Ravenous
Encyclopedia
Ravenous is a 1999 horror film directed by Antonia Bird
and starring Guy Pearce
, Robert Carlyle
and Jeffrey Jones
. The film revolves around cannibalism
in 1840s California
and some elements bear similarities to the story of the Donner Party
and that of Alferd Packer
. Screenwriter Ted Griffin
lists Packer's story, as recounted in a couple of paragraphs of Dashiell Hammett
's The Thin Man
, as one of his inspirations for Carlyle's character. The film's darkly humorous and ironic take on its gruesome subject matter have led some to label it a black comedy
. The film's unique score by Michael Nyman
and Damon Albarn
generated a significant amount of attention.
The film's production did not get off to a good start. Original director Milco Mancevski
left the production two weeks after shooting started. He was replaced by Bird at the suggestion of Carlyle, who had worked with Bird on the film Priest.
(Boyd is obviously a former officer in the Army of the Republic of Texas
, that merged with the US Army in 1846 - he still wears the Texas Army rank insignia of 2nd Lt.: one five pointed star on each shoulder strap). But in battle he fails to act while his unit is massacred. Playing dead, he is transported along with the other dead, with his commanding officer's blood dripping into his mouth, back to the Mexican headquarters
. In a moment of sudden bravery, he captures the Mexican command. For his heroism Boyd is promoted to Captain, but his commanding officer
realizes he is a coward and transfers him to the remote Fort Spencer in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
After Boyd joins the seven other inhabitants of Fort Spencer, a stranger named Colqhoun arrives and describes his wagon train
becoming lost in the Sierra Nevadas and being reduced to cannibalism to avoid starvation. The party's guide, a Colonel
Ives, had promised the party a shorter route to the Pacific Ocean but instead led them on a more circuitous route, and was then the one to lead their turn to cannibalism. The soldiers stationed at the fort see it as their duty to investigate and search for survivors, and so assemble a rescue party. Before they leave they are warned by their Native American
scout
, George, of the Wendigo
myth
; a story that a man consuming the flesh of his enemies takes their strength but becomes a demon cursed by a hunger for human flesh.
When they reach the cave where the party had taken refuge they realize that Colqhoun is Ives and has lured them into a trap. He had killed his five companions and sets about killing the soldiers from Fort Spencer one by one, including the commanding officer, Colonel Hart.
Boyd manages to escape the massacre by jumping off a cliff, breaking his leg in the process. He hides in a pit along with the body of a fellow soldier and eventually he eats some of the man's flesh to stay alive. When he finally limps back into the fort he is delirious and severely traumatized; none of the remaining soldiers (who did not meet Colqhoun) believe his wild tale, and a second expedition finds no bodies or any trace of the man. A temporary commander is assigned to the fort and to Boyd's horror it turns out to be Colqhoun, now cleaned up and calling himself Colonel Ives. The others still refuse to believe that Ives is the killer, especially after he bears no sign of the wounds inflicted on him during the massacre.
Ives tells Boyd that he used to suffer from tuberculosis
, but when a Native scout told him the Wendigo myth he "just had to try," murdering him, eating his flesh and in the process curing his maladies. Having murdered the expedition he led he now plans to use the fort as a base to do the same to other passing travelers; he compares the location of the fort, with the guaranteed supply of isolated migrants that it entails, to the notion of Manifest Destiny
that draws them there.
Boyd is suspected of murder after another soldier mysteriously dies and is chained up; he watches helplessly while the last officer is murdered by an unexpected ally of Ives: Colonel Hart, back from the dead after the massacre.
Ives saved Hart by feeding him his own comrades, and now Hart is addicted, like Colqhoun, to human meat. Ives wounds Boyd and forces him to make a choice: eat or die. Eventually Boyd gives in and eats a stew made out of the last officer killed, and his wound heals. But rather than join the two men in their conspiracy to convert General Slauson (who assigned Boyd to Fort Spencer in the first place), he convinces Hart to free him so he can kill Ives. Hart does so, but asks Boyd to kill him first as he no longer wants to live as a cannibal. A battle between Boyd and Ives takes place at the climax, with both men wounding each other badly, yet they won't die easily due to their new recuperative powers. Finally, Boyd forces Ives onto a large bear trap and springs it, pinning them both together. Ives taunts Boyd by telling him he'll eat him as soon as he dies, but Ives expires first. Boyd refuses to save himself by eating Ives' body and dies on top of his adversary.
Martha, George's sister, stumbles upon the bodies of both Ives and Boyd, closes the door, and walks away. General Slauson arrives. While his aide looks around, the general tastes the stew that was left on the fire, suggesting that he might unwittingly be carrying forward the Wendigo curse.
in 1,040 theaters, accumulating $1,040,727 over its opening weekend. It finished eighteenth for the weekend. The film went on to gross $2,062,405 domestically, far less than its reported $12 million budget.
