Director Scott Cooper has delivered some great films including Crazy Heart, Black Mass and Out of the Furnace. His latest film Antlers takes on the horror genre and stars Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan with David S. Goyer and Guillermo del Toro producing. Could this flick bring something dark and fresh to the genre or will it be a legend not worth remembering?

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Antlers follows a small-town Oregon teacher and her brother, the local sheriff, who discover that a young student is harboring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences.

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Going in I tried to avoid too many trailers as I was afraid it might give too much away and I am glad I did. While slow at times by design I loved this movie. It has a slow build to the intensity all while bringing more questions than answers early on. The cast are great, but it’s the young boy played by Jeremy T. Thomas that truly shines.

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He is the heart to this movie as you feel sorry for what he is going through, but also not fully sure how good he really is. The mystery of his secret makes for an uncomfortable feeling of what he is going through as such a young man. This is the entire catalyst to the way the rest of the cast behaves in the film whether it be trying to help him, solve the mystery or cause him harm.

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Both Russell and Plemons are great as always as the grounded characters with their own issues to deal with while trying to solve this dark mystery. The mythology to it brings a new take to the horror genre in its own way while still feeling familiar in a good way. Big props to the use of a lot of practical effects as it always makes for a better film and of gorse some good gore and kills never hurts. 

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