Hammer Films forgoes the Gothic castles and their accompanying spooky baggage for this tale of ancient terror in a remote fur trading outpost. Set in 19th Century Canada, Ithaqua stars Luke Hemsworth as an American mercenary acting as hired gun at remote Fort William. With supplies rapidly dwindling, Franklin is roped into joining an expedition to a nearby Indigenous village, where they hope to trade. What they find there, however, is the aftermath of a terrible massacre – and a supernatural force which follows them back to Fort William.
The latest film from In A Violent Nature director Casey Walker, Ithaqua shares a similar communion with its own isolated rural setting. “The landscape is not a backdrop and I would fight anyone who lit it like one,” says Walker in a statement provided prior to the film’s release. It’s as much a character as any of the men and women who populate its world, throbbing with a sense of history and violence. It’s strikingly lit, utilising natural light and that which is borrowed from the flickering lamps, candles and fires authentic to the fur trading post setting.
Co-written by Pascal Trottier and Peter Scott Vicaire, much care has been taken to ensure Ithaqua stays true to the dark and bloody history of Fort William. A trilingual production, its screenplay utilises English, French and Ojibwe-Cree, in another commitment to the film’s reality. Ahnung (Leenah Robinson) and Nokomis (Pamela Matthews) know what is going on here, but their words of warning go unheeded until it’s too late. The Ithaqua are waiting. And, when they strike, their violence comes quickly and brutally.
Hemsworth leads an impressive cast which also includes Michael Pitt and Kevin Durand, the latter of whom proves why he’s one of the most exciting and underrated actors working today. It’s an ambitious project (and one thirteen years in the making), and the passion is evident in all it is, does, and aims to be. It’s an unflinchingly vicious period horror film (fans of Bone Tomahawk and Ravenous should love this one) made all the more chilling for the dark history which flows through its veins.
ITHAQUA premiered at Tubi FrightFest on August 29, 2026.
