Cliched and not at all scary. And I scare easily!!
Predictable at every turn. I wasn't expecting much going in (based on its score) and my expectations were met. ;-)

This movie was...really a let down. There were just lots of atmospheric shots and not a whole lot else. I loved the practical effects though, they were definitely disturbing. The movie needed 1 million times more backstory and development and also some more exploration of myth.

Antlers is a horror movie set in a small town following a teacher who finds disturbing drawings in her student's desk and the student who is trying to survive and protect his family. It happens that there is a monster in the town and his dad, who is a drug addict and single parent, runs into the monster at the start of the movie and things start to change with him from there.

The movie tries to drop hints that the teacher has a tragic backstory as well and to use that to entice the student to trust her to support him. Unfortunately, we are given perhaps exactly 3 flashbacks for the teacher and one additional scene where she and her brother argue briefly about their childhood. There's no depth given to this at all. There's also very little depth given to the actual myth of the monster. Spoilers ahead [spoiler] - the first lines in the movie are a native american myth or something which gives away that the movie is about the Wendigo. The retired cop actually brings this up immediately and shows them a book about the Wendigo myth and they decide alright this is the monster...practically instantly because all signs point to yes. Except the brother has to doubt it...of course.[/spoiler] There were too few exploratory scenes behind the monster myth as well - this was quite a low-hanging fruit when it comes to Native American mythology - it was like [spoiler]seeing a movie version of Until Dawn, which did explore the Wendigo myth well IMO.[/spoiler]

The movie, despite being so atmosphering and spooky, doesnt seem to utilise its artistic shots very well, a few times the filming and effecst really bring the movie down, especially in tense combat scenes where you can't tell what's even going on. I found myself rolling my eyes at the typical stupid cop stereotype that pervades the horror genre. Plus some events in the movie don't seem to make sense to me at the end. Like, for example [spoiler]how did both the brother and son get infected with the wendigo spirit if the protective charms are there and have held it in the cave for decades? and where did the original wendigo go after they killed the drug addict and possessed the dad? there were definitely more than 1 wendigo, why would they need to leave their body and possess a new human?[/spoiler]

It...could be worth just watching the film but it wasn't amazing.

Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), a teacher in small-town Oregon, becomes concerned that one of her students, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas), is being abused. As she and others look into the situation, it becomes apparent that Lucas is hiding a much darker secret that anyone could have expected.

What Works:

This is a dark movie. Unapologetically dark. From the trailer, I figured that would be the case, but Antlers doesn’t pull any punches. Abuse is a major theme of the movie and no one is safe from being killed or even eaten in some cases. I really respect movies that shy away from the darkness and Antlers is certainly one of those.

To continue with how horrific this movie is, there is some really awesome gore here. Like I mentioned above, people get eaten in this movie and there is enough left over to be found by our characters…and it’s always nasty. Anyone who is a big gore-hound, like myself, will definitely enjoy it.

The first 2/3rds of the movie act like a classic small-town murder mystery. I definitely got some Stephen King and Twin Peaks vibes. I love those kinds of stories. They always manage to get me engaged and although we know more about what’s going on than the characters, we don’t know everything, which makes it feel more of a mystery movie at times than a straightforward horror film.

The atmosphere is really fantastic. The film takes place in Oregon, but was shot in British Columbia. The mountainous setting really works fantastic for this sinister story and we get lots of fog and grim weather to match the mood,

What Sucks:

The 3rd act isn’t quite as good as the first two. We get two of our main characters fighting with the creature and neither fight looks very good. Luckily, the more emotional moments of the 3rd act work fine, but the climatic action is underwhelming.

Most of the characters are a little bit underdeveloped as well. We are given a really interesting potential setup with Julia’s brother, Paul (Jesse Plemons), being her investigative partner for the movie, instead of a random love interest. These two have some tough backstory, but we never really get enough of what it was and it’s never fully wrapped up.

Finally, Graham Greene is an actor I really like, but he is woefully underused in this film. He has about four scenes and is only used to deliver exposition. It’s a waste of a talented actor.

Verdict:

Antlers is a very dark film, with awesome gore, great atmosphere, and a really solid first two acts. The 3rd act loses some steam and some of the characters are underused and underdeveloped, but this movie has still got it going on.

For the first half hour, this isn't that bad. A couple of men stripping an old mine hear some curious noises, next thing we are in a school with a young "Lucas" (Jeremy T. Thomas) seemingly distracted, a little dishevelled and only when his teacher "Julia" (Keri Russell) decides to investigate, do we realise that what came out of that mine was a hell of a lot more rapacious than what went into it... Sadly, though, the rest of it all quickly becomes a bit too routine and the ending though quite well built up, is really a bit too predicable, brief and flat. The "monster" is seriously under-used by director Scott Cooper. A lot is left to our imagination, and to an extent that works - but unfortunately, regular fans of this genre will probably have far gorier fantasies that those we are eventually offered here. It's not a terrible film, it is decently paced and the young "Lucas" holds it together quite well, but sadly it offers very little for us (or the beastie) to get our teeth into.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/antlers-spoiler-free-review

"Antlers is a cleverly shot, character-driven horror story with effective jumpscares and a captivating narrative that ultimately fails to reach its true potential.

With the help of experienced producers, Scott Cooper is able to generate a rich atmosphere and offer an intriguing monster, blending practical effects with minimal CGI perfectly, despite the low budget.

Accompanied by gorgeous cinematography, Keri Russell leads an interesting storyline focused on her traumatic past, but it ends up far too underdeveloped. The main plot features more generic plot points and a somewhat underwhelming yet visually satisfying ending.

Overall, it's a nice watch, but one that I probably won't come back to."

Rating: B-