Ravenous

Probably the only film of its kind. A black-humoured barrage with a strong horror touch and excellent actors, but unfortunately it runs out of steam with a sloppy script and strange stylistic gimmicks; especially in the first half, the quality and strong horror motifs are ruined by comedy bits and original, though from my point of view extremely inappropriate music. The direction is undoubtedly inventive and entertaining, and the film flies by quickly, but the story often teeters on the edge of, how shall I put this, grand illogical bullshit, and neither the central cannibal theme nor the mutual relationship between the hero and the villain develop or build up at all in the second half. Certainly a pity, at first I really enjoyed the unorthodox and unpredictable filmmaking. (09/04/2018)

This movie is mouthwatering nutritious and tasty, full of unexpected ingredients and delicious acting performances. Robert Carlyle is simply awesome and Guy Pearce delivers us his standard performance at very least. Director Antonia Bird cooked up an excellent meal for the movie gourmet and I’m pleased it was traditional Czech-style cooking. - What are you cooking? - It’s uh... stew. - Need any help? - No, no, no. Perhaps later you might... contribute. (25/04/2010)

I wasn’t expecting something so good! Ravenous is precisely the kind of film that I like, i.e. a fairly untraditional story with amazing and expressive music. The cast, led by Robert Carlyle, deliver great performances, but my favourite was the role of my darling from Lost, Jeremy Davies. (25/04/2009)

An incredibly cynical fairy tale that, despite some screenwriting lapses, reaches its conclusion without a dead spot and leaves a warm feeling of wonder. Robert Carlyle, who has swapped the usual eye-pupils for two cockroaches madly searching for their next feast, is famed for his ability to convince the viewer that eating people is actually a good thing. Pohlreich would surely have been delighted with how deftly he turned the aforementioned disgusting military camp kitchen into a festival of delicacies, headed by the surely delicious stew à la Major Knox. The film's budget is obviously fished out of some fountain under the Tatras (for example, the strewn sheets simulating melting snow), but then the music, it's incredible. Worth mentioning is the famous final fight, where perhaps the protagonists' weapons don't even meet, they just cut, stab, then get back up and chop each other. And the finale... yes the jaw clenches and "If you die first, I'll definitely eat you..." Magical, Ravenous is an absolute gem. (17/09/2010)

Once again, a movie that leaves me uncertain about the rating - I'd give it three and a half stars. If I lean towards four stars, it's because of the originality of the screenplay, as such a bizarre story is not often seen on the big screen and it certainly adds to the genre. The cast and their performances are also very decent. Besides Robert Carlyle, who was supposed to be the main attraction, the experienced Jeffrey Jones is also interesting. However, the overall impression is diminished by the genre ambiguity, as the film oscillates between horror, "black" comedy, and western, without committing to one. It cannot fully satisfy fans of any of these genres - everyone can only get a small piece of what they expected from the movie. Overall impression: 70%. (18/06/2006)