DVD review (region 1 & 2)
Directed by Larry Fessenden
Starring Ron Perlman, James LeGros, Connie Britton, Zach Gilford, Kevin Corrigan
Release date Out now

A team of oil scouts in the Arctic are terrorized by something nasty seeping up out of the ice…

At first glance, everything about The Last Winter screams THE THING RIP-OFF, so it’s a welcome surprise to find that not only does it turn out to be a genuinely frightening chiller, it’s also a fairly original one.

Of course, the shadow of John Carpenter’s classic does hang over the film – that study of isolated terror is the pinnacle of the genre after all – and there are also touches of The Shining, The Abyss and Fessenden’s earlier effort Wendigo. But there is much about the movie that’s truly unusual, including its environmental subtext (which never feels labored) and the sense of ambiguity that hangs over the story (is there an ancient monster on the prowl? Or is it ‘sour gas’ sending the oil scouts slowly mad?).

Fessenden gets the most of the vast bleak locations (with Iceland standing in for Alaska), and he slowly builds up an atmosphere of unease before anyone even dies. There’s also some nice character interaction, with the claustrophobic base providing plenty of opportunity for clashes between Ron Perlman’s entertainingly gruff team leader, James LeGros’s frustrated environmentalist and Connie Britton's oil scout, who finds herself caught between them (both ideologically and romantically).

Beautifully shot and featuring a weird, memorable ending, this is one of the finest indie horror movies of the last few years.

Extras-wise, a range of featurettes explore the making of the movie, and deleted scenes include an interesting (though wisely cut) variation of the ending. In an engaging interview, a wild-haired wild-eyed Fessenden gives an account of his intention to keep on making unique, non-Hollywood horror movies, though he’s a bit more subdued on the commentary. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 8/10
A scary, original and hugely entertaining chiller.

Click here to buy The Last Winter at Forbidden Planet (forbiddenplanet.com)