Wendigo Concept

While I enjoy the occasional monster movie, I can’t call myself a fan of horror. Movies with ghosts scare me beyond any understanding, so imagine my surprise hearing that we were going to be working on a horror themed brief.

Instead of working on ghosts or serial killers, I decided to take my love of monsters and use that for the brief. One of my favorite creatures of legends is the Wendigo; a legend that comes from the Native American Algonquian-speaking tribes. In said tribes, the name “Wendigo” roughly translates into “an evil spirit that devours mankind”.

Legend describes it as either a “fearsome beast that hunts man” or that the spirit of the Wendigo possesses people, causing them to turn into cannibals. Either way, cannibalism is tightly associated with the legend.

I really liked the idea of someone being forced to transform into this monster; another reason why I’m a big fan of werewolves. The concept of someone losing control and turning into a violent monster is such an interesting idea that I wanted to use for this brief.

I wanted to take inspiration from the Wendigo design from Antlers (2021); I liked the idea of the creature not having eyes, taking away any way of connecting or reasoning with it.

My idea behind this concept is that a hiker disrespected the lands of a Native American tribe and through a series of unfortunate circumstances, ends up getting stabbed by a cursed knife and over the course of a few days, the Wendigo bursts out of his body, ready to kill.

Another idea taken from Antlers was having the face of the cursed one hanging off the Wendigo’s skull. It looks monstrous and gives off a visceral reaction. I also wanted to have the arms and legs dangling off the body as well.