STUDIO: The Weinstein Company
RELEASE DATE: July 22, 2008
STARRING: Ron Perlman, James LeGros, Connie Britton, and Kevin Corrigan
WRITTEN BY: Larry Fessenden & Robert Leaver
DIRECTED BY: Larry Fessenden
FEATURES: Making Of The Last Winter
A Feature-Length Documentary Including: Deleted Scenes & Interview With Director Larry Fessenden
Feature Commentary By Co-Writer/Director Larry Fessenden

A classic critical complaint comes to mind when I think about The Last Winter - "Ambitious, but..." Larry Fessenden's unusual eco-horror flick take many sizable risks, but for every one that pays off, there's another one that doesn't click. I like several elements of The Last Winter, including the best ensemble Fessenden has ever worked with and a smart use of setting, but this unusual auteur overplays the slow burn for two acts and then unleashes a film that just gets away from him. The final act completely collapses. Having said that, there's a lot to like about The Last Winter, even if it's simply the fact that it doesn't look like all the other Asian horror remakes or Saw wannabes. In the usually derivative horror genre, originality goes a very long way and The Last Winter is one of the more original horror DVDs of the season.

"What is oil anyway but fossils?" What if global warming led to a LOT more problems than we first thought? Al Gore might need to make a sequel to Inconvenient Truth. The idea behind The Last Winter is two-fold. The first is right there in the title. Global warming has finally reached a point that we're going through the last cold season. What might thaw? And what might we find in our panicked search for more oil? Secondly, a team of oil scouts at the edge of the world is not only divided about how we should proceed in our search for fossil fuels but may have unearthed something that will make all arguments moot. With a great cast that includes Ron Perlman, Connie Britton, and James LeGros, The Last Winter seems to be saying something about the divisive arguments surrounding global warming and our place on this planet, but what? And is it a "man vs. nature" story? A story of people in isolation going crazy? Something else?

Actually, it's all of the above. After a member of the team takes his video camera out for a naked trip into the snow and we, the audience, see something supernatural over his shoulder, all hope is lost that The Last Winter might feature a subtle final act. In actuality, the slow burn of paranoia that made up the first two acts is almost completely discarded and the climax features some ridiculous twists and turns and visuals that might have sounded good on paper, but never work on film. When Perlman, LeGros, and Britton are allowed to actually play the human fear of a situation growing increasingly out of control, The Last Winter works. It's when the screenplay and the film itself actually gets out of the control of everyone involved that it gets a little ridiculous. The first half of The Last Winter makes it worth a rental, but be warned that the second half won't be as satisfying as the set-up.

The DVD for The Last Winter is remarkable in its special features, especially considering the limited release of the film. I love that a festival hit like this one and a film that, to be fair, had a lot more ardent fans than myself who will be seeking it out on DVD, got such a great home treatment. The "Making-of" documentary about the film is longer than the flick itself and covers every aspect of production from inception through post-production and to a festival interview with Fessenden from last summer. The documentary is overwhelming in its detail, but if you need more, you'll find it in a commentary by Fessenden. In the end, The Last Winter is an original horror movie that swings for the fences. It may eventually go foul, but you have to admire the attempt.