History Film / Ravenous1999

->''"[[HeWhoFightsMonsters He who fights monsters must see to it that he does not become a monster]]."''

->''"It's lonely being a cannibal. Tough making friends."''

A drama/horror/black comedy Western released in 1999, written by Ted Griffin and directed by Antonia Bird. Starred Creator/GuyPearce, Creator/RobertCarlyle, Creator/JeremyDavies, Creator/JeffreyJones, Creator/DavidArquette, and Creator/NealMcDonough.

** In the film, the {{Wendigo}} myth is (broadly) true, and furthermore a human who eats human flesh is granted SuperStrength, a HealingFactor, and [[{{Panacea}} it cures disease as well]]. It also [[HorrorHunger is so addictive it makes heroin seem mild and harmless by comparison]].

** In the film, the {{Wendigo}} myth is true; a human who eats human flesh is granted SuperStrength, a HealingFactor, and [[{{Panacea}} it cures disease as well]]. It also [[HorrorHunger acts as a drug that makes heroin seem about as addictive as artificial sweetener.]]
** It's all but said that the reason why Boyd was able to perform his sole heroic act in the war was due to this. He gained his sudden burst of strength and determination after having the blood of other officers accidentally pouring into his mouth, so he appears to have gotten a temporary, watered down version of Wendigo's power.

* SadlyMythtaken: The film mixes the mutually exclusive wendigo myth with cannibalism believes from equatorial Africa. To elaborate: the wendigo story is an American First-Nations myth told to ''discourage'' cannibalism.[[note]]Basically, the cannibal will never again be able to eat enough to not be hungry after partaking in human flesh, because they will instantly grow bigger every time they eat something.[[/note]] Gaining the victim's strength and vitality is an African myth told to ''encourage'' it. Notably, both George and Martha, the only native characters in-universe, follow the "proper" interpretation of the wendigo myth, and consider the sole prospect that someone would willingly succumb to such a horrible curse for the ''illusion'' of gaining power simply incomprehensible.

* TheQuietOne: Unlike her brother George, Martha can speak some English, but she generally chooses not to. Hart discusses this when he first meets Boyd, and bets that Boyd didn't get a word out of Martha when she escorted him to Fort Spencer. The only time she says more than two or three words at once is when Boyd asks her how to make the Wendigo's HorrorHunger stop.

%%* SadlyMythtaken: The wendigo story is an American First-Nations myth told to ''discourage'' cannibalism.[[note]]Basically, the cannibal will never again be able to eat enough to not be hungry after partaking in human flesh, because they will instantly grow bigger every time they eat something.[[/note]] Gaining the victim's strength and vitality is an African myth told to ''encourage'' it.

* FromBadToWorse: Colqhoun's story is that of a travelling party that was facing harsher and harsher obstacles until they ended up stranded in a complete wilderness with steadily dwindling supplies... and somehow it still got downhill from ''[[[[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty that]]''. It is neatly tied with the music in the background, first cheery and optimistic, then hitting more and more of the bass on the cello and ultimately being pretty gloomy.

-->-- '''Colonel Hart'''

* MagicalNativeAmerican: Mostly averted. George and Martha do tell the cast about the Wendigo Myth, but the rest of the time spend time either caring for the horses and doing other chores (Martha) or getting stoned (George).

** Private Reich is quickly and wordlessly introduced with a brief shot of him [[RatedMForManly shirtless in the middle of a rushing river in wintertime, roaring at the top of his lungs.]]

* EvilColonialist: When Ives's true plan is revealed, Manifest Destiny ends up morally equated with cannibalism.

* MoodWhiplash: We have TheReveal, wherein Reich and Boyd find a cave full of bloody skeletons, [[spoiler: "Reverend Colqhoun" turns out to be the BigBad Ives, two guys die brutally (Col. Hart is stabbed and gets tomahawked in the spine, George is shot)]]... and it's immediately followed by Ives chasing Toffler around to silly music (harmonica or banjo, depending on version).

* MoodWhiplash: We have TheReveal, wherein Reich and Boyd find a cave full of bloody skeletons, [[spoiler: "Reverend Colqhoun" turns out to be the BigBad Ives, two guys die brutally (Col. Hart is stabbed and gets tomahawked in the spine, George is shot)]]... and it's immediately followed by Ives chasing Toffler around to silly banjo music.

** It could also explain how Boyd gained his sudden strength and determination in the flashback after having the blood of others accidentally pouring into his mouth, he might at the very least got a temporary watered down version of the power up.
** [[spoiler: Ives also implies that cannibals become sexually potent, though that might just be him making up for lost time after regaining his health. He was in ''bad'' shape before he started eating people]].

* DirtyCoward: Boyd. Everybody knows it, including him. He let his entire unit get massacred around him while playing dead in an attempt to save himself. He only captured the Mexican officers because [[spoiler:he swallowed the blood of dead officers that had dripped into his mouth and it gave a minor version of the Wendigo's CannibalismSuperpower]]. But in the end, [[spoiler:he finds the moral and physical courage to fight the monstrous Ives to the death, and when Ives is on the edge of victory Boyd willing gives his life to [[TakingYouWithMe take Ives with him]].]]

