| Let’s see
– a period piece about cannibalism
with no bankable stars, filmed almost
entirely in Slovakia and the Czech
Republic by an arthouse director (Antonia
Bird, Priest) - I could see why
Fox would bankroll a project like that.
The film is set in pre-Civil war America,
where Capt. John Boyd (Guy Pearce, L.A.
Confidential) has just been honored
by his commanding officer for
infiltrating enemy lines during the
Mexican-American war. Little do they all
know, Boyd is really a yellow-bellied
coward who played dead while his platoon
was wiped out by the feisty Mexicans. Boyd is
assigned to Fort Spencer, which is
located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of
California. Upon his arrival, he finds a
wacky group of soldiers – a drunk, a
Bible-thumper, a pot-head, a hot-head,
two Indians and Ferris Bueller’s
principal. Then one night, they find a
strange settler (Robert Carlyle, The
Full Monty) who tells a ghastly story
of being caught in a blizzard and having
to share a cave with a blood thirsty
man-eater, who slowly killed and ate the
other members of his party. Intent on
bringing this savage to justice, the
military men set out to find his
cave…but is the stranger’s
story true or is it all just a trick to
lead them into a big, black pot filled
with onions and carrots?
Pearce is
fantastic, despite having few lines, and
comes off as a cross between Dead Man
Johnny Depp and Legends of the Fall
Brad Pitt. Carlyle really sinks his teeth
into his meaty role, making a real meal
of it (sorry). Ravenous also
features both breathtaking views and a
creepy score from Michael Nyman (Gattaca,
The Piano), but is definitely not
for the faint of heart.
1:40 –  for extreme violence, gore,
adult language and cannibalism
|
