ANTLERS (2021) – Review

Before you begin to fill the candy bowls and light up the jack o’lantern, how about taking a terror trek to the “haunted” multiplex for a very modern take on the traditional “creature feature”? Yes, there’s a growling drooling mythical monster at the center of the story, though the town and its past are pretty scary without this “beastie”. Perhaps this is a result of the unique behind-the-scenes pairing of a producer known for his fantasy fright flicks and a director who’d helmed several films that deal with all-too-human horrors. Together this “mad move-scientist” duo have stitched together a shambling nightmare thing that threatens to impale several villagers on its razor-sharp ANTLERS.

This said nightmare actually begins during another overcast day, just outside a remote dying town in Oregon. Its life’s blood, the mining operation, has long-shuttered its doors. But, there’s a glimmer of hope as the news spreads of a re-opening. This sends two locals, who were using it as a meth lab, scrambling to get their stuff out of the mine entrance. Though Frank Weaver (Scott Haze) and his pal are hurriedly filling up cardboard boxes, a growling noise coming from the cave entrance commands their attention. And when their screams join the noise, Frank’s seven-year-old son Aiden (Sawyer Jones) strolls into the darkness. Several weeks later, new teacher and returning resident Julia Meadows (Keri Russell) struggles to hold the interest of her elementary school class as she talks about myths and fables. One student, sullen, quiet Lucas Weaver (Jeremy T. Thomas) grabs her interest. She’s especially unnerved when he reads from his assignment. It’s a tale about a family of sick ravenous bears. The accompanying drawings, filled with red-ink gore, sound off the alarms in Julia’s head. She mentions this to her brother Paul (Jesse Plemons), who’s the town sheriff, in the family home they share (he’s now the owner as Julia’s looking for her own place). He warns her not to get involved. Meanwhile, Lucas returns to his ramshackle house, locking his bedroom door as hideous shrieks and screams, along with violent pounding, fill the darkness. Julia forges ahead with her sleuthing as the remains of someone, torn apart by seemingly human teeth, is found in the woods. Could this have been caused by whatever’s in the Weaver home? And could the Meadows siblings be next on its menu?

Though perhaps best known for her TV work (“Felicity”), Russell expertly handles the many “layers” of the story’s main facilitator. Her Julia sets the story “in motion”, though she’s more than a “scholarly savior”. This heroine is battling her past demons as much as the menacing monster. Through Russell’s eyes, you can see Julia waver as she almosts opts for ‘self-medication” while trying to drown the ghosts that tormented her in every room of the home she somehow survived. Many of those spirits swirl about her brother Paul, played with stoic subtlety by Plemons. He loves his big sister, though he suppresses a “tinge’ of resentment over her escape from the Hell that their father created for them. He’s dealing with “it’ by putting his head down and doing his job, even as it consists mainly of evicting his neighbors. But perhaps the most “haunted” character might be young Lucas, brought to heartbreaking life by Thomas. Much as with old cartoon icons, a dark cloud seems to always hover over him as he deals with a merciless bully in between doing his disturbing red-drenched art. Yet, Thomas gives him stubborn dignity and even optimism as he is convinced that he can somehow repair his broken family. The story also benefits from several screen vets in supporting roles. Rory Cochrane is the loyal deputy, Amy Madigan is a stern but sympathetic school principal, and Graham Greene is the former town lawman who “fills in the blanks” on the source of the town’s scourge while trying to hide his belief that nothing can stop what’s been “put into motion” by ancient vengeful forces.

There’s a ‘gloom” that covers nearly every frame in this vision of small-town life helmed by director Scott Cooper and produced by (amongst others) Guillermo del Toro. The main street is filled with boarded-up storefronts, while the sidewalk is filled with an endless line of residents awaiting treatment at the overwhelmed drug rehab facilities (almost as big a line as the liquor store). This is a dying community, one that can be “snuffed out” with little notice by the media or the nation. The screenplay co-written by Cooper along with Henry Chaisson and Antosca (based on his original short story) balances that slow march to oblivion with the childhood fears of the outdoors (something is watching you in those woods…and waiting). And at the story’s heart is the power of often long-forgotten myth which can curse those too weak to fight back. Luckily the human drama is as powerful as the supernatural showdowns with sequences that should satisfy the “horror crowd”. And without “spoiling” the finale, it isn’t cut and dry as the effects of the beast will still menace , even if only in dreams. ANTLERS delivers on the scares, but its setting and characters (given life by a superb cast) will linger long after the lights go up.

3 Out of 4

ANTLERS is now playing in select theatres