Before Bone Tomahawk came along, Ravenous sat on the throne as the best Western-Horror film ever made. A rewatch of the film the other night only confirmed the movie’s worth.
What I love about Ravenous: the brutality, the dark humor, the eccentric score, the leading man work from Guy Pearce that proves more than any other film from that era that he was destined to be one of our greatest actors, the photography and landscapes (I did not know until this watch that it was mostly filmed overseas), the myth of the Wendigo, the ensemble of actors assembled and the rich characters they each create, the sturdy and fierce direction from Antonio Bird (this must be the finest Western ever directed by a woman), and the career-best performance by Jeffrey Jones.
Reading about the troubles the production went through to make this movie, I am astonished that none of the problems make their way on screen. It is a nearly flawless film and though I do believe Bone Tomahawk now sits on that Western-Horror throne, Ravenous remains proudly by its side.
Watched on Criterion Channel.
