“The Last Winter” is a horror movie about global warming. Influenced by
“The Shining”, “The Thing” and “The Blair Witch Project,” but certainly
something unique on its own terms, it focuses on a small group of oil
company employees who constitute the advance guard of an assault on the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Included in the group are a
couple of environmental impact consultants who are wary about the
enterprise, especially in light of some rather alarming developments.
Despite the fact that it is the dead of winter, the weather has been
warmer than at any time in history. James Hoffman (James LeGros), the
senior environmental scientist, tries to convince Ed Pollack (Ron
Perlman) to abandon the project since there is no way to ensure that
nature will survive the impact. He is especially concerned about North
Oil Company’s plans to construct a road to the drilling site since the
ice has melted to the point that the underlying tundra is only a few
inches below. He also wonders if it is necessary to drill for oil in
ANWR since keeping tires inflated to the proper level, etc. would save
the same amount of energy that would be supplied by the new wells.
Pollack, a hard-nosed oil company loyalist, tells Hoffman that his
objections are pointless and orders him to sign a statement saying that
the project involves no significant risk.
Although he is not an environmental scientist, Maxwell (Zach Gilford), a
member of the crew, shares Hoffman’s anxieties. On a visit to the site
where the pilot drilling project took place, he encounters an
apparition–a herd of caribou ghosts stampeding across the horizon. It
soon becomes clear that they are wendigos, an American Indian avenging
spirit. In this instance, the wendigos are acting on behalf of the dead
animals and vegetables beneath the Alaskan permafrost who feel that
their burying ground has been invaded.
full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/the-last-winter/
