Customer Reviews
Rent it (if you must) but be warned... - By: R. Carpenter, 03 Jan 2008 
Having read the other reviews I rented this last week & wished I hadn't, the plot seems to be missing its beginning & its ending (don't be fooled into thinking its about werewolves) & the soundtrack was so iritating I considered watching with the sound off!
I stuck it out as there are a few good moments & I kept hoping it would get more interesting. I definately expected more as Robert Carlyle & David Arquette have both made some good films but this was not one of them.
A GREAT PYSCHOLOGICAL FILM - By: stuart, 02 Nov 2007 
In 1847, Captain John Boyd, (Guy Pearce) is sent to an Army fort in the wilderness of California & finds that the place is full of nuts. Col. Hart, (Jeffrey Jones) is the most sane there, & while he starts to get acclimated to the post, a stranger, F.W. Colqhoun, (Robert Carlyle) staggers into camp, telling a chilling tale about his group stranded in the mountains & resorting to cannibalism to keep themselves alive. As he leads them to the site of his group, his cannibalistic urges come out, & he snaps, attacking & killing part of the group. Boyd makes it out & goes to report it to his commanding officers, who are skeptical of his account. As it becomes more & more obvious that the new man in camp, Col. Ives, (Carlyle again) is killing the others in camp to satiate his hunger, Boyd tries to stop him before it's too late.
The Good News: This is one of the better psychological films out there. The fact that it deals with such a taboo subject as cannibalism makes it alll the better. It puts it right center-square, & while it's not the center of the story much in the second half, it's still a great mind-screwing film. The power to control a forbidden desire & the consequences of letting it loose & overcome you is a great story to tell, & it does have a great way of playing out. It's a great character driven account, & it's not that bad to watch. In between the psychological ordeals, the film does have some nice moments elsewhere. The initial discovery of the trap is genuinely creepy, with the descent into the cave a true mood scene. The dim lights, the twisting nature of the cave, & the grim truth at the end of it are alll effectively creepy, & may even get out a jump. There is a good deal of gore here, & while it may not pour blood down the screen, what we see is expertly done.
The Bad News: The only real complaint about this one is that the film wasn't realty about cannibalism as much as the reviews have said it to be about. The human-eating is only a smalll aspect of the film, & it doesn't concern as much screen-time as much as it's marketed as. In spite of that, it takes too long for things to happen. After an initiallly promising set-up, the rest of it is a bit slow to fully explain itself. It's normal under the conditions of the film, but with it being more psychological than straight-up, the slow pace is felt even more strongly. It's not that distracting, but it is apparent.
The Final Verdict: This one plays out ,pre as a thriller, but it's still worthy entertainment. Don't go in expecting a film like "Alive" & you should be fine. The cannibalistic theme is present in here, but it's not the focal point.
Dark humour - By: Evey, 20 Jul 2007 I thought this film was absolutely hilarious. Guy Pearce was the moody, curious man with very few lines (in fact the first uttered line in the film was a long time waiting!) & robert carlyle was just oustanding, he made me laugh from beginning to end. The part where the guy woke up accusing him of licking him, I was bursting at this point.
There are some creepy moments granted, but there is a sketch in the woods with music which reminded me of Billy Connelly, again very funny.
Basicallly the film takes a look at cannibalism with an eerie twisted sense of humour.
You are who you eat - By: Kate Harrison, 23 Jan 2007 
This has got to be the creepiest film I have ever seen. No matter how many time you watch it, the it makes your skin crawl & the hairs on the back of you neck stand up.
Set in the Sierra Nevadas, during the Mexican/American war in the eighteen hundreds, Ravenous tells the story of Captain Boyd, sent out to the remote Fort Spencer on a back-handed promotion after capturing an enemy fort through less than honourable means. The relative peace, is shattered however, when a stranger named Colhoun turns up one night, frostbitten & telling a spine-chilling tale of cannibalism when he & his fellow travellers became trapped in the mountains. Setting out on a rescue mission for the remaining travellers, it soon becomes apparant to the skeleton crew of Fort Spencer that Colhoun is not alll that he claims to be... Can Boyd save himself & the others from Colhoun...and his own cravings?
Get ready for a film full of human flesh-eating, madness-tinged thrills, set to a backdrop of a truly amazing soundtrack of music that adds buckets to the tension & suspense.
Also, make sure you watch the wolf-pit scene, with the sound turned well up, if you want the full shudder-inducing effect. anyone who's seen it will know exactly what I'm talking about!
Dances With Cannibals - By: Green Man Music, 30 Sep 2006 Set during the era of the U.S.-Mexican war, Ravenous follows the story of a soldier who is left for dead by the Mexicans in a pile of blood-soaked bodies awaiting burial. When he escapes & returns to the army, he has changed somewhat ...
With the story seeing him posted out into a dilapidated fort on the distant frontier by a potty commander, the beginning of the film has a "Dances With Wolves" feel about it.
His first mission with his rag-tag team is to respond to a cry for help from a survivor of a wagon travelling through the frontier, telling tales of murder & cannibalism. But alll is not as it seems, & he soon discovers that there is a more supernatural force at work here to contend with. Given that the enemy requires human meat to maintain supernatural qualities, the cannibal element in this film is essentiallly a vampiric one.
The atmosphere throughout the film ranges through morbid, tense & exciting, though is occasionallly spoiled a little by the use of an up-beat score at inappropriate times. There is some good creepy music too, however, although I can't decide if I like the electronicallly produced folky number; it seems to clash with the film's otherwise good authenticity a little.
In summary, a creepy supernatural horror with traces of "Dances With Wolves" in setting & premise, & a vampire story in content. Good stuff.
