History Film / Antlers

* MonsterDelay: [[spoiler: Frank's final form is only fully seen in the final confrontation in the mines. Even then, the dark lighting makes getting a good view of it rather difficult.]]

* PapaWolf: [[spoiler: Frank, after being possessed by the Wendigo, still cares enough about his sons that he willingly barricades himself so that he won't hurt them. Even after fully transforming, he maintains enough of his old personality to not hurt them, seeking alternative sources of meat and attacking people he sees as threats to them.]]

* SinisterDeerSkull: The demonic wendigo at the center of the film is portrayed as having a monstrous cervine jaw with a huge mass of antlers atop its head.

* MonsterDelay: [[spoiler: Frank's final form is only fully seen in the final confrontation in the mines, and even the dark lighting makes getting a good view of it rather difficult.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Less sweet, more bitter. [[spoiler: Julia manages to save Lucas, killing the Wendigo who was once Lucas's father in the process. However, Julia is shortly after forced to kill Aiden as well when he starts undergoing the process that would have eventually transformed him into another Wendigo, and after Julia and Lucas reunite with Paul as the film ends, Paul notices blood on his hand after a coughing fit, strongly implying that after barely surviving his encounter with Frank, he himself will soon become a Wendigo like him.]]

* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler: Julia is forced to kill Aiden, Lucas's 7-year old brother, to prevent him from transforming into another Wendigo.]]
* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Despite being a repeat drug-offender, Frank was still considered competent enough to keep his kids. Even when Julia starts showing proof that Lucas needs some type of intervention, the Dean seems reluctant to intervene at first.

* ShownTheirWork: The Wendigo is overall extremely accurate to the original legends, starting out as an emaciated corpse with bones visible just under the skin, which is an almost transparent white. [[spoiler:Even after it reaches its final form, its long claws, exposed heart, and drapings of skin and bone have all appeared in traditional Wendigo lore. Really, the only distinctly modern touches are the antlers and the fact that the heart is made of fire instead of ice. Plus the creature doesn't seem to have any eyes.]]

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Lucas wordlessly hunts animals on his lonesome, dissects their carcasses, and tosses them into a locked room in his home for his father and brother to feed on before coming back to remove the bones.

* WeaksauceWeakness: The Wendigo is monstrously fast and strong, being more than a match for any human... as long as it's hungry. If it's eaten recently it becomes weak and sluggish, conveniently allowing the protagonist to fight it one-on-one during the climax.

** [[spoiler: Tragically enforced by Julia, who kills the 7 year old Aiden as he slowly undergoes the painful process of turning into a Wendigo himself.]]

->''"He’ll come for me. He needs me."''

* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Despite being a repeat drug-offender with no , Frank was still considered competent enough to keep his kids. Even when Julia starts showing proof that Lucas needs some type of intervention, the Dean seems reluctant to intervene.

->''"He’ll come for me. He needs me."''

** [[spoiler: It's actually more of a Downer Ending because Lucas shows signs of being infected too. The last dialogue between Paul and Julia implies they both already know this.]]

* MissingMom: Lucas and Adien's mother is never shown. As evidenced by a photo Lucas is looking at, she probably died prior to the events of the film.

* PainfulTransformation: [[spoiler: Frank's transformation into the Wendigo is presented as this, with him depicted as painfully writhing on the floor as his hair falls out and he coughs up blood. Eventually, the full form of the Wendigo bursts out from inside him, leaving Frank's original body as just a mutilated husk.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: The deaths or near deaths of [[spoiler:Ellen and Paul]] can be directly and indirectly attributed to [[spoiler: Julia]]. For the former, [[spoiler:Julia]] somehow forgets to warn [[spoiler:her]] that [[spoiler: she]] heard very disturbing noises from inside the house when visiting the [[spoiler: Weavers' house]] the first time. For the latter, [[spoiler: Julia]] is so bad with time management that [[spoiler: she]] could not be bothered to spend a second to grab the handset phone from which [[spoiler: Paul]] was calling. [[spoiler:She]] also doesn't have the obvious foresight to call [[spoiler:him]] to warn [[spoiler:him]] that the wendigo had just at the very least gravely injured [[spoiler:Dan]] and therefore that [[spoiler:he]] should take extreme caution or call for backup if [[spoiler:he]] is to arrive onto the scene.

