Ravenous Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Ravenous Blu-ray Movie Review

Hungry for something a little different?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 2, 2014

Sometimes even the difference of just one letter in word can change a meaning or in certain cases create hilarity (at least if you have a somewhat skewed sense of humor). My late mother mailed me a television listing years ago that had appeared in the Salt Lake City Tribune advertising an upcoming Public Broadcasting documentary about a certain ill fated pioneer expedition in the mid-19th century that descended into cannibalism when the hapless members were isolated over a particularly devastating winter. The name of this special, according to the advertisement? The Dinner Party. Ravenous is a 1999 film that toys with certain elements of the dinner—er, Donner party, as well as the somewhat similarly sordid tale of Alferd Packer, in a more or less traditional horror setting. The film features a well constructed plot and some really good performances, and if it doesn’t quite catch the brass ring, it’s generally unsettling and provides a great showcase for Robert Carlyle, an actor who has become famous for disappearing into a variety of sometimes odd characters. Ravenous was a disaster in its theatrical exhibition despite a fairly wide opening and at least lukewarm (if not ecstatic) reviews, but with the ensuing years of cookie cutter horror offerings glutting the home video market, it now seems like an unusually original and spooky entry into at the very least the cannibalism subgenre. The film’s screenwriter was Ted Griffin, who went on to such blockbusters as Ocean's Eleven, but who was here making his debut in a rather spectacularly twisted (in both senses of that word) fashion. Ravenous has a number of fun surprises along the way, along with introducing a couple of new elements into cannibal mythology.

As the film opens, Lieutenant Boyd (Guy Pearce, Memento, L.A. Confidential ) is being fêted as a hero in the Mexican-American War of circa 1847. Boyd had single-handedly taken a Mexican command outpost after his entire battalion had been slaughtered, but it soon is revealed that an initial act of cowardice on Boyd’s part is what set him up for his later victory. When his commanding officer is apprised of this new information, he banishes Boyd, now a newly minted Captain, to the isolated Fort Spencer in the Sierra Nevadas.

When Boyd arrives at the Fort, he’s met by a rather motley crew of soldiers and Native American aides, including the post commander Colonel Hart (Jeffrey Jones), who seems resigned to his fate in this backwater. Boyd is haunted by his memories of his cowardice, but he attempts to matriculate into the troop. One night Boyd is shocked to see something out of a window and the soldiers discover a haggard, near starved individual named Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle), who recounts a tale of horror involving a madman named Colonel Ives who had cannibalized a wagon train after it became perilously lost in the snow. Hart puts together a rescue mission to see if there are any survivors, a mission which includes a frightened Colqhoun, and which is undertaken despite the warnings of the camp’s Native American scout George (Joseph Runningfox), who warns of the Algonquin myth of Wendigo, a tale which includes aspects of addiction to human flesh and powers granted by cannibalistic activity.

It’s at this point that Ravenous takes the first of several nicely ingenious plot turns which should not be discussed. Suffice it to say that Colqhoun’s tale had elements of the truth, but not the “whole” story, and once the complete tale is revealed, Boyd is left in a precarious position where he is surrounded by some hungry, if generally affable, cannibals who want to make Fort Spencer a kind of 24 hour restaurant catering to their dietary needs.

There’s an element of black humor running through the film, but I personally disagree with those who see the film as an out and out horror comedy. The colorful characters (especially Hart) have a comedic edge, but there’s a feeling of melancholy and subterfuge that runs stronger in the film than any perceived hilarity, however dark and twisted. The supporting cast here is filled to the brim with great turns by stalwarts like Neal McDonough, David Arquette and Jeremy Davies, but this is basically a “two hander” that plays out between Pearce and Carlyle, both of whom are excellent. Director Antonia Bird (who came to the film after the first director was let go) captures the grittiness of a wintry fortress that is beset by absolute carnage. Griffin's reach might slightly exceed his grasp here, for the film's subtext of eminent domain and the "hunger" for power and even territory are simultaneously obvious and not especially helpful to the film's otherwise almost playfully acerbic tone. Ravenous may not be a culinary masterpiece, but it certainly gives horror fans more than enough to chew on.

Ravenous Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ravenous is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory (an imprint of Shout! Factory) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.36:1. Shout! licensed this title from 20th Century Fox which provided the label with what is obviously an older master. While colors are generally accurate looking and quite nicely saturated at times, including the grisly scenes of blood and gore that are frequent side dishes, the overall appearance of this high definition presentation is surprisingly soft, something that's only exacerbated by frequent focus problems that are inherent in the source elements. The source elements are in decent but far from pristine shape, with easily evident dust and the like (along with a couple of odd anomalies that look like small slashes of light). There is also an overly smooth appearance that suggests denoising (though some fine grain is still evident in the outdoor scenes), as well as easily visible haloing, especially when various characters are seen against the stark white snowbound backgrounds. Dark scenes suffer from a lack of shadow detail and occasional compression artifacts, though contrast is generally good. The best news here is that Ravenous looks considerably better in motion than some of the screenshots accompanying this review might suggest, but diehard fans of the film are probably going to be at least disappointed (if not downright distraught) over the general appearance of this release.

Ravenous Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ravenous features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks, both of which offer great fidelity and clarity, especially with regard to the twangy, roots based score by Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly as well in both of these tracks. The 5.1 track nicely opens up the soundfield both with regard to the score and ambient environmental effects, with a great sense of space in such sequences as the men foraging through the forest in search of survivors, where everything from the crunch of boots in deep snow to a raging river surround the listener in a very appealingly immersive manner. Dynamic range is also nicely wide throughout both tracks.

Ravenous Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Antonia Bird and Composer Damon Albarn. This is the best of the three commentaries on the disc for my money, with Bird getting into some interesting information about the rigors of the shoot and Albarn providing more occasional comments about the film's very distinctive score.


• Audio Commentary with Screenwriter Ted Griffin and Actor Jeffrey Jones. Perhaps surprisingly, this is a bit on the sporadic side and consists of things like Jones asking Griffin whether or not certain elements were in his original screenplay. There's some good stuff here, but overall it's a bit lackluster.


• Audio Commentary with Actor Robert Carlyle. Most surprising of all is this even more sporadic commentary which is further hampered by Carlyle's very thick brogue, making some parts hard to understand (Carlyle does a pitch perfect American accent which might have been preferable).


• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Antonia Bird (1080p; 12:06)


• Interview with Jeffrey Jones (1080p; 20:42) has Jones discussing what he sees as the film's wider ramifications.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:00)


• TV Spot (1080p; 00:32)


• Photo Gallery (1080p; 2:47) features looks at costume design and production design.


• Music and Effects Track is presented via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

Ravenous Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ravenous nicely plays upon certain tropes in the cannibal subgenre and Griffin's screenplay has (at least) two very nice surprises in store. The film's tone is slightly odd at times, as may have been unavoidable given the subject matter, but the performances are splendid and Bird's direction sharp and focused. Unfortunately, the film itself is neither sharp nor focused in this new high definition presentation, something that may give the film's cult pause before forking over their hard earned cash. Those with relatively smaller screens will probably be relatively pleased with this presentation, but those with larger displays or who blow this through a projector will probably be less than thrilled.