Editorials
Why You Should Chew On ‘Ravenous’ (1999)
Everybody has at least one favorite movie that they feel has been unjustly ignored by film buffs and consumers of popular culture alike. Sometimes, audiences and critics just weren’t ready for a film’s take on certain themes and emotions, or maybe the filmmakers just had the rotten luck of dealing with fickle distributors and unfair release dates, ending up with a product that no one watched. Whatever the case, it’s unfortunate that so many great films are forgotten without ever having had the chance to shine for general audiences. To me, Antonia Bird’s darkly comedic Ravenous is one of these poor movies, which was neglected despite being one of the best cannibal thrillers of all time!
Ravenous stars Guy Pearce in one of his best roles as Second Lieutenant Boyd, a cowardly soldier of the Mexican-American war who’s exiled to a remote northern outpost. As he begins mingling with the strange garrison holed up in the desolate settlement, Boyd and the others learn of an ill-fated caravan that became trapped in the wilderness and turned to cannibalism in order to survive. As the group sets off to search for survivors, they become involved in a supernatural pursuit featuring the Native American legend of the Wendigo and an extremely suspicious Colonel Ives, played to menacing perfection by Robert Carlyle. To spoil any more of this bloodthirsty plot would be a disservice to potential viewers, so suffice to say that things turn ugly fast.
Inspired by the literary works of Dashiell Hammett, Algernon Blackwood and the real life tragedy of the Donner party, Ravenous’ story is a deeply satirical commentary on the limits of human civility and the concept of manifest destiny. Ted Griffin (now known for his work on Ocean’s Eleven) was responsible for this peculiar script, though the final product is apparently immensely different from his original vision. The script sometimes devolves into a mess of tangled plot threads, but it still ultimately works. This chaos is mostly due to some behind-the-scenes drama that almost accidentally gifted us with such an original movie.
Though it was released in 1999, Ravenous had an extremely troubled production that only settled down shortly before the film hit theaters, making it a miracle that such an underrated classic (let alone a coherent film) exists at all. The original plan was to have the project be lead by Macedonian filmmaker Milcho Manchevski, with a promising original script penned by Griffin . However, Manchevski left the production three weeks into shooting, after dealing with constant rewrites, scheduling disputes and studio interference. Eventually, Robert Carlyle recommended that his close friend and collaborator Antonia Bird take up production of the film, and she led the team to a new, darkly humorous vision that takes more inspiration from Looney Tunes than conventional period pieces and horror movies. This ushered the way to a mesmerizing movie that may not be entirely consistent, but is always compelling.
How can you say no to this face?
Hell, even the film’s profoundly bizarre and memorable soundtrack was subject to controversy, as composers Damon Albarn (yes, the co-founder of the popular animated band Gorillaz) and Michael Nyman were forced to compete for credit due to increasingly confusing production demands. Nevertheless, this unintended collaboration resulted in a phenomenal selection of music, and possibly one of the best movie soundtracks of all time. Nyman and Albarn juxtapose silly banjo compositions with epic instrumentals as the tracks attempt to keep up with (and enhance) the film’s wildly fluctuating tone, greatly contributing to the experience. I still frequently listen to these versatile tracks, especially as background music for writing, and have even used to them to set the mood for tabletop RPGs! It’s just that good.
Music isn’t the only impressive part of Ravenous, as Bird’s deliberate pacing and camera placement take a decidedly offbeat approach to what could otherwise have been a straightforward slasher movie. This weird balance of campy action and genuine tension are what make Ravenous such a unique experience, though it’s also what made the film so off-putting for viewers back in 1999, as the movie was both a critical and commercial failure. Of course, over the years a few critics have claimed that this is one of the best undiscovered classics of the 90s, but not that many people have watched it since its original release.
Either way, the movie is still an exceptionally human and atmospheric take on the myth of the Wendigo, despite not featuring a traditional incarnation of the Native American monster onscreen. Though supernatural cannibalistic forces are definitely at work, the Wendigo here is more of a metaphor than a flesh and blood ghoul. That’s why, despite the humor, this snowy thriller still boasts some deeply disturbing themes and imagery, and would satisfy any horror hound looking for some substance with his visual meal.
Now, you can’t discuss Ravenous without bringing up the surprisingly solid performances from the entire cast, not just from Pearce and Carlyle (though the interaction between these two is certainly the heart of the film). Both David Arquette and the late John Spencer have notable roles in the film, and almost every minor character is at the very least interesting, which is a rare instance in horror movies in general. Despite its flaws, the script also does a great job at characterizing these unfortunate victims, as there’s more to the people than meets the eye.
If you can stomach this brutal yet witty tale of a primitive, dog-eat-dog America, you’ll be rewarded with a chilling yet entertaining gem that serves as proof that it’s more important for a story to be consistently interesting than traditionally “good”. It may be flawed, but all these qualities suggest that Ravenous contained a burst of creative lightning that likely won’t happen again, especially when you consider the muddled backstory behind the production. This is the kind of film that compels you to love it and its faults as well.
And that, my friends, is why you should watch Ravenous. Luckily for you, it’s streaming on Netflix right now, so what are you waiting for?
Auteur Filmmaking is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days in reference to big name directors like Quentin Tarantino and even Wes Anderson, but the truth is that film is a collective medium, and no one person can be responsible for every single aspect of a particular production. However, the smaller a film’s budget, the bigger the individual impact of every creative decision behind it – and the easier it becomes to identify a genuine auteur.
