The creature feature doesn’t get nearly as much love as it should these days, reduced to a paltry entries every year or so. In a horror landscape where deeply psychological terrors and gory slasher films take centre stage, there is something to be said for the simple (some would say morbid) joy of seeing some wild monster completely unleashed and terrorising its prey. Kudos goes then to director Scott Cooper for making the unconventional leap from heady dramas (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) to Antlers, a creature feature wrapped up in an exploration of trauma and abuse. Whilst that ferocious creature makes for a wild and bloody third act, Antlers crumbles under the weight of its own set-up, an incredibly dark and depressing film about trauma that doesn’t seem to have anything at all to actually say about it.
Set in a remote Oregon town plagued by a methamphetamine problem, we follow Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas), a headstrong young boy left on his own after his father Frank (Scott Haze) and younger brother Aiden (Sawyer Jones) are attacked in a meth lab deep within a local mine. The frightened Lucas exhibits strange behaviours at school – telling stories of monsters, walking home alone every day and looking increasingly malnourished – that eventually draw the attention of new teacher Julia (Keri Russell), who has returned to her hometown after the death of her father to spend more time with brother and local sheriff Paul (Jesse Plemons). When she begins to investigate Lucas’ home situation, Julia discovers that his father and brother are very much alive, locked in the attic and fed raw meat by Lucas as they warp and transform into hideous monsters that could turn the small town on its head if let loose.
Cooper is certainly no stranger to drama, but with Antlers he seems unsure of how best to link the thematic examination of abuse that so clearly drives the film with the more abstract monster movie elements. Keri Russell’s character Julia, for instance, has a deep history of trauma – having been abused as a child by her father – and Cooper draws on this to further the plot by explaining Julia’s attraction to and eventual obsession with helping Lucas, but falls short when attempting to infer that the two share the same experience. We know he has been abused, but by all the evidence shown on-screen we know that this was not an intentional act by his father, possessed with violence by his affliction.
The suggestion that these two characters should gel into this team of survivors bonded by their shared experiences ignores the fact that Lucas’ father is acting against his will and that his son never gives up on saving him. Cooper keeps dropping these hints at a deeper examination of trauma – like the inference that Paul was conveniently spared the abuse aimed towards Julia – but never touches on them again; statements that seem to say more than they actually do. The finale, while fun, offers little resolution at all, ignoring hanging plot threads in favour of a hasty resolution and clichéd cliffhanger.
If you can accept and move beyond Cooper’s haphazard commentary however, you’ll be treated to an absolutely gnarly monster. This is where Antlers truly shines; in all the gory body horror and no holds barred murder caused by the gruesomely changed Frank. The moody little mountain town offers the perfect backdrop for such carnage, as the monster stalks the rainy forests leaving little more than mutilated corpses in its wake. When that third act kicks into high gear it does so in spectacular fashion, with some incredibly tense sequences and scares that will have you jumping out of your seat. Cooper might focus too much on the commentary at times but when it comes down to it he can deliver some truly nasty horror set-pieces.
Scott Cooper’s entrance into the horror genre definitely bites off more than it can chew at times, getting hung up on a surface level examination of trauma and abuse that seems much deeper than it actually is. Underneath all that you will find a surprisingly tense, albeit short horror film that showcases brutally effective set-pieces, a strong performance from Keri Russell and one of the most fascinating creatures in recent movie memory. Don’t be surprised if Antlers ends up a cult favourite in a few years.
Antlers stars Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Scott Haze, Sawyer Jones, Amy Madigan & Graham Greene – In cinemas now.