Another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic, the new horror film “Antlers” was originally scheduled to be released in April 2020 but it is finally in theaters now. And in the 18 months between its initial and eventual release, the world has seen the two hottest summers on record and more extreme weather events closer together.

Meanwhile, more cultural awareness and progress has been seen for Native Americans in the previous 18 months as well with the appointment of Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior and the second Monday in October being recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day. Unfortunately, since May, several thousand bodies of Native children have been discovered in unmarked graves at American Indian boarding schools across the continent.

And so “Antlers,” a horror movie about the Native mythological creature the wendigo that explores themes about environmental issues and child abuse, the timing may be better now than it was in April 2020. And while its ideas and concepts don’t come together to make a great horror movie, it still has enough good performances and scary scenes to be worthwhile.

From director Scott Cooper, best known for “Black Mass” and Hostiles,” and produced by Guillermo del Toro, the acclaimed fantasy and horror director, the film has the right creators involved to make a visually stunning and effective cautionary tale. However, there are enough clichés, unfulfilled moments and disappointing twists that make me wonder what they were doing in the editing room for the past 18 months.

Set in an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher Julia (played by Keri Russell) is concerned about the wellbeing of one of her students, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas), after she notices a sudden and worrisome change in his behavior and appearance.

Asking for help from her sheriff brother Paul (Jesse Plemons), Julia begins an investigation and discovers her enigmatic student is hiding a dark secret about his home situation, notably the strange possession of his father Frank (Scott Haze) by a legendary ancestral creature who came before them.

Now, in hopes of saving Lucas, Julia and Paul must work together after Frank escapes from the family home and begins killing locals. But there may be no stopping the creature after Lucas’s little brother Aiden begins showing disturbing signs of possession himself.

The best thing going for “Antlers” is its setting and tone, which are dreary and hopeless from the start. Way out in rural Oregon where it’s constantly raining and overcast, the small town with vast forests and an abandoned mine make for a perfect horror location. There are long shadows and plenty of dark spaces that anything could be hiding in, which is only heightened by Cooper’s choice of using several long, slow takes to build that tension.

But as the audience learns more about what’s going on, and the early discovery that it is indeed a wendigo that has possessed Frank and is making him go crazy while his craving for raw meat increases, it’s disappointing that another First Nations story is being used out of context for entertainment.

Heck, even the always-incredible Graham Green is here playing the only Native character, but he’s been relegated to the “old Indian who knows the real supernatural reason why everything bad is happening” cliché, and it’s kind of sad to see even though he’s great.

Thankfully the entire cast does a great job. It’s no surprise that Russell and Plemons are fantastic, because even though they are rarely the stars in the projects they’re in, they always nail the supporting roles, so it’s nice to see them excel again here. Newcomer Thomas also delivers a solid performance in his breakout role as a scared and damaged pre-teen who just wants to help his dad and brother.

Although the horror elements can be impressive, especially the practical makeup and special effects, my favorite thing to see in stories about supernatural monsters is that human beings are the real monsters. So when hints of things like drug addiction, child abuse and destroying the environment being the reason for the wendigo’s emergence came up, I was all here for it.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t capitalize on those interesting and important topics, instead devolving into a run-of-the-mill scary movie with a monster and killing and an entity to defeat. It was still entertaining, but it could have been so much more.