* EvilColonialist: When Ives's true plan is revealed, [[spoiler:Manifest Destiny ends up morally equated with cannibalism]].

** Colqhoun has a rosary wrapped around his hand when he arrives at the fort. [[spoiler:Although it is possible to miss seeing it, the same rosary can be seen in his flashbacks belonging to Mrs [=MacCready=] that he claims to have left behind with Colonel Ives. This is the first sign that Colqhoun is not at all what he seems.]]
** The flashbacks provide more of this. The scenes describing the journey have plenty of detail, and show the struggle of the pioneers, but certain things are more or less hidden from viewers. Mostly, [[spoiler: the appearance of Ives and how the various pioneers died. This is done to hide the fact that it's Colqhoun who did all the murdering.]]

** After [[spoiler:wiping out the party from Fort Spencer]], at one point Ives is seen chuckling to himself as he drags [[spoiler: Toffler's body]] into the cave. Considering we later see him eating outside in the stream, why ''was'' Ives dragging it in there? [[spoiler:For Colonel Hart to eat, as we will find out later.]]

* JustBetweenYouAndMe: [[spoiler: Ives lays out his larger plot to Boyd in this manner. When the two are alone, Ives lays out his plan to create a small but well-connected group of cannibals similar to Ives, who can ambush small groups of pioneers passing through Fort Spencer and cover it up effectively.]].

-->-- '''Colonel Hart'''

Captain Boyd is a ShellShockedVeteran of the UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar of the 1840s. As a Lieutenant going into his first battle, Boyd panicked when his unit was caught in a devastating ambush and rather than attempting to [[DefiantToTheEnd fight back]] or [[TacticalWithdrawal lead his men to safety]], Boyd instead played dead in the hopes of saving his own life. When the Mexicans began collecting and burying the bodies from the battle Boyd found himself in a bloody pile of bodies amongst a group of fellow officers and soldiers and then, for no apparent reason, a powerful surge of strength and determination filled Boyd. This allowed him to break free, kill several enemy soldiers, and capture the nearby Mexican commanders.

At first the Army intends to present Boyd as a [[GuileHero clever and ruthless hero]] (complete with a promotion and a [[MedalOfDishonor medal]]), but it soon becomes obvious that despite his single brave action Boyd's nerves are shattered and he's incapable of presenting the heroic facade the Army wants. The local general responds by giving Boyd a [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassignment to Fort Spencer]], a ramshackle and barely manned mountain fort in [[MiddleOfNowhereStreet the Middle Of Nowhere]] high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The fort's only purpose is to serve as a stopping point for pioneers traveling to California, and when Boyd arrives the fort proves to be populated mostly by [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits drunks, misfits, layabouts, and crazies.]]

Boyd is just settling into his life of quiet failure when a rambling loon by the name of Colqhoun stumbles up to the fort with a horror story: he was part of a party of six pioneers who found themselves trapped in a snowstorm as they tried to cross the mountains. When they ran out of rations, they ate the pack animals. When those were gone, they ate their leather clothing. When ''that'' was gone, one of the pioneers starved to death. [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty But instead of burying the body they ate him]]. Before long they were hungry again, and found themselves looking at each other oddly...

* AmbiguousDisorder: Private Toffler has some very odd behaviors, including strange twitching and sometimes going mute.

* CassandraTruth: Boyd ends up with this problem when he tries to warn the others about Ives. Everyone still alive at the fort [[spoiler:never saw Ives when he appeared, calling himself Colqhoun]], and Boyd is a newcomer they barely know who's acting crazy. If anything, ''Boyd'' winds up being the target of their suspicions.

* ShownTheirWork: The movie is, on occasion, oppressively realistic in its portrayal of its mountainous, unpleasant terrain, and the military of its time.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:[[EverybodyDies Nearly the entire cast gets killed]], but Ives's plan to create a conspiracy of super-powered cannibals is brought down with his death. With a touch of DiedHappilyEverAfter - Boyd got [[ReassignedToAntarctica Reassigned To The Frontier]] because of his cowardice, and became a cannibal because he's afraid to die, but in the end he finds both the courage to act and to willingly accept death in order to stop Ives and end the hold the Wendigo curse has on him. The ending does have one element of a true DownerEnding, namely that Boyd didn't think to throw out the "Stew a la Major Knox" before confronting Ives, and General Slauson finds it and promptly finds it very much to his liking. This raises the possibility that all of Boyd's battling and sacrifice were for nothing and the cycle of the Wendigo cannibal will start again... although it's unlikely the General would know or find out what is in the stew he ate, and thus also unlikely he'll repeat it again.]]

* ReassignmentBackfire: Subverted. Boyd is sent to Fort Spencer as a punishment for his cowardice, but, despite the fact that he gets better, [[spoiler:pretty much [[KillEmAll everyone dies]] anyway.]]