no humans were harmed , tested or tasted in the making of this film .
all recipes are fictions .
twentieth century fox does not condone cannibalism .
a psychological thriller that will scare you to the depth of your soul ! director / writer antonia bird shows us that the most terrifying horror is not provided by giant beasts , but instead by monsters lurking in ourselves . .
" . .
they were a party of settlers in covered wagon times and they had to resent to cannibalism in order to stay alive . .
"
this true story , briefly mentioned in " the shining " , has no turned into a 143 minutes long motion picture .
in 1847 , the united states was a land of pioneers , of gold - starved americans making their way west .
it was a period of manifest destiny , the inevitability of the country extending its boundaries , stretching out its arms and consuming all the land it could .
capt .
john boyd ( guy pearce ) has become both a " hero " and a victim during this period of relentless consumption . . .
in ways he could never have imagined .
boyd 's journey to hell begins when he is awarded for an act of cowardice during a horrific mexican - american war battle earns him banishment to a desolate military outpost , a waystation for western travelers in the barren and icy sierra nevada mountains in california .
upon his arrival he is greeted by a small , motley group of soldiers , including his commanding officer , hart ( jeffrey jones ) , a previously intelligent and sophisticated man who has lost his aristocratic origin in the heat of battle and has pretty much given up on life ; toffler ( jeremy davies ) , the fort 's personal emissary to the lord ; knox ( stephen spinella ) , the veterinarian that plays doctor , who never met a bottle of whiskey he did n't like ; reich ( neal mcdonough ) , the no - nonsense soldier of the group ; and the seriously " over - medicated " cleaves ( david arquette ) , a cook whose meals are inspired more by peyote than culinary ambitions .
into this cold , bleak and bizarre world staggers a stranger , colqhoun ( robert carlyle ) , a half - starved scot who had been traveling with a group of settlers until they became snowbound .
seeking refuge in a cave , they soon ran out of food - and were forced to consume one another .
colqhoun barely escaped becoming an hors d'oeuvre himself .
our heroes then decide to journey through the mountains to find the survivors , and colqhoun tags along to help out .
soon it becomes clear that colqhoun 's tale has ramifications beyond cannibalism and the will to survive .
it involves an old indian myth called weendigo , which states that a man who eats the flesh of another steals that person 's strength , spirit and very essence .
his hunger becomes an insatiable craving : the more he eats , the more he wants , and the stronger he becomes .
there can never be enough , and death is the only escape . .
it 's all fairly sickening and you have to have a healthy stomach to see the whole movie through .
as professionally made as the movie is , you have to wonder who they thought would come piling into the theater to see this .
teen - age horror fans wo n't care because none of the soldiers look remotely like neve campell .
older folks might show up when they hear that the movie is actually a satire about the pioneer spirit , but they 'll be disappointed once all the raw meat starts getting waved in their faces .
but jokes aside , this is a film that is well worth watching .
it has wonderful and mature characters , that few horror film s can boast of and a strangely effective story that continues to electrify you till the end .
the two main characters are also the most interesting .
boyd is a simple , honest man tiered of war , killing and fear .
his sacred wish is to live a normal , quite life away from gunpowder and blood .
colqhoun is different .
he proves that a man , on the brink of death , would do anything to stay alive , including sacrificing his own soul .
he believes so much in this indian myth that he starts to change physically .
it is the power of the human mind and conviction that make miracles happen .
the atmosphere in " ravenous " is macabre and bizarre , scary and surreal .
completely isolated from the rest of the world , stands fort spencer .
here time stands still , and nothing changes .
the inhabitants are soldiers driven by war and pillage .
they are all somehow losers of society that have been banished -- men that are used to killing and have not done anything else in their entire life .
men that are nothing , and has nothing to loose .
the result is some sort of cabin fever .
cannibalism is more like a sick game for them .
since they find no pleasure in living , they find some excitement in killing and dying .
it 's like " who 's going to die first ?
" the unchangeable icy landscape , where birds do not sing and even wind does n't move the leaves on the trees , resembles kubrick 's " the shining " .
it 's hard to not get mad here !
one of the scary aspects of the film is a strange connection that the viewer establishes with the characters , and starts to understand them , although they have turned into half crazed killers .
music is another factor that strengthens the atmosphere .
a strange musical score , composed by michael nyman ( the piano ) and damon albarn , that often seems out of place , and in complete contrast to the image , somehow reflects the characters ' twisted reactions on the world and their situation .
the director herself stated that it was " ok to laugh " during the picture .
and i must admit that it is often very funny , in a strange way ( such as the wonderful quote : " . .
it 's lonely being a cannibal .
you do n't get that many friends . . .
"
or when colqhoun is quoting ben franklin , saying " eat to live .
do n't live to eat . " ) .
but mostly it is frightening and shocking as it goes deeper into the minds of these strange men and we witness their psychological change .
every actor does a great job . especially robert carlyle as the sinister and intelligent cannibal , and guy pearce as the moral and honest soldier , nagged by his undeserved honor .
this strange couple resemble lestat and lois in neil jordan 's ' interview with the vampire ' .
actually there are many amusing parallels and connections to vampire movies , since the topics are so alike .
" ravenous " starts wonderfully and continues to shock and scare until it gets to the finale , where it looses focus and gets too primitive and rather boring .
however these little failures do n't diminish the impression .
this is a bizarre dark comedy about the human mind and its change in different situations .
it is a scary fable about the monster that lurks in everyone 's soul , a dark side which we 're all trying to hide -- but it 's there -- always .
it is one of the most frightening and successful horror films since " the shining " .
" . . i said no food .
i did n't say there was nothing to eat . . .
"
- colqhoun , ravenous
Output: P