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Lee Foster‘s horror film, In Its Wake, is surprisingly accurate as far as the folklore is concerned. One reason this film caught my attention is that I can’t get enough of cinematic interpretations of the Wild Hunt! And whether it’s realised as an indie film or even a grander vision in the scale of Guillermo del Toro, I’ll watch them all! That’s because the significance of this supernatural act varies region to region. Some might say it’s to prevent the horrors of hell from terrorising the living, but others will know their appearance is a portent of an upcoming calamity!
In this film, this writer/director borrows from Germanic tradition, even though much of the tale takes place in some corner of Canada. Although the story is a continent away from where the WIld Hunt traditionally takes place, I can feign ignorance for now.
When Mitch (Liam Murphy, A Good Witch) and two of his friends are travelling to their next meeting and wind up stuck in the middle of nowhere because of vehicular problems, it’s easy to recognize they’ll be the first victims. Elsewhere, another group of weary travellers on this dark desert highway are lost. Amy (Paige Foskett) and her fellow pals are on their own excursion and, conveniently enough, even their car breaks down on the same stretch of road. The only person who can help is some priest going by the name of Kurdt Waidmann (Elvis Stojko).
But when a Drude and a hellhound are stalking them. I wondered what’s special about them. They seem like randomly chosen victims. Also, I thought the Waidmann said Loup-Garou instead of a Drude. Maybe the audio clean-up wasn’t perfect, or that bit of dialogue was an intended slip of the tongue. Either way, I secretly yearned for a Wendigo to join in the fray, since it’d give this film a proper sense of being a tale set in cold parts of Northern Ontario.
The backstory was all I cared about, rather than waiting for each of these victims to get killed. What’s presented in In Its Wake is a slasher film with up-and-coming talents wanting a creature feature to add to their resume. Although their road trip gets cut short, I couldn’t help but wonder what this movie would’ve been like had it been less of cabin in the woods scenario more of a proper chases down forgotten roads. When dealing with the hunt, these victims better run as though Pink Floyd had something to reveal dark and dirty about them!
As for who survives, well, I doubt even the best laid schemes to capture victims can say they all survived unscathed.
3 Stars out of 5
In Its Wake Movie Trailer