This isn’t necessarily a judgement of value, as blockbuster filmmaking comes with its own challenges and a good movie remains a miracle regardless of how big the crew is, but I’ve always been more interested in soulful b-movies produced by handfuls of passionate artists than blockbusters backed by creative armies.
That’s why I love exploring low-budget franchises that never left the hands of their original creators, as you really get to know the artists involved with these flicks and can accompany their evolution over a period of time. With that in mind, I’d like to invite readers to join me in this multi-part series as we look into a vampire saga helmed by one of the most fascinating auteurs of the 1990s. Naturally, I’m referring to Ted Nicolaou’s criminally underrated Subspecies!
The Birth of an Unlikely Horror Franchise
A proud graduate of the University of Texas’ Film program, Nicolaou got his start in the industry as a sound technician working on Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. From there, the filmmaker would go on to work for notorious indie producer Charles Band, the founder of both Empire Pictures and Full Moon Productions. According to Nicolaou, Band would usually contact him with an offer to direct a feature after more prominent filmmakers, such as the late, great Stuart Gordon, had already refused, meaning that his projects tended to have lower budgets and more inexperienced crew members.
The plans for Subspecies began almost immediately after the fall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, with screenwriter David Pabian turning in an initial draft of the film after a Romanian producer contacted Band and explained that Romanian tax incentives could cover the cost of film production there so long as Full Moon took care of the post-production process. Since Stuart Gordon was unwilling to travel to Romania, Ted Nicolaou ended up taking over the picture.
However, while the financial incentives meant that this Romanian-American co-production could look and feel much more expensive than it really was, with Nicolaou scouting for locations in advance and selecting real castle ruins to be featured in the movie, the director was soon faced with an incredibly difficult shooting process. In interviews, Nicolaou would later describe the experience as something of a nightmare, with language barriers and the generalized distrust of capitalist outsiders sabotaging many of the team’s plans for the film.
In fact, the script, which had already been altered by Band, ultimately had portions of it rewritten by both Jack Canson and Nicolaou himself in an attempt to adapt the story to their unique limitations.
Radu Is One of Horror’s Greatest Underrated Villains
In the finished film, which was released directly to video in 1991, we follow a pair of American anthropology students, Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and Lillian (Michelle McBride), as they reunite with their Romanian colleague Mara (Irina Movila) in her native land. The group intends to study the folklore surrounding the secluded town of Prejmer, but their research is cut short by the return of Radu Vladislas (Anders Hove) – the evil son of a vampire king (Angus Scrimm) who had previously established a truce with the region’s human residents. It’s now up to Radu’s human-loving half-brother Stefan (Michael Watson) to protect the girls from a fate worse than death as the power-hungry vampire seeks to control a magical artifact known as the Bloodstone.
Right off the bat, you may have noticed that the film’s premise sounds decidedly old-fashioned when compared to other vampire movies from around the same time. While the 1990s saw the rise of cool-looking bloodsuckers with badass elements borrowed from Westerns, as well as the sexy aristocrats of Anne Rice’s stories, Subspecies has a lot more in common with Nosferatu and the Hammer Horror series than any of its contemporaries.
This is both a blessing and a curse, as the film falls victim to overly familiar genre tropes while also standing out as a rare example of a ’90s vampire flick that isn’t afraid to flex its muscles as a Creature Feature. In fact, I’d argue that the presence of age-old clichés is a small price to pay when confronted with one of the most compelling vampire antagonists in all of cinema.
Named after Vlad the Impaler’s real-life brother, Anders Hove’s Radu is such a fascinating character and the main reason why Subspecies is still worth watching 35 years later. From his animalistic mannerisms to the joy he feels in simply existing as a chaotic creature of the night, and that’s not even mentioning the iconic makeup that almost certainly inspired the undead from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Radu is a hypnotic presence harkening back to a time when audiences didn’t mind purely evil villains that couldn’t be redeemed through tragic backstories or sex appeal.
Gothic Atmosphere on an Indie Budget
Of course, the film’s Romanian setting and authentic art direction do a lot of the heavy lifting whenever Radu isn’t around. From the masked festivals of the village to the visually interesting selection of local extras, Subspecies’ multicultural elements help it to stand out when compared to similar flicks from the ’90s.
That being said, Nicolaou’s unique eye for special effects and exciting action sequences – as well as Vlad Paunescu’s excellent cinematography – make the movie a delight for fans of expressionist cinema and old-timey gothic horror. While the crew is obviously dealing with limited resources, many of the flick’s blemishes (such as the odd stop-motion demons that serve Radu) end up feeling more like charming idiosyncrasies than actual flaws.
I’d argue that the only real issue here is pacing, as there are long stretches of film where the protagonists are simply bumbling around without realizing what’s really going on around them. Thankfully, the gorgeous visuals and surprisingly effective soundtrack usually make up for this. Besides, how can you dislike a movie where shotgun shells are loaded with rosary beads and our lead vampires duke it out in a dramatic swordfight that would feel out of place during the golden age of Hollywood?
Your overall enjoyment of Subspecies will mostly depend on whether or not you find low-budget corner-cutting and janky practical effects charming rather than distracting, but I know I’ll keep coming back to this Full Moon feature again and again in the future.
That being said, while this first movie is worth revisiting by its own merits as the birth of an indie horror icon, I’d like to invite you to join us as we look into the cult sequel Bloodstone: Subspecies II soon.
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