Reviewed by: Eric R. Lowther
Posted by: Root Rot
Ravenous (1999)
Directed by: Antonio Bird
Written by: Ted Griffin
Hey kids! It’s Eric R Lowther aka biguglyhairyscary back again by the grace of Mr. Rot on the Witch’s Hat Blog to bring you a review of a movie that actually doesn’t suck. I’m talking about 1999’s “Ravenous”. Why doesn’t it suck, you ask? Well, let’s find out…
Synopsis
The year is 1847. We open on an awards ceremony held for one Captain Boyd (Guy Pierce), an officer in the Mexican-American war, honoring him for his courage above and beyond in taking an entire army’s command staff prisoner after a particularly bloody and decisive battle. The problem? Capt. Boyd is just a few degrees away from being a coward and can’t stand the sight of blood. He managed his heroics only because he “played dead” during the battle and ended up behind enemy lines because his body was added to the pile of his soldiers as dead. To the army itself Boyd is a hero, but his commanding officer, Gen. Slauson (John Spencer) knows the truth of Boyd’s cowardice. Unable to court martial Boyd yet not wanting him commanding men the general reassigns Boyd to Fort Spencer, a mountain fort that supports the westward expansion into California.
What Boyd finds at the seldom-visited converted mission is a misfit group of military men. Here Boyd meets the command officers; scholarly Colonel Hart (Jeffrey Jones in a fantastic performance) and the forever-drunk ex-cavalry/ex-veterinarian second-in-command Major Knox. The staff is comprised of the chaplain, Pvt. Toffler (Jeremy Davies), gung-ho soldier Pvt. Reich (Neal McDonough) and the constantly stoned Pvt. Reeves (a surprisingly loose and good performance by David Arquette). Rounding out the staff are native Ojibwa brother and sister George (where Reeves gets his good shit from) and Martha that serve as caretakers and handymen around the fort. It’s immediately obvious to Boyd the odd proclivities of each soldier and officer was what landed them in this post so far from any measure of civilization, and it doesn’t take long for Hart to figure out Boyd’s story.
Our story really starts though with the late-night arrival of Calqhoun (Robert Carlyle in perhaps his best performance I’ve seen yet). The good reverend appears battered, bloody and starving in their mountain compound with a harrowing tale of his lost and stranded travelling party with the further worrisome feature of cannibalism. Since protecting travelers in the mountain passes is the fort’s primary duty, Hart packs up his command and with Calqhoun in tow they set out to find the cave where he claims he and his party hid from the mountain storms.
Along the way the party begins to suspect there’s more to Calqhoun’s story than he’s telling, and once they find the cave the movie throws open the throttle on the script’s black humor and supernatural connections with the Wendigo, an ancient Native American flesh-eater of legend and lore. Calqhoun is a cannibal, but he’s a cannibal with a purpose. Boyd is thrust back into the role of reluctant hero and must come face to face with his phobias and fears while trying to stop Calqhoun from devouring everyone in his path.
Now for the nuts and bolts of the thing. You would have to look incredibly hard at this production to find any killing flaws. As a period piece the sets, costuming and attention to detail are all quite impressive and authentic, right down to the style and type of tools and utensils used to the slight variations in each of the officers’ uniforms and insignias.
Hey kids, fun fact; did you know that American military uniforms really didn’t achieve anything close to real standardization until the late 1800’s? Each state had their own standards in uniforms, and even uniforms of the federal troops and officers, such as those in this movie, all sport marked differences in style, cut and insignias. The addition of a scarf, sash or other individual touch was widely done, even by lower officers and soldiers and wealthier officers were known to have their entire uniforms custom-made. Anyway…
Bird’s direction is rock-solid and his people manage to film the piece from its cramped fort interiors to its vast mountain panoramas with an unwavering level of skill and artistry. The script flows quite well and manages to keep us more or less engaged throughout the movie’s 101 minute runtime. Now, that is a bit long and ambitious for this kind of story but the only real lag I felt was just about the middle of the piece when the story has to draw out for a bit of character development.
The cast does a fine job getting us through that lag and every other part of the movie, though. There are some really great actors here, and each is given a goodly bit of time to chew the scenery. Jeffrey Jones is especially good here, and he gets plenty of screen time to prove it to us. However, it’s Robert Carlyle that really steals the whole show. While Pierce’s Boyd stumbles around bewildered and struggling with his demons, Calqhoun revels in his. Carlyle turns his Calqhoun into an incredibly fun psychopath, right down to the crazy eyes and erratic gestures. It’s a rare actor who can not only play a good psychopath but one that makes it obvious he’s thrown himself completely and totally into the role.
So, is it any good? I would have to say, most certainly, yes. As I’ve already stated the movie’s direction, script, technical proficiencies and acting are all of very high quality. The director isn’t afraid to keep the production under control yet somehow still allows the actors enough leeway to really run with their flawed characters. There are no bit characters here. Everyone gets a chance to shine, and the quality of the script gives them enough ammunition to fire at will. The whole production is tight, and even the blended period music score stays down when it needs to and adds where it should. The effects are well-done and quite gory and realistic, but they’re used only when they’re needed and not just to get a reaction from the audience where one isn’t deserved. If this sounds like your kind of movie you can rent it through Netflix or from Amazon or your usual online outlets for under $8.00. If you like cannibal movies or are a fan of black humor and satire, it’s a steal.
Well, that’ll do it for the ole biguglyhairyscary for now. Make sure you’re checking out the rest of the blog goodness as well as the Witch’s Hat family of blogcasts and the blogs and podcasts from all the Friends of the Show. We’ve also got the forums over at Killer Reviews, where you can stop by my thread and let me know what movies you’d like me to review. So until next time this has been biguglyhairyscary saying, see ya, kids.
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