The Revenant (2009)

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nTitle: The Revenant (2009)

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nDirector: D. Kerry Prior

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nCast:  David Anders, ChrisnWylde

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nReview:

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nSometimes, a movie will go straight to dvd, when it should’ve gone theatrical because of how great it is, I think The Revenant is this kind ofnfilm. It wasn’t released theatrically, at least not on a large scale and itnwent straight to dvd, which normally means it wasn’t good enough for theatersnor that it was too graphic or gory. In The Revenant’s case I think it was thengore factor that kept it out of theaters because in all honesty this is annexcellent horror comedy! I kept wondering why it wasn’t released theatrically,nthe visuals are so crisp, the effects top notch, the acting great and the storyninvolving and filled with surprises. Last time that happened to me was withnDonnie Darko (2001)! I agree with many reviewers, this one is sure to become a cult favorite. What made The Revenant so good?

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nStory is all about this American soldier named Bart who’s rightnsmack in the middle a mission in some foreign country when blamo, he getsnkilled in action. Cut to his funeral, everyone cries for the dead soldier. But, because of a crane malfunctioning at the cemetery, his coffin is left unburied. For somenreason that is never explained, he ends up coming back to life. So, now Bartnthe undead, still dressed in his military uniform ends up going back to hisnbest friends house, who at first can’t believe his friend is back from thendead, but then comes to gradually accept it. Questions quickly arise: what is Bart?nIs he a zombie? Is he a vampire? Well, he came back from the dead, whichntechnically makes him a zombie but he also needs to feed on blood to retain hisngood looks, which would make him a vampire. The two actually end up looking into the dictionary to define whatna zombie and vampire are supposed to be, at the end of the day they come to thendecision that Bart is a ‘Revenant’, one who returns after death.

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nThe Revenant reminded me a lot of Bob Clark’s Deathdream (1974)nalso known as Dead of Night. This film was all about a soldier named Andy whonreturns home from war. His parents thought he was dead, yet here he is, alivenand kicking. In that film, Andy -the returning soldier- comes back in a zombie-likenstate, acting all sorts of strange. His family takes him