Ravenous (1999)

In a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal.

Director:

Antonia Bird

Writer:

Ted Griffin

Stars:

Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Guy Pearce	...	Capt. John Boyd
Robert Carlyle	...	Col. Ives / F.W. Colqhoun
David Arquette	...	Pvt. Cleaves
Jeremy Davies	...	Pvt. Toffler
Jeffrey Jones	...	Col. Hart
John Spencer	...	Gen. Slauson
Stephen Spinella	...	Knox
Neal McDonough	...	Pvt. Reich
Joseph Runningfox	...	George (as Joseph Running Fox)
Bill Brochtrup	...	Lindus
Sheila Tousey	...	Martha
Fernando Becerril	...	Mexican Commander
Gabriel Berthier	...	Mexican Commander
Pedro Altamirano	...	Mexican Commander
Joseph Boyle	...	U.S. Blonde Soldier

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

cannibalism | cannibal | homoeroticism | mexican american war | wendigo | 

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Taglines:

Survival is the only option.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for considerable gore and strong violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The part of Martha was originally written as George's brother, rather than his sister.

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Goofs

While Captain Boyd was lying in the hole after falling from the cliff the phases of the moon were shown to illustrate the passing of time. It was clearly a waxing moon on the northern hemisphere (The "arc" was on the right side). But the moon was becoming thinner in time just like a waning moon.

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Quotes

Ives: Eat to live. Don't live to eat.

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Crazy Credits

The film begins with a famous quote by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900): "He that fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster." Nietzsche's surname is misspelled as 'Nietzche'. Shortly after, a comedic quote appears below Nietzsche's: "Eat Me" - Anonymous.

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Alternate Versions

Finnish video version is cut by 58 seconds.

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Connections

Spoofs The Birth of a Nation (1915)

User Reviews

A story to chill the bones...

I love cinema. I mean, I truly LOVE cinema but sometimes you have the face the fact that it can be a pretty hypocrite business from time to time. Especially since the last ten years, everybody complains that there aren't any good horror movies being made. Only uninspired Scream clones and rip-off's. But that is a lie !! There are good and original thriller being made but they just don't get many attention because they are "politically incorrect". Ravenous is a perfect example of this. Made in 1999 and it stars a few familiar faces but it went straight to video in my country and I never saw it advertised. That's a real shame because movies like this prove that there are still young directors active who're creative and talented. It's up to the fans to discover movies like this and ignore the overload of mainstream slashers.

Ravenous has a very solid plot. simple but effective and supported by terrific acting performances. It shows a few of the darkest aspects of the human mind and, personally, I'm really intrigued by that. Subjects like Cannibalism and ancient Indian mythes are fascinating and when they're placed in a historical setting ( Mexican-American was of 1850 ) it even becomes better. This results in Ravenous being a very atmospheric and tense movie experience that you won't forget easily. The tension is built up slowly ( a bit too slow at first ) and the atmosphere of the cold and lonely Sierra Nevada is being portrayed very well. Guy Pierce is a great choice to play Captain John Boyd. His character is a cowardly figure with a complete lack of authority. He has to go through a battle himself and he's very messed up. The shows is obviously stolen by Robert Carlyle who is used to working with director Antonia Bird. His character is demonic and - duh - ravenous. A terrific performance and Carlyle manages to play his character with a lot of black humor and satanic charisma. David Arquette's role is pretty useless but it was great to see Jeffrey Jones again. Jones is a very decent actor and - even though he's frequently cast by Tim Burton - he's often overlooked and ignored. Ravenous is beautifully shot and some of the effects and make-up is pretty gruesome and explicit. But it isn't just mindless gore and violence so no complaints there. In fact, no complaints at all....Ravenous is a breath-taking movie from beginning till end and a must for anyone who believes that the genre of horror is dead.

Details

Country:

UK Mexico USA Czech Republic

Language:

English Italian Spanish Washoe

Release Date:

19 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ravenous

Filming Locations:

Tatranska National Park, Tatra Mountains, Slovakia

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,040,727, 21 March 1999

Gross USA:

$2,062,405

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,062,405

Company Credits

Production Co:

ETIC Films, Engulf & Devour Productions Inc., Fox 2000 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1