Where to watch Ravenous
4 Stars
Captain John Boyd receives a promotion after defeating the enemy command in a battle of the Mexican-American War, but because the general realizes it was an act of cowardice that got him there, he is given a backhanded promotion to Fort Spencer, where he is third in command. The others at the fort are two Indians, George and his sister, Martha, who came with the place, Chaplain Toffler, Reich, the soldier; Cleaves, a drugged-up cook; and Knox, who is frequently drunk. When a Scottish stranger named Colquhoun appears and recovers from frostbite almost instantly after being bathed, he tells a story about his party leader, Ives, eating members of the party to survive. As part of their duty, they must go up to the cave where this occurred to see if any have survived. Only Martha, Knox, and Cleaves stay behind. George warns that since Colquhoun admits to eating human flesh, he must be a Windigo, a ravenous cannibalistic creature.
Ravenous is a real surprise. The trailers and advertising materials gave the impression that this is a period horror film, and while that’s true, it’s also a helluva lot more. Ravenous is one of the most enjoyable movies of 1999. As I write this review, I see that Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu is doing fantastically at the box office. Ravenous has the tone and themes that also appear in Eggers’s work. I would bet the young filmmaker is at least a fan of this movie, or more, by using it as direct inspiration for some of his early films. The matter at hand: This film is over-deserving of reappraisal by modern cinephiles.
Guy Pearce, in one of his best films, is a handsome coward who’s incorrectly crowned a war hero. Pearce, a native Australian, is credible as a PTSD-stricken, civil war-time soldier. Robert Carlyle, in a mischievous performance, plays a character who goes from being pitied to fear. The role is an actor’s dream, and Carlyle is more than capable of pulling it off. The supporting cast is equally as strong; Jeffrey Jones, Neal McDonough, and John Spencer each make impactful use of their screen time. Ravenous is one of the “lost” or “overlooked” movies of its decade, and it’s time for this hidden gem to get discovered by a wider (and more accepting) audience.
Directed by: Antonia Bird
Written by: Ted Griffin
Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette