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Movie Review: Ravenous

The IMDB description of Ravenous (the English name for the Canadian film Les Affamésreads:

"In a small, remote village in upstate Quebec, things have changed. Locals are not the same anymore - their bodies are breaking down and they have turned against their loved ones. A handful of survivors goes hiding into the woods, looking for others like them."

So, one more movie I almost didn't watch because its description is so boring.

But don't let the description fool you, minions. Although Ravenous is not your typical high-energy, ripping guts out, characters more concerned about having sex than surviving film, it is totally worth the watch if you love end of the world-type movies.

Ravenous is a bit of a slow burn, and feels like every scene is painstakingly deliberate in it's delivery, but in a good way. Getting through the first five to seven minutes is a bit tough, but well worth it.

The zombies are not your typical zombies. They don't particularly look like zombies, and they don't behave like typical zombies. They seem to communicate with one another with strange, almost bird-like calls. Don't get me wrong - they will attack and rip you apart. But their behaviour is not that of your typical zombie.

You see, they stack things like chairs, toys, and household items, then just stand and stare at these very tall piles of things. They're stacked so high, it begs the question: how the bloody hell did they get that stuff up there? I for one have no clue!  You really just have to see it to know what I mean.

The movie itself is nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing, and just plain disturbing. Not because of visceral violence, but because of the silence. The movie wasn't full of loud, over the top, creepy, sweeping, cinematic soundscapes. Instead, it was so eerily quiet - including very little conversation by the characters - that when there was a noise, or someone did speak, it was jarring. The music, when it was present, faded into the background the way a good soundtrack should, but sounded more like woeful moaning than music. This further intensified the unsettling vibe of the movie. Couple that with the stark landscape, and it's no wonder this movie just left me creeped out.

While watching the movie, I just kept thinking to myself that I would rather have The Walking Dead kind of zombie apocalypse than that of Ravenous. At least I know what to expect from The Walking Dead zombies. Ravenous zombies are bizzaro pack hunters, attracted to any tiny bit of noise. (Sorry, I'd hate to have to be as silent as a church mouse ALL the time.)

Written and directed by Robin Aubert, Ravenous has won sixteen awards and, quite frankly, it deserves them. It stars Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, and Charlotte St-Martin.

Give Ravenous a go for yourself, my maggoty minions. It's on Netflix. But I warn you: after you see it, loud noises just might unnerve you for a bit.
 

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