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Ravenous
1/2
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Czech Republic/Mexico/Slovakia/UK/USA
Directed by Antonia Bird
Written by Ted Griffin
CAST.....
Guy Pearce..... Boyd
Robert Carlyle..... Colquhoun/Ives
Jeffrey Jones..... Hart
Stephen Spinella..... Knox
David Arquette..... Cleaves
Jeremy Davies..... Toffler
John Spencer..... General Slauson
Neal McDonough..... Reich
Cannibalism is one of the last remaining taboos,
and with the lack of discussion, there aren't many interesting thoughts on
it. While modern classic "The Silence of the Lambs" involved a brief mention,
film has generally failed in dealing with the subject, too -- the most
high-profile flick ever made on the matter, Frank Marshall's "Alive", wasn't
all that special, and the eating habit is generally reserved for video
nasties.
"Ravenous", a new motion picture
that's almost as sickening as the worst of those illegal videotapes, stars
Guy Pearce as Captain John Boyd, a veteran of the Mexican-American war. Boyd's
superior officer senses the young soldier has been wrongly decorated, and
stations him to Fort Spencer, a dreary hole in the middle of nowhere filled
with lunatics, losers and lice. One night a dishevelled, rambling man arrives
at the post, revealing himself to be Colquhoun (Robert Carlyle), a lost traveller
whose party resorted to murder and cannibalism when they were snowbound in
a cave.
Colonel Hart (Jeffrey Jones), the man in charge
at Spencer, is alarmed at Colqhuon's tale, especially the revelation that
two of the group are still back at the cave. Hart insists that Colquhoun
lead a platoon on a rescue mission to the stranded man and woman, but we
soon realise the stranger fabricated his elaborate story as a trap to acquire
the source of his next few meals.
Boyd, seemingly the sole survivor of this savagery,
runs back to the fort, where nobody believes his explanation for everyone's
disappearance. To make matters worse, the true identity of 'Colquhoun' turns
out to be Hart's replacement, Colonel Ives. Ives taunts and manipulates Boyd,
becoming increasingly obsessed with winning him round to his own immoral
culinary preferences.
The behaviour behind the provocative theme is
shown graphically, but never actually explored, except within the confines
of some weird supernatural mumbling. It seems that there were no brains but
plenty of resources behind "Ravenous" -- events are not interpreted in
interesting or original ways, just with visual and aural overkill. While
there are one or two nice musical moments, the loud, constant score is
predominantly grating, with the rest of the soundtrack made up of screaming,
squelching, crunching, groaning and whining. Then there's the freakiness
of the victims, the horror of the villains, the gore that they all end up
in... even the opening credits can't stay still, and the overall experience
is akin to being in an asylum -- moans, wails and distressed spasms, all
immersed in a disgusting, alienating stench.
The director of this wreck is the talentless Antonia
Bird, whose one acclaimed film, "Priest", was a dull drama masquerading as
important commentary, despite the fact it relied heavily on illogical conclusions
and inaccurate 'facts'. Her "Face" had the potential to be an exciting crime
pic, but after a wonderful gunfight, it wandered off into nowhere. With
"Ravenous" she joins Joel Schumacher as a filmmaker using 1999 to wallow
in the lowest, filthiest material available. The screening I attended took
place in the evening, and I hadn't eaten all day. I quickly lost my appetite
nonetheless.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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