The movie Sinners has come out and it’s wonderful. A fully realized and masterful effort by Ryan Coogler combining the historical elements of the early 1900s African American experience with supernatural horror extremely well. As this film came out, there was another that came to my mind. While I can’t say these films are exactly the same, I felt that the few similar elements made me want to discuss it if only because its simultaneously really great and very obscure. The film that I am referring to is the 1999 horror film, Ravenous.
Ravenous follows Boyd, played by Guy Pearce who is a second lieutenant in the Mexican- American War. He is sent out to a remote outpost in the Sierra Nevada’s since while he took an enemy headquarters, he did it after hiding under the bodies of fellow dead soldiers in cowardice. The outpost is called Fort Spencer which is filled with other outcasts or strange individuals. One night, they encounter a man named Colqhoun who asks them for help with his wagon train. He tells the fort that they had to resort to cannibalism and that one of the heads of the train has gone crazy. They go to rescue the survivors but learn that not all is as it seems to be and it all ties to the Native American myth of the Wendigo. The myth is that that anyone who eat human flesh will grow stronger but will be taken by a desire to continue to consume more and more. Boyd not only falls into a chaotic nightmare revolving around someone who has fallen into this desire of consumption but feels his own urges since it was the blood from the bodies he hid under that led him to take the fort in the first place.
Ravenous is a very strange film. Not just in its concept and execution, but in its overall history as well. It started as a script by Ted Griffin inspired by a few historical events of cannibalism in the American frontier during the 1800s. Fox 2000, one of the smaller studios of Fox, bought the script. Director Milcho Manchevski, who directed the Oscar nominated film Before the Rain, was hired to make the film, but troubles quickly arose. Fox 2000 and executive Laura Ziskin clashed with Milcho and constantly complained about minor details, budget, and schedule. He was dismissed only 3 weeks into production and Raja Gosnell was brought in as a replacement (yes, live-action Smurfs and Home Alone 3 Raja Gosnell). While not confirmed, it was rumored that the cast mutinied and forced him off as well. Finally, actor Robert Carlyle got collaborator Antonia Bird to take over. While she finished the film, she admitted that Milcho was not at fault for leaving since she also faced constant issues with the studio.
I wanted to keep some details of the film sparse since it is a wild ride in terms of reveals and escalations. One of the reasons that I felt the Sinners comparison was apt is that there is a character in this film that resembles the villain in that film Remmick. Both characters embrace a horror trope to gain strength and create an ideology around it that they plan to push onto others. The element of cannibalism here is also an interesting metaphor that relates to elements of the time period the film is set in similar to the usage of vampires in Sinners. It is a bit more explicit here however since they straight up make the comparison between colonialist expansion and manifest destiny to the urges of cannibalism in how it is a constant drive of consumption.
What is great about this film is while there is an explicit focus in messaging, there can be many interpretations drawn from the text. The film could be seen as being about how cultural appropriation is used by other cultures for negative purposes since the film has a cultural myth from a discriminated group be used by used by a white man to gain personal strength. Bird mentioned that the elements of cannibalism can also be seen as a metaphor for addictive drug use or the element of general consumption in American culture and how there’s are pressures from outside cultural forces whether it be commercial systems or active pushers who urge individuals to keep going back to take more and more.
Many people classify this movie as a horror-comedy. I feel that this is not an explicit comedy, but more an off-color film that uses bizarre elements to throw the audience off guard. Less structured jokes and more situational strangeness. There are funny moments, but there’s a very unnerving feeling all over this movie that makes awkward moments feel uncomfortably creepy. The concept on its own is weird as well since its a more gritty and grounded film with its supernatural elements being more implicit or less flashy. There are no monsters or spirits, but people heal from wounds almost like magic by consuming flesh. In that sense, its horror feels more unique since its more of a slow burn and psychologically driven with spurts of aggressive violence. A lot of it is focused on Boyd’s internal emotional conflicts with his emotions and inward urges with cannibalism while having to deal with the threat to him and the fort. The villain of the piece, who I won’t spoil, is simultaneously vicious and compelling in how he rationalizes his goals with using the Wendigo curse for larger purposes, but still an absolutely terrifying force of nature.
There is also the score by Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn of Gorillaz fame. It might be one of the most bizarre and unique film scores I’ve ever heard since its focus is more on looping and a mixture of time appropriate instruments and more modern sounds. There is not too much thematic consistency, and focus is instead given to distinctive musical attributes based on the needs of certain sequences. The music around the fort is played extremely out of tune, almost like a middle school band, which gives a lot of personality and character to the setting and those living there. The climax feels less like a western showdown and more like something out of a Resident Evil or Silent Hill game in terms of instrumentation and tone. Another highlight is when Colqhoun tells his story where a looping, charming piece starts and is overlapped by more intense music as it keeps playing. A memory of a happier time being overtaken by the horrors unfolding. There is one musical moment in particular that I don’t want to spoil, but it follows one of the tensest sequences in the film and perfectly reflects the off-kilter tone and is simultaneously hilarious and genuinely off-putting.
Despite all the studio meddling, Fox did little to promote or give attention to Ravenous at the time and it flopped when it came out. In the years since, it’s been given more attention, though not to the extent of many other cult films. It’s relatively forgotten by most which is a shame since I loved it for its unique characteristics and odd tone. There isn’t a horror film quite like this one and I feel that it deserves more eyes on it. Horror, more than any genre, can be more diverse and multi-faceted than most others due to the variety of subjects that can be given focus. Sinners was a more recent example and brought to mind Ravenous since both use horror in a historical angle and bring new spins on a usual horror trope. There are many horror films that have cannibalism as a focus since it is a disturbing subject, but Ravenous is such a unique take on the subject and is more than worth your time because of that.