* ShownTheirWork: The Wendigo is overall extremely accurate to the original legends, starting out as an emaciated corpse with bones visible just under the skin, which is an almost transparent white. [[spoiler:Even after it reaches its final form, its long claws, exposed heart, and drapings of skin and bone have all appeared in traditional Wendigo lore. Really, the only distinctly modern touches are the antlers and the fact that the heart is made of fire instead of ice.]]

* WeaksauceWeakness: The wendigo is monstrously fast and strong, being more than a match for any human... as long as it's hungry. If it's eaten recently it becomes weak and sluggish, conveniently allowing the protagonist to fight it one-on-one during the climax.
* {{Wendigo}}: What the creature is, depicted as a massive twisted being with a head like that of a deformed deer topped with a massive gnarl of antlers (hence the title).

* WouldHurtAChild: As detailed under AssholeVictim, one of the Wendigo's victims is [[spoiler:Clint, who is at least in his early teens, judging by his appearance]].

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: InUniverse. In the original short story, the animals in Lucas' story were wolves. Here, they are changed to bears.

* EyelessFace: The Wendigo doesn't appear to have eyes on its face.

** [[spoiler: It's actually more of a Downer Ending because Lucas shows signs of being infected too. The last dialog between Paul and Julia implies they both already know this.]]

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Julia and the Sheriff are siblings, while in the original short story they aren't related.

* BittersweetEnding: Less sweet, more bitter. [[spoiler: Julia manages to save Lucas, killing the Wendigo who was once Lucas's father in the process. However, Julia is shortly after forced to kill Aiden as well when he starts undergoing the process that would have eventually transformed him into another Wendigo, and after Julia and Lucas reunite with Paul as the film ends, Paul notices blood on his hand after a coughing fit, strongly implying that after barely surviving his encounter with Frank, he himself will soon become a Wendigo like him.]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Julia manages to save Lucas, killing the Wendigo who was once Lucas's father in the process. However, Julia is shortly after forced to kill Aiden as well when he starts undergoing the process that would have eventually transformed him into another Wendigo, and after Julia and Lucas reunite with Paul as the film ends, Paul notices blood on his hand after a coughing fit, strongly implying that after barely surviving his encounter with Frank, he himself will soon become a Wendigo like him.]]

It follows a small-town Oregon teacher named Julia Meadows (Russell) and her brother Paul (Plemons), the local sheriff in the town of Cispus Falls, becoming entwined with a young student in her school named Lucas Weaver who is harboring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences.

It follows a small-town Oregon teacher named Julia Meadows (Russell) and her brother Paul (Plemons), the local sheriff, becoming entwined with a young student in her school named Lucas Weaver who is harboring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Clint,]] a fellow classmate of Lucas, encounters the younger boy in the woods and taunts him by stating his house is full of "drugged-out freaks" and calls him various slurs before [[spoiler:the Wendigo appears and feasts on the boy.]]
* BodyHorror: The transformation from person to Wendigo is not pleasant to behold. First the body twists and contorts, with the hair falling out, and the body glowing as if burning from the inside, until eventually [[spoiler: the full Wendigo form bursts out of the victim's body through the mouth, leaving a burnt-out husk behind. For Frank Weaver, the final form has his human face still hanging off his new one]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Julia manages to save Lucas, killing the Wendigo who was once Lucas's father in the process. However, Julia is shortly after forced to kill Aiden as well when he starts undergoing the process that would have eventually transformed him into another Wendigo, and after Julia and Lucas reunite with Paul as the film ends, Paul notices blood on his hand after a coughing fit, strongly implying that after barely surviving his encounter with the Wendigo, he himself will soon become one.]]

* MonsterDelay: [[spoiler: Frank's final form is only fully seen in the final confrontation in the cave, and even the dark lighting makes getting a good view of it rather difficult.]]

* SequelHook: [[spoiler:By the end of the film, Paul starts coughing up blood, hinting that after being attacked by the Wendigo, he will become one as well.]]

* MonsterDelay: [[spoiler: Frank's final form is only seen in the final confrontation in the cave.]]