, the film received 41% overall approval out of 34 reviews, and a 40% from the "Cream of the Crop". Roger Ebert
, gave Ravenous a better review, rating it 3 stars out of 4 and stating that it was "the kind of movie where you savor the texture of the filmmaking, even when the story strays into shapeless gore."
, Slovakia
and Durango, Mexico.
Antonia Bird
Antonia Bird is an English television drama and feature film director.-Life and career:Bird was born in London. She began her career at the Royal Court Theatre before moving to television in the mid 1980s, directing episodes of EastEnders , Casualty , and drama serials like Thin Air and The Men's...
and starring Guy Pearce
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
, Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
and Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor. He has appeared in many films and television series, but may be best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Dean of Students Edward R...
. The film revolves around cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
in 1840s California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and some elements bear similarities to the story of the Donner Party
Donner Party
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada...
and that of Alferd Packer
Alferd Packer
Alfred G. "Alferd" Packer was an American prospector who was accused of cannibalism during the winter of 1873-1874. First tried for murder, Packer was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter...
. Screenwriter Ted Griffin
Ted Griffin
Ted Griffin is an American screenwriter whose credits include Ravenous, Matchstick Men, and Ocean's Eleven.Born in Pasadena, California, Griffin graduated from Colgate University in 1993...
lists Packer's story, as recounted in a couple of paragraphs of Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
's The Thin Man
The Thin Man
The Thin Man is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in Redbook. Although he never wrote a sequel, the book became the basis for a successful six-part film series which also began in 1934 with The Thin Man and starred William Powell and Myrna Loy...
, as one of his inspirations for Carlyle's character. The film's darkly humorous and ironic take on its gruesome subject matter have led some to label it a black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
. The film's unique score by Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
and Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
generated a significant amount of attention.
The film's production did not get off to a good start. Original director Milco Mancevski
Milco Mancevski
Milcho Manchevski , usually credited as Milcho Manchevski, is a film director and screenwriter from Macedonia.-Biography:Milcho Manchevski wrote and directed the feature films "Before the Rain" , "Dust'" , Shadows" and "Mothers" , over 50 short forms, including “TENNESSEE” for Arrested Development...
left the production two weeks after shooting started. He was replaced by Bird at the suggestion of Carlyle, who had worked with Bird on the film Priest.
Plot
In an opening prologue during the Mexican-American War (1846 – 1848), Second Lieutenant Boyd fights in the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
(Boyd is obviously a former officer in the Army of the Republic of Texas
Texian Army
The Texian Army was a military organization consisting of volunteer and regular soldiers who fought against the Mexican army during the Texas Revolution. Approximately 3,700 men joined the army between October 2, 1835 during the Battle of Gonzales through the end of the war on April 21, 1836, at...
, that merged with the US Army in 1846 - he still wears the Texas Army rank insignia of 2nd Lt.: one five pointed star on each shoulder strap). But in battle he fails to act while his unit is massacred. Playing dead, he is transported along with the other dead, with his commanding officer's blood dripping into his mouth, back to the Mexican headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
. In a moment of sudden bravery, he captures the Mexican command. For his heroism Boyd is promoted to Captain, but his commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
realizes he is a coward and transfers him to the remote Fort Spencer in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
After Boyd joins the seven other inhabitants of Fort Spencer, a stranger named Colqhoun arrives and describes his wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
becoming lost in the Sierra Nevadas and being reduced to cannibalism to avoid starvation. The party's guide, a Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Ives, had promised the party a shorter route to the Pacific Ocean but instead led them on a more circuitous route, and was then the one to lead their turn to cannibalism. The soldiers stationed at the fort see it as their duty to investigate and search for survivors, and so assemble a rescue party. Before they leave they are warned by their Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
scout
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
, George, of the Wendigo
Wendigo
The Wendigo is a mythical creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans...
myth
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
; a story that a man consuming the flesh of his enemies takes their strength but becomes a demon cursed by a hunger for human flesh.
When they reach the cave where the party had taken refuge they realize that Colqhoun is Ives and has lured them into a trap. He had killed his five companions and sets about killing the soldiers from Fort Spencer one by one, including the commanding officer, Colonel Hart.
Boyd manages to escape the massacre by jumping off a cliff, breaking his leg in the process. He hides in a pit along with the body of a fellow soldier and eventually he eats some of the man's flesh to stay alive. When he finally limps back into the fort he is delirious and severely traumatized; none of the remaining soldiers (who did not meet Colqhoun) believe his wild tale, and a second expedition finds no bodies or any trace of the man. A temporary commander is assigned to the fort and to Boyd's horror it turns out to be Colqhoun, now cleaned up and calling himself Colonel Ives. The others still refuse to believe that Ives is the killer, especially after he bears no sign of the wounds inflicted on him during the massacre.
Ives tells Boyd that he used to suffer from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, but when a Native scout told him the Wendigo myth he "just had to try," murdering him, eating his flesh and in the process curing his maladies. Having murdered the expedition he led he now plans to use the fort as a base to do the same to other passing travelers; he compares the location of the fort, with the guaranteed supply of isolated migrants that it entails, to the notion of Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
that draws them there.
Boyd is suspected of murder after another soldier mysteriously dies and is chained up; he watches helplessly while the last officer is murdered by an unexpected ally of Ives: Colonel Hart, back from the dead after the massacre.
Ives saved Hart by feeding him his own comrades, and now Hart is addicted, like Colqhoun, to human meat. Ives wounds Boyd and forces him to make a choice: eat or die. Eventually Boyd gives in and eats a stew made out of the last officer killed, and his wound heals. But rather than join the two men in their conspiracy to convert General Slauson (who assigned Boyd to Fort Spencer in the first place), he convinces Hart to free him so he can kill Ives. Hart does so, but asks Boyd to kill him first as he no longer wants to live as a cannibal. A battle between Boyd and Ives takes place at the climax, with both men wounding each other badly, yet they won't die easily due to their new recuperative powers. Finally, Boyd forces Ives onto a large bear trap and springs it, pinning them both together. Ives taunts Boyd by telling him he'll eat him as soon as he dies, but Ives expires first. Boyd refuses to save himself by eating Ives' body and dies on top of his adversary.
Martha, George's sister, stumbles upon the bodies of both Ives and Boyd, closes the door, and walks away. General Slauson arrives. While his aide looks around, the general tastes the stew that was left on the fire, suggesting that he might unwittingly be carrying forward the Wendigo curse.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Guy Pearce Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A... |
Captain John Boyd |
| Robert Carlyle Robert Carlyle Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later... |
Colonel Ives / F.W. Colqhoun |
| David Arquette David Arquette David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and... |
Private Cleaves |
| Jeremy Davies Jeremy Davies (actor) Jeremy Davies is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying the interpreter Cpl. Timothy E. Upham in the film Saving Private Ryan and the physicist Daniel Faraday on the television series Lost. He most recently appeared in the FX series, Justified, as Dickie Bennett.-Early... |
Private Toffler |
| Jeffrey Jones Jeffrey Jones Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor. He has appeared in many films and television series, but may be best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Dean of Students Edward R... |
Colonel Hart |
| John Spencer John Spencer (actor) John Spencer was an American film and television actor. He was most widely known for playing White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy Award in 2002.-Early life:Spencer was born as John Speshock, Jr. in New York City, and... |
General Slauson |
| Stephen Spinella | Major Knox |
| Neal McDonough Neal McDonough Neal P. McDonough is an American film, television and voice actor.-Career:In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The... |
Private Reich |
| Joseph Runningfox Joseph Runningfox Joseph Runningfox is a Pueblo actor who resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.He was featured in Ravenous as George and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild.... |
George |
| Sheila Tousey Sheila Tousey Sheila May Tousey is an Native American actress.-Biography:Born in Keshena, Wisconsin, Tousey is a Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Indian, raised on both Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Reservations.-Filmography:-External links:*... |
Martha |
| Bill Brochtrup Bill Brochtrup Bill Brochtrup is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is known for playing "PAA John Irvin", the gay administrative aide, on NYPD Blue.... |
Lindus |
| Fernado Becerril | Mexican Commander |
| Gabriel Berthier | Mexican Commander |
| Pedro Altamirano | Mexican Commander |
| Tim Van Rellim | Mr. MacCready |
| Miezi Sungu | Jones |
| David Heyman David Heyman David Jonathan Heyman is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. He obtained the film rights to the Harry Potter series in 1999 and has produced all eight installments in the series of films.-Life and career:... |
Mr. Janus |
Box office performance
Ravenous opened on March 19, 1999 in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1,040 theaters, accumulating $1,040,727 over its opening weekend. It finished eighteenth for the weekend. The film went on to gross $2,062,405 domestically, far less than its reported $12 million budget.
Critical response
Ravenous received mixed reviews from professional critics, somewhat tending toward the negative. On Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the film received 41% overall approval out of 34 reviews, and a 40% from the "Cream of the Crop". Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, gave Ravenous a better review, rating it 3 stars out of 4 and stating that it was "the kind of movie where you savor the texture of the filmmaking, even when the story strays into shapeless gore."
Production
The film was shot on location in the Tatra MountainsTatra Mountains
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
and Durango, Mexico.
See also
- Cannibal! The MusicalCannibal! The MusicalCannibal! The Musical is a 1993 independent film directed by co-creator of South Park, Trey Parker, while studying at the University of Colorado at Boulder...
- The Donner PartyThe Donner Party (film)The Donner Party is a 2009 period drama film written and directed by T.J. Martin, and distributed by First Look International. It is based on the true story of the Donner Party, an 1840s westward traveling group of settlers headed for California...
– a 2009 film based on the ill-fated Donner Party expedition - Cannibalism in popular cultureCannibalism in popular cultureCannibalism is a recurring theme in popular culture, especially within the horror genre.-As a cultural norm:In many popular culture works that depict cannibalism, the act has been the cultural norm for a tribe or group of people, normally located in South America...