And away we go, with Ghostkeeper, from 1982 and Stock Ale, from Guinness Open Gate, in Maryland. A nice, hefty barrel aged beer to go with a film set in the Canadian mountains on New Year's.
Jayson went down the rabbit hole of Canadian Tax Shelter films, which is a thing. It's actually pretty interesting. 1979 was the high point.
Halfway through the film, they ran out of money. This is not a good thing, especially because during this time investors could right off 100% of their investment.
Ghost/Wendigo is discussed. The film is called Ghostkeeper, not Wendigokeeper. It starts off confusing us. The Wendigo is a red herring.
The camerawork and eerie score are high points.
Algernon Blackwood's The Wendigo is recommended. The Wendigo in this film was very uninspiring. As the resident Midwesterner, I use my familiarity with county fairs and chew spitting contests to describe the Wendigo in this one. It's a heavy set dude in an ice room in a basement, with a scruffy beard and flannel shirt.
The book Indian Legends of Canada by Elizabeth Clark, the book found in the film, is a real book.
We get to the plot. Marty is one of the most unlikable people in the history of people. Just rude to the shopkeeper in the opening. His poor girlfriend Jenny is polite. Chrissy, the lady in red, joins the duo, and she's a woman of loose virtue.
Marty is disrespectful to everyone, including Jenny.
The trio dismisses the shopkeeper's warning, a classic horror trope, and plunge on into the wilderness on their snow machines, ending up at Deer Lodge, home of Ghosty, the Ghostkeeper. Thank goodness for the cinematography and score, because it makes for a great mood.
We get our first Wendigo fake out, courtesy of Ghosty, which is what we call the Deer Lodge innkeeper.
The fireplace scene, Good Lord. Marty thinks it's a turn on to sing an offensive version of Cielito Lindo while making eyes with Chrissy, who is not his girlfriend. Chrissy responds with a horrifying story about prostituting herself at 16 to a substitute teacher. Marty's turned on by this. It's the worst foreplay ever. Ghosty and the Wendigo would be upset by this.
Second Wendigo fakeout when Marty is jumped by Ghosty in the kitchen. Ghosty, played by Georgie Collings, is by far the best actor in the film. She's creepy and menacing. Our first foreshadowing there's a connection between her and Jenny.
We keep waiting and wanting some Wendigo action, but keep being let down.
Marty and Jenny's relationship is not good. Marty's a horrible person.
Chrissy decides to take a bath at the creepiest place on earth. Bad idea, as any horror fan knows. We get our hopes up, yet again, for a Wendigo sighting, but no, Ghosty's son, Danny, snags her.
We get our second foreshadowing there's a connection between Ghosty and Jenny. Marty ups the ante on douchey behavior.
Finally, the Wendigo! Danny feeds Chrissy to the Wendigo in the basement room made of ice. Alas, the Wendigo is a huge letdown.
There's a strange connection between Jenny and Ghosty.
More beer is needed to continue. A blend of stout and barleywine aged in Bulleit Bourbon barrels would be perfect if you were in a place like Deer Lodge.
The climax: Danny chases Jenny, who keeps running upstairs, which we all know is a big no-no in horror movies, until they reach the roof, where Jenny pushes him to his death. Marty, as befitting a horrible boyfriend and human, sides with Danny.
Marty inexplicably transforms into some kind of possessed psycho, giving a strange monologue. Reminiscent of The Shining.
We enter the walking portion of the film, where Jenny follows the mentally broken Marty. The shopkeeper, for whatever reason, has decided to walk up and see what became of those rude young people on snow machines. This ends badly for him.
Ghosty and Jenny have the film's showdown. We're kind of confused. Is Jenny supposed to replace Ghosty? If so, why does Ghosty try to kill her? What's going on?
Jenny becomes the new Ghosty! Actually kind of a cool twist.
I recommend it, for very specific reasons. It grew on me. But it's not an enthusiastic recommendation. We both recommend drinking the Stock Ale from Guinness if you decide to take it on. We recommend the beer regardless of what you're doing, really. It's delicious. Jayson recommends other Wendigo themed movies/television shows. He doesn't recommend Ghostkeeper, unless you are into Canadian Tax Credit Films, which may be the most esoteric target audience ever.
Intro music for this episode is a mix of (1) Turn on The Funk (Story Blocks Audio subscription), (2) sample 1961’s The Phantom Planet [in the public domain], and (3) sample 1968’s Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women [in the public domain]. Outro music (1)Snowing Again by Emanuele Dentoni and (2) Cielito Lindo Mexican Tipica Orchestra.
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