends to play quite a bit like del Toro's own movies which feature distraught kids facing supernatural elements beyond their control, and as such may appeal to fans of pieces like Pan's Labyrinth.

A little boy is playing in what seems to be a rusted out and abandoned mining facility. When he returns to a waiting truck, his really ragged looking father comes out of the mine and tells him they'll be leaving soon to go pick up the kid's sibling Lucas. Of course that never happens, with one of those pre-credits vignettes which may not totally "spill the beans", but which lets viewers know in no uncertain terms there's something waiting in the shrouded darkness. The story then segues to teacher Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), who has returned home to where she grew up, the (fictional) town of Cispus Falls, Oregon. Julia is having a hard time connecting with her students, and she seems considerably addled by memories of what seems to be childhood abuse. There's also a somewhat strained relationship with her brother Paul (Jesse Plemons), who has taken over being the sheriff of Cispus Falls after the retirement of the previous office holder and the failure of anyone else to step into the role.

A little boy named Lucas Weaver (a very impressive Jeremy T. Thomas) soon captures Julia's interest, and while the film has been appropriately discursive in doling out information, it's pretty obvious that Lucas must be the son and brother of the pair seen in the film's opening scene. The fact that Lucas is bringing home roadkill (or in fact his own kill, as documented by a brief interaction with a skunk) and throwing it into a darkened room which is otherwise kept locked, suggests that whatever attacked Lucas' father and brother may be around in some form or another. When Julia tries to get the kids to write their own fairy tale, Lucas provides a kind of "graphic novel" which he relays to the other kids in his class at Julia's urging, talking about an "angry bear" who is becoming more enraged, along with a similarly afflicted "cub".

Any fan of how horror films tend to unfold can probably guess a lot of what happens next, which includes Julia attempting to take Lucas under her wing, while Paul begins investigating a series of horrifyingly disfigured corpses that are found in various nooks and crannies of Cispus Falls. But there's a rather intriguing subtext to events that is repeatedly overtly mentioned in those aforementioned supplements, which plays into the (again somewhat discursive) depiction early in the film that Lucas' father was the Cispus Falls version of Walter White in Breaking Bad. The economic devastation not just of drugs but also the end of a viable mining operation underlies this tale and actually may give it a more disturbing aspect than the grim scenes of a wendigo having possessed Lucas' father and brother.

The film begins with an epigram that sounds like wisdom being handed down from a "tribal elder" which might be summed up as Koyaanisqatsi, i.e., things are "out of balance" and in case old margarine commercials weren't enough to alert the populace, it's not nice to fool (with) Mother Nature. Antlers might have benefitted from a bit more artful weaving together of that idea, the socioeconomic and drug fueled ruin of a small Pacific Northwest town, and ideas of child abuse that also suffuse the story. Still, the film is really evocative and young Jeremy T. Thomas is an unforgettable presence.

Antlers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Antlers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Films' Searchlight imprint and Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is another high definition presentation which confirms my kind of inherent preference for non-Arri captures, which in this case according to the IMDb also was granted a 4K DI (the IMDb lists the Sony CineAlta Venice as the camera but has Redcode listed as the source format). The results are really beautifully detailed, though as can probably be gleaned by many of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, the film is appropriately drenched in the misty greens and grays that are so prevalent in the Pacific Northwest (whether or not these curmudgeonly filmmakers decided not to shoot in Oregon, where the film supposedly takes place). While outdoor material is pretty consistently drab and in those aforementioned color categories. a lot of the interior material can be almost sepia toned, with an emphasis on orange tinted yellows and browns. The "reveals" of the wendigo are brief but quite startling, and even CGI detail levels tend to be surprisingly sharp, especially considering the lack of light (probably intentionally so, to up the angst factor).

Antlers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Antlers features an often impressively immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. While both the sound design and score tend to traffic in some pretty hoary tropes, including huge ominous swoops of low frequency sounds which can pan through the side and rear channels, there's a nicely nuanced attention to detail in ambient environmental effects placement. The film ping pongs between interior and exterior locations, and there's some really nicely detailed accountings of changes in things like ambient reverb. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, Spanish and French subtitles are available.

Antlers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is another release where a bunch of rather short featurettes are offered with ostensible focuses, although they're all obviously culled from the same interviews and have a lot of overlapping content, which makes their "separation" probably pointless or at least kind of random. Among the interview subjects are Guillermo del Toro, Scott Cooper, Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons.

• The Evil Within (HD; 5:43)


• An Exploration of Modern Horror with Guillermo del Toro (HD; 3:03)


• Artifacts and Totems (HD; 2:40)


• Gods Walk Among Us (HD; 6:24)


• Cry of the Wendigo (HD; 3:07)


• Metamorphosis (HD; 3:12)


• Comic-Con@Home with Scott Cooper and Guillermo del Toro (HD; 41:15) is a Zoom like thing moderated by Steve Weintraub from Collider.com.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:38)

Antlers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are evidently nine federally recognized tribes in my home state of Oregon, and I'm going to be interested to research whether any of them have myths similar to that of the wendigo. There may be a fundamental disconnect between the "historical" location of this frightening creature and where the film supposedly takes place, but this film, while not quite at levels one might expect from Guillermo del Toro himself in the director's chair, has a nicely moody, even spooky, ambience and a really captivating and disturbing performance from Jeremy T. Thomas. Technical merits are solid, and the supplements appealing. Recommended.