Starring:
Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeffrey Jones, Jeremy Davies,
John Spencer, David Arquette Directed by: Antonia Bird Written
by: Ted Griffin
Antonia
Bird's "Ravenous" opens with an insightful quote from Nietzche,
followed seconds later by a silly, not-as-insightful yet much
more popular and widely used quote from "Anonymous". It's
a clever opening, getting a big laugh from the audience and
indicating that nothing which follows is to be taken seriously.
The
story is set in 1847, during the Mexican-American War. An
army captain named Boyd (Guy Pearce) has just received a medal
for courage in surviving behind enemy lines (though we learn
in flashback, it may have been a somewhat dubious honor.)
As the troops sit down to feast, Boyd takes one look at the
meat placed in front of him and begins to get sick. He can't
escape the horrifying memory of being buried alive under mounds
of bodies, having their seeping blood trickle into his throat.
He leaves the table and vomits.
Of
course, this enrages his commanding officer (John Spencer),
who feels Boyd is not worthy of a place in his company and
thus, reassigns him to the dreaded Fort Spencer - a command
post out in the middle of nowhere, occupied by a group of
ragtag officers who have about as much comraderie as a turret-syndrome
support group. (When one of the men slips and tumbles down
a rocky hill, a fellow soldier rushes to his side. Right away
he reassures the rest of the group: "He's okay!" Then reaches
down, slaps the hurt man to consciousness and asks: "Are you
okay?") They're the usual bunch of characters: the ultra-tough
soldier, the religious one, the drunk one, and so forth. Since
there is only a handful of men stationed at Fort Spencer,
Boyd discovers immediately upon arrival, that he ranks rather
well: "So, you're a captain, eh? Well, let's see here. . .
. that makes you, uh, third in command. Will that be all,
sir?"
Soon,
a mysterious wanderer stumbles onto the premises and collapses.
His name is Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle), and after he is rescued
by the men, he recounts a terrifying story of how he and several
others had to survive for weeks without food. The rest of
the men decide to go looking for other survivors. What they
find lies way beyond the realm of anything they could imagine.
There's
a lot to like here. The movie contains both humor and terror,
and director Antonia ("Priest", "Mad Love") Bird plays both
elements up very well - there are many big laughs early on;
and the scene where the men suddenly realize exactly what
it is they're up against is very well-crafted and quite frightening.
One of the creepiest moments comes when one of the soldiers,
sensing that the villain cannot be killed or harmed physically,
looks him dead in the eye and screams in a childlike manner:
"Get away from me!"
There
are some juicy performances as well, especially from Robert
("Trainspotting", "The Full Monty") Carlyle. He's sympathetic
when he wants to be, ruthless when he needs to be, clever
when he has to be, and outlandishly funny when the spirit
moves him - no wonder the men can't get a handle on this guy.
And the hard-working character actor Jeffrey Jones, as Fort
Spencer's commanding officer, showers his dialogue with the
sarcasm and dry wit a story like this needs.
Violence
and gore take center stage in the film's second half, yet
there are just enough good elements here to give the film
a video pick recommendation. If you're in the mood for something
completely unusual, "Ravenous" should go down nicely.
Copyright
2001 Michael Brendan McLarney Critically
Ill
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