Guillermo del Toro and Scott Cooper’s Antlers follows a creepy looking kid and his older brother, a cannibal who has turned into a demonic wendigo, as the former becomes increasing vexed at being unable to provide food for the latter.

The trailer starts with a little boy who lives out in the middle of nowhere. He narrates the trailer talking about living with a monster, all while we see him getting bullied.

Now the first half of the trailer might make you think this was some movie about a kid who lived a troubled life in some port part of a forgotten state up north. However, things take a decidedly darker turn when we find out that the boy is having trouble keeping his family fed, and it turns out that apparently his family isn’t entirely human.

You can check out the trailer below, courtesy of Fox Searchlight.

The trailer is actually edited quite nicely. It’s only a teaser but it actually sets itself up quite well without giving too much away. We see the hardships of the main character, we get a brief glimpse into his direful life, and we also get the impression that his teacher has some sort of sympathy for him, just through the pensive stare of pity she affords him while his diegesis runs the length of the trailer. This is one of those trailers that really nails the setup and the lure for the payoff without giving too much away. It’s about right perfect.

Now, speaking of the second half of the trailer… it quite naturally ramps up the tension and the thrills. We don’t really get to see what’s doing all the damage, but we definitely see some of the aftermath, including halls with blood stains on the floor from where a mutilated body was dragged, as well as a scene in which we briefly see some poor sap getting mauled in what looks like a decrepit attic of some sort. A husk of flesh and viscera is all that remains after the police arrive on the scene.

Now what I don’t know is that in the brief glimpse that we see of the remains, are we looking at a victim who was eaten out and left to rot as a carcass or is that the carapace of an old skin for the wendigo?

It’s kind of tough to tell.

The monster definitely evolves over the course of the film given that it looks humanoid in a couple of the shots but then looks like a full blown deer monster in another.

In any case, the tone of the film looks decidedly taut based on the way the trailer is cut together. I just hope it’s one of those honest horror films that doesn’t cut corners to give the proverbial strong, independent, female lead all sorts of plot armor to save the day. I rather like it when horror movies with a realistic tone stay realistic, sort of like Ginger Snaps 2 or Dog Soldiers or the original The Howling, where anybody can end up dead.

Anyway, Antlers at least looks interesting. If the film plays out as well as the trailer was cut, then it might be well worth a watch.