Ravenous is a 1999 horror comedy Western cannibal film starring Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeffrey Jones and David Arquette.
After the original director Milcho Manchevski was fired three weeks into production, he was replaced by Bird at the suggestion of actor Robert Carlyle.
Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn composed the film's score, which generated a significant amount of interest for its quirky and inventive use of loops, instruments and musical structure.
[4] Screenwriter Ted Griffin wrote a script that combined elements from the Donner Party and that of Alfred Packer, the real-life "Colorado Cannibal" who survived by eating five companions after becoming snowbound in the San Juan Mountains in the 1870s.
By turning the act into an insatiable hunger, the voracious need to eat human flesh is equated to the all-consuming pursuit of power and wealth that was inherent to the expansionist attitudes of those seeking to settle the American frontier in the 19th century.
His heroism earns him a Captain's promotion but when General Slauson learns of the cowardice through which victory was achieved he posts Boyd into exile at Fort Spencer, a remote military outpost high in the Sierra Nevadas.
Shortly after Boyd joins the seven-man garrison at Fort Spencer, a stranger named Colqhoun arrives and describes how his wagon train became lost in the mountains.
Ives tells Boyd that he used to suffer from tuberculosis but when a Native scout told him the Wendigo myth he "just had to try" by murdering him, eating his flesh and in the process curing his illness.
But rather than join the two men in their conspiracy to convert General Slauson who is due to arrive at the fort shortly, Boyd convinces Hart to free him so he can kill Ives.
[6] The script was loosely inspired by the Donner Party, as well as the story of Alfred Packer, an American prospector and former Union Army soldier who murdered a group of traveling companions, ate them and claimed to law enforcement that he did so out of self-defense and survival.
As filming commenced, Manchevski says Ziskin sent him notes on the rushes "every day", complaining about the amount of dirt on the costumes and the number of closeups.
She, too, would criticize the circumstances under which the filming was to take place, describing the allocated studio space as "horrible" and the scheduling of the shoot "manipulative".
"[8] Though Bird said the film is "more about social misfits than the whole seductive nature of power", she stated, "I would like to think that someone who enjoyed it (Ravenous) only as gallows humor would start to think.
[8] In addition, she said that the cannibalism can be interpreted as an addiction to drugs or a yearning for eternal youth, which manifests in modern-day Western society as the consumption of junk food or the obsession with plastic surgery.
Instruments used for the score were from the film's historical period and included the violin, guitar, banjo, jaw harp and squeeze box.
The site's critical consensus reads: "Ravenous tries bringing cannibal horror into an Old West setting, ending up with an uneven blend that will fail to satisfy most fans of either genre".
[16] Roger Ebert rated the film three out of four stars, and stated that it was "the kind of movie where you savor the texture of the filmmaking, even when the story strays into shapeless gore.
"[17] He noted the film is "more interested in atmosphere than plot", but conceded Bird "shows she's a real filmmaker...and has an instinct for scenes like the one where a visiting general savors the broth of a bubbling stew".
"[17] Janet Maslin of The New York Times reviewed the film negatively, and said: "a potentially strong cast makes its way in deadly earnest through material that's often better suited to a Monty Python skit".
[19][3] In a retrospective review in Rolling Stone, David Ehrlich wrote, "Ravenous butchers the fantasy that the United States is a banquet with room for everyone at the table.