Ravenous (1999)

Ravenous is an odd duck all around: a rare horror film that's set on the American frontier circa the mid-nineteenth century and which references native American folklore despite being made in an era where big-budget Hollywood horror was especially loud and obnoxious (looking at you, 1999's remake of The Haunting,) and yet mostly manages to completely avoid falling into that trap. No, this looks like a seventies horror film through and through, and the concept certainly feels a bit old-fashioned as well, seeing as it's rooted in actual indigenous beliefs and legend. It's a solid take on the wendigo lore, though it's certainly not without its issues.

At first, you assume the film is going to be some kind of Carpenter-esque horror film where our characters are trapped and besieged by forces outside that want to do them harm, but then it resets itself halfway through and goes in a completely different direction. The plot doesn't follow traditional structure, but it never really loses its footing, and I'd say I was happy with how the story played out. The thematic dusting of manifest destiny and quotes from great American thinkers adds enough to give it a bit of depth, but it never turns into outright allegory. It's really a story about the slippery slope of acting selfishly and without regard for morality; giving in to your carnal desires, as it were. At one point, I almost wondered if the filmmakers were going to take their mythical beast in a decidedly political direction, similar to that made-for-TV film Tilbury that I covered a little while back, but then I barfed because I remembered Tilbury and must have blacked out, because I can't remember what happened next. 

Anywho, I think the screenplay is probably the strongest aspect of the film up next to its visuals. The only real bummer is the presence of self-aware jokes and prods that feel super out of place and obligatory for the period it was written in, but they're hardly enough of a presence to drag the film down much, and of course, your mileage may vary on whether or not you thought the film needed a bit more color in its cheeks or not. Early on, quirky title animations complete with over-the-top sound effects didn't bode well, but once it gets going, this is a film that takes its story and the period it's set in seriously and, for the better part of the film, does both aspects justice.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my ramblings, visually the film looks vintage and entirely removed from the year it was made, if still a little uninspired cinematography-wise. Indeed, it would be quite convincing were it not for the score, which I'm very divided on. On the one hand, perhaps I'm reading too much into Damon Albarn's contributions and overestimating them. Perhaps he and Michael Nyman are equally to blame for its clumsiness, but in either event: it just doesn't work. Later on, things smooth over a bit and the score becomes more reserved and atmospheric, but in early scenes, there is a consistent clash between what the composers are trying to do versus what the cast and crew are trying to do visually. Scenes that should be spooky are pulse-pounding and intense. Scenes that should be pulse-pounding and intense are instead scored with comedy bluegrass music, like we're suddenly watching Last House on the Left, only much more expensive and 'hip.' It feels like stunt-casting to have Albarn's name attached, but even I'd be lying if I said I couldn't see some potential in the Gorillaz scoring a western, but it doesn't pan out quite the way it sounds on paper. It ends up coming across like a video game soundtrack from around the same era, complete with cheap midi instrumentation that stands in stark contrast to the lavish, ornate visuals. This kind of instrumentation could hack it in Final Fantasy VII, but in a period film? Could you guys really not bring in a few woodwind players and record them for an afternoon?

What else is there to talk about? Oh, yeah: the cast does a handsome job with the material, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice some pokiness, especially from David Arquette's Toffler and more than a few moments where things get a bit silly and I wonder if it is intentional or not, but overall, he's memorable and effective enough in the role. Guy Pierce and Robert Carlyle are giving it their all and it shows every minute they're onscreen, enough so that it forgives some inconsistency in their fellow performers. Otherwise, this film contains probably the single best and most protracted scene of someone rolling down a hill I've ever seen, and though the stock fight sound effects threaten to ruin it, that final Rasputin-like fight to the death was pretty sick. The only other thing to mention is the transfer that Shout! Factory is hawking: this blu-ray looks an awful lot like a DVD transfer, and while it would make for a phenomenal-looking DVD, as a Blu-ray it's decidedly less impressive and it does not do justice to the detailed period visuals. Regardless, if you're looking for a fun horror film, especially one having to do with the wendigo as god knows there are far too few of them worth your time, you could do a lot worse than Ravenous, though I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the whole project is kind of forgettable. And besides, shouldn't a wendigo film take a little more influence from werewolf movies than vampire movies? When I think wendigo, I think half-human, half-beasts, created from desperate hunger driving men to eat men, but in this story, when you eat a bite of human steak, you somehow gain super strength and a magical healing factor, and this ends up being its biggest sin and something that in hindsight, really holds it back. (And for those of you out there that delve into the spooky side of video games as well, the influence of this film on the premise of Until Dawn is quite clear and a rare case where the game actually took the material and did even greater stuff with it, which is always nice to see.)