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.
Written by Scott Hutchins <scottandrewh@home.com>
According to Robert Carlyle's DVD commentary, vegetarian 'Guy Pearce' stoically underwent multiple takes of him eating the life-saving Knox stew (which was in fact a very nice lamb stew prepared by the film's caterers). Chomping into large chunks of meat and then spitting them out as soon as the director called 'cut'.
See more »
Goofs
Incorrectly regarded as goofs:
When Boyd and Reich enter the cave, Ives remains outside with hands tied. But, mysteriously, when the movie cuts back to Ives his hands are free and he is gesturing madly. The next time the movie cuts back to Ives he's holding a big knife in his hands, he could have dug up the knife from the dirt and used it to free his hands, although the rope is not on the ground by the hole.
See more »
Quotes
Ives:
[gun clicks]
That's sooo annoying. See more »