Donny Broussard Reviews: “The Last Winter DVD”

The Film:

Larry Fessenden’s film ‘The Last Winter’ is a very well done character study that has a lot going for it. It has a stellar cast, beautiful visuals, a chilling score, and a pretty solid story. The only complaint that I have is that it lost me in the last 15 minutes of the film, but I guess you can’t have it all.

The film follows an oil company crew in the Arctic region of Northern Alaska as they try to figure out a way to move drilling equipment onto the melting Tundra. There are some really strong characters in this story that are played brilliantly by the awesome cast that Fessenden has assembled.

Ron Perlman plays Ed Pollack, a company man whose only concern is to find a way to get the drilling equipment to the job site on time, but in order for him to move this equipment he needs Hoffman (James LeGros), an environmental specialist that the oil company sent out with the team to survey the area and collect data before the drilling starts to sign off on the move. Hoffman doesn’t want to sign off on the move because he feels that there is something wrong environmentally that is causing the temperatures to rise resulting in melting Tundra, which would not provide a stable foundation for them to move the equipment. Hoffman is also sleeping with Abby (Conne Britton) whom Pollack happens to be in love with. Add to the mix a young employee that is slowly losing his marbles, a pothead mechanic, a romance novel addict, a nerd with a serious nosebleed problem and a native that can feel things changing for the worst and you’ve got yourself a film that really delivers a genuinely creepy atmosphere with memorable characters.

There is something about setting a film in an extremely hostile environment in the middle of nowhere that really works well within the horror genre, and ‘The Last Winter’ is no exception. Within the first five minutes the location establishes itself as the main character of this film and continues to grow more complex as the film plays out. After a plane crashes into their base camp Pollack and Hoffman are forced to go out into the freezing nothingness and try to find help. As they move through the empty landscape the two battle with their own sanity as they wrestle with the idea of an unseen force toying with them as they make their way toward the nearest town.
The closer the film gets to a resolution more questions along with answers to some of said questions drive the film into a territory that I wish it had not tread.

When this flick followed the more psychological route that relied on the broken mental states of its characters, I was a happy horror fan, but when the plot decided to head into the realm of the supernatural it lost me. Overall though I really can’t complain, the characters kept my attention and I really felt a connection to them. With that said, I’d recommend any horror fan check it out because even though it didn’t go exactly where I hoped it would, it is still a killer film.

The DVD:

Video: Presented in 2.35:1 ‘The Last Winter’ looked beautiful. It boasted soft whites and crisp blacks that brought the cold setting of the film to life.

Audio: Was loud and clear with no noticeable sound issues.

Special Features:

‘Making of The Last Winter Documentary’ - is an hour long documentary on the making of the flick. It goes into great detail and chronicles the production process. I enjoyed this feature almost as much as the movie, it’s definitely worth sitting through.

‘Director Commentary’ - An informative commentary with Larry Fessenden about the tough choices he had to make during the production of the film. I don’t usually enjoy commentary but this one kept my interest and was extremely informative.

‘DVD Case’ - There is a slip case that is pretty nifty as well with this disc. Not really a special feature but coon none the less.

Bottom line folks is that the flick is worth watching, and Ron Pearlman dials in a wonderful performance as always. This is a classy flick that deserves to be seen so pick it up and support a filmmaker that cares about filmmaking. Also, after re-watching the flick I’ve decided to up the rating a little, what can I say, it’s better on a second viewing.