'Antlers' review: Uneven horror film that's darker than necessary

A little boy in a depressed Oregon town keeps something locked in a closet in Scott Cooper’s grisly yet mournful horror film, "Antlers." Whatever that thing is, it feeds on roadkill and makes half-human noises. It also wants out — and the flimsy padlocks on that door are not going to stop it.

"Antlers" arrives in the middle of what’s being called a folk-horror revival; "Wolf" and "Lamb" are two other such titles that appeared this year. Folk-horror is a loosely defined genre that embraces just about any horror film with themes of isolated societies, ancient legends or the animal kingdom — and "Antlers" has all three. It lacks the art-house stamp of Robert Eggers’ "The Witch" or Ari Aster’s "Midsommar," two films that kick-started this trend, but the movie distinguishes itself with a pervasive air of ruin, decay and sorrow.

Jeremy T. Thomas plays the boy, Lucas Weaver, a tiny tyke with the face of a hardscrabble angel. One gloomy afternoon, his dad, Frank (Scott Haze), a meth lab worker, runs afoul of something lurking in an old mine. What happens next isn’t initially clear, but the creature behind the door either ate Frank or is Frank — or something in between. Even worse, another member of the Weaver family is trapped in there, too.

The plight of poor little Lucas can be a little overwhelming as he dutifully drags home dead raccoons, plugs his ears against the howls that rattle the house and shows up to school covered in filth. It’s no wonder his teacher, Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), grows concerned. Against the advice of her brother, Paul (Jesse Plemons), who is also the town sheriff, Julia takes the boy under her wing.

Produced by Guillermo del Toro and based on a short story by Nick Antosca (who co-wrote the screenplay), "Antlers" marks an unexpected turn for the director of 2009’s "Crazy Heart," which featured Jeff Bridges in a moving turn as a washed-up country singer. These characters, however, aren’t nearly as engaging. There are hints of alcoholism and abuse in Julia’s past, but they don’t evolve into anything. They also seem unconnected to Frank’s terrible fate, which hinges on an angry Native American spirit. (Former sheriff Warren Stokes, played by the First Nations actor Graham Greene, gets to deliver that old trope.)

Like the alien in "Alien," the creature in "Antlers" remains mostly in shadow until the film’s end. It’s an impressively gruesome sight, but what will stick with you is the image of a traumatized, long-suffering child. There’s horror in that, to be sure, but it’s probably not most people’s idea of a Halloween-season treat.