ITHAQUA

***

Directed by Casey Walker.

Starring Luke Hemsworth, Kevin Durand, Michael Pitt.

Horror, Canada, 110 Minutes.

Reviewed as part of Tubi FrightFest 2026

Known more for his producing credits, which include THE VOID and IN A VIOLENT NATURE, director Casey Walker shows off his directing skills with this, the first of a pair of films he brings to this year's FrightFest. ITHAQA, a Hammer Films production, is a beast of several stripes; a period piece, survival thriller and a supernatural horror with Canadian folk horror trappings all mixed together in a satisfying fashion.

Set in the 1800’s, the film tells the tale of Cole (Luke Hemsworth), an American mercenary hired by the declining fur trade at a remote Canadian outpost in the middle of a freezing, everlasting winter. The outpost is lorded over by the likes of Michael Pitt’s foppish yet sinister Englishman, McKellar and his loyal underling Lieutenant Walker (Kevin Durand), a British soldier whose unyielding patriotism to King and Country ruffles feathers with Cole and the rest of the rough and ready trappers and traders of the remote fort. With supplies dwindling, Cole and Walker are forced together into hunting for food in the vast, frozen wilderness where they discover the troubling and gruesome presence of an entity which seems intent and devouring everyone it comes into contact with. Meanwhile at the outpost, McKellar seems to be succumbing to his baser instincts, something which may be related to the appearance of a young native girl whose mysterious presence signals a bloody reckoning.

Handsomely mounted and filmed, this is an involving slice of historical horror that takes a stab at tackling the issue of Canada’s colonialism. Taking its time in introducing its characters and their various idiosyncrasies and conflicts, the horror, when it is eventually uncovered and unleashed, signals a gathering in pace that it keeps up until its impressively ruthless conclusion. At the same time the film does seem a little overstuffed with some elements being revealed perhaps a little late in the game, Cole’s troubled past being one example and the rushed development of the supernatural at the camp being yet another.

However, this is still engaging and different enough on its own terms, especially in the horror genre. Walker’s distinctive credits as a producer stretch over into his writing and directing also. The dialogue is pleasingly old timey without sounding inaccessible, while the period details of the costuming and set design also impress. The horrific imagery that dominates the latter half of the film is also memorable in its own way, showing that Walker is just as impressive a director and writer as he is a producer.

Iain MacLeod