Have you ever read the story of another person's murder and concluded that you are, in fact, the main character in the whole thing? Me neither. The same cannot be said for Nathan David Carlson, however, a Wendigo researcher who believes, without evidence, that an interview he did for a newspaper may have inspired the 2008 killing of Tim McLean by the mentally ill Vincent Li. It turns out McLean's murder had some similarities to cases Carlson had encountered during his research, and he believes Li -- who delivered newspapers -- may have read his interview and chosen to commit a copycat killing. That this belief isn't worthy of a documentary seems evident enough to me, but Christian Tizya evidently felt differently. Thus: "Heart of Ice" (or "Cannibal Possession: Heart of Ice"), one of the more uniquely tasteless movies I've seen, albeit one with some interesting background of Native Canadian history besides its baffling true crime angle. I watched it thinking it was going to be a found footage-style mockumentary, having found it in the horror section of Tubi, but it turns out the true horror here is the ego and illogic of a man who needs no encouragement and isn't a particularly adept talking head either. More effective are the interviewees who pour cold water on Carlson's ideas about the McLean killing, although it's a shame the message never reached the director that maybe this whole thing was a bad idea.
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