Ravenous MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -3

Captain John Boyd (Guy Pearce) has just been assigned to the desolate and run down Fort Spencer in 1847. When he arrives, he finds a number of soldiers, including the cook (David Arquette) and their leader, Colonel Hart (Jeffery Jones). Colqhon (Robert Carlyle), a mysterious stranger, stumbles into their fort not long after Boyd arrives, and he tells his story of being stranded in a cave with nothing to eat. He and his group did the unthinkable - they ate the first to die. But it got out of hand and people began to kill each other for food. Colqhon fled for his life, thinking he would be the next one killed for a meal. What the soldiers dont realize is that Colqhon holds an incredible secret, one that will force each of them to fight for their lives to avoid becoming the next meal. This leads to many gruesome scenes of canabalistic violence. This film turns out to be a bit more clever than it may seem, and it is filled with beautiful scenes of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains. It just might perform moderately well at the box office.

In its favor, RAVENOUS asks a lot of questions regarding the nature of truth, happiness, and morality. These questions are all brought up in the context of whether cannibalism is ever acceptable, and they make for interesting discussion topics. Christian ideas flow throughout the film, but not necessarily in a positive light. The main cannibal implies that he is in some way the giver of life and power, and he equates himself with Christ in this way. This is obviously a distortion, because cannibalism is not the way to attain eternal life, and the film seems to recognize this in the end. References are also made to an Indian myth that says cannibals gain the power of the person they consume, and the films action implies this is true. Violence abounds throughout, and it is often excessive and extremely gory. Several scenes have huge amounts of blood that are sickening to watch. Surprisingly there is little offensive language and only one brief scene of male rear nudity. However, RAVENOUS is definitely a film that will make viewers lose their appetite because of the extreme violence and gore.

Preview Reviewer: John Adair
Distributor: 20th Century Fox Film Corp., 10201 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035