The Last Winter

I really liked the idea of the film and the creeping design of its first part, especially the camera and the feeling for contrast in the music (flying over a snowy base to the sound of Nina Simone, or a pensive piano motif when finding corpses). It's great that the film lasts for such a long time without jump scares and gore effects; however, it follows a very impressive "it is the Earth that wants to kill us" storyline. The perfectly constructed atmosphere absolutely disintegrates at the end, which succumbs to the desire to be shocking and at the same time to show the viewer "evil" right in front of his eyes. I haven’t even mentioned the bizarre mess that accompanies this process – in a kind of ecological-messianic seizure, "The Last Winter" transforms into a pretty fast thaw... Nevertheless, thanks to decent actors and solid technical design (including directing by Larry Fessenden), this eco-agitation is at least worth seeing. (22/07/2008)

Thumbs up for the honest and patient building of the cramped paranoid atmosphere, thumbs very much down for the conclusion. If you're looking for a "cut off from the world with an unknown evil on your ass" kind of movie, and if you like Ron Perlman, you'll make it through without falling asleep; if you're expecting something like The Thing and even a shred of originality, you'll be disappointed. Everything looks nice and promising, but it leads to something that nobody cares about and nobody will ever remember, too bad. 55% (14/06/2017)

A film with an effective atmosphere, but a little boring at the beginning. The Last Winter has a couple of superb scenes, with the plane crash being the best. Those weird agents of evil, on the other hand, should have remained hidden. A comparison could be made with The Thing, but that one is far better because it never gets boring and its atmosphere is a lot more terrifying. (24/12/2007)