One of the ongoing
charming appeals behind dedicated underground boutique label Vinegar Syndrome
is they have a knack for locating and unearthing films that either got lost to
time, suffered bungled distribution or somehow or another ended up on the
shelves to rot away. What’s one person’s
trash is another’s goldmine and time and time again Vinegar Syndrome has proved
that notion to be true with their special digitally remastered editions of
cheap or homegrown regional films whose locality is part in parcel to their
renewed commercial appeal among horror fans.
One which got lost in
the Troma Entertainment shuffle is Northern Michigan based The Evil Dead descendent
Wendigo or Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo, an overt Sam
Raimi/Peter Jackson regional clone replete with stop-motion animation effects,
wild creature effects makeup and a wintry upper peninsula setting that doesn’t
quite have the prowess of Raimi but does have its heart in the right
place. The story of two hunters who
stumble upon a secret burial ground being kept vigil over by a select elder to keep
the titular Wendigo from escaping into the wild, the hunters
inadvertently shoot the man dead and unleash the unholy demon upon the hunters
and their small gathering of people in a log cabin. Meanwhile as a young woman named Sandy starts
experiencing premonitory visions, it becomes clear she has been chosen as the
next protector to keep the Wendigo from wreaking further havoc.
Shot on Manitou
Island (unclear if it’s North or South) which is reportedly without an airport
before bunkering down within a log cabin shot in Tecumseh replete with an Evil
Dead II poster on the wall, references to Ted Raimi’s soul swallowing witch
from the aforementioned sequel, interdimensional portals, beans that turn into
red-eyed dinosaurs and a giant wendigo rendered via stop motion animation, Frostbiter
in all of its gritty 16mm glory is a fun springboard from Sam Raimi’s
timeless horror epic. Set within the
wintry snow-covered lands of Manitou Island with a rather hilarious flying
sequence of an aircraft navigating a blinding snowstorm, it is the very
definition of regional do-it-yourself horror with the clear fingerprints of
Michiganders all over its scratchy images.
Written, produced,
edited and shot by Tom Chaney, the 16mm venture doesn’t quite achieve the
dynamic fluidity of Sam Raimi’s occult horror vision but it does absolutely
tread in the same footsteps. Despite a
weak synth score by Steve Quick which at times works against the chilly winter
setting, we’re so caught up in the juxtaposition of live action prosthetics and
stop-motion Ray Harryhausen inspired magic we tend to check our brains at the
door while watching. Acting by the
ensemble cast including The Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, Lori Baker,
Devlin Burton and John Bussard is mostly fine if not a little rusty but no one’s
seeking this out for quality acting. We’re
here for the lo-fi thrills and chills!
Barely seen outside
of Ann Arbor, Michigan screenings before disappearing in Troma Entertainment’s catalog
of trash horror movies, Frostbiter nearly vanished from the face of the Earth
until the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome in their fine-toothed combing of film
archives discovered the original 16mm negative which was then scanned in 2K,
giving horror fans only familiar with it on muddy VHS a new skin with a
surprising amount of color, particularly in outdoor scenes. Released with the generous participation of
Troma Entertainment, Frostbiter while clearly looming in the shadow of The
Evil Dead makes no bones about itself being a clone and is there to pay
homage to as well as add to the legacy established by Raimi’s still celebrated
horror classic. Michiganders are
inclined to work this one in with an Evil Dead double feature with beer in
one hand and pizza in the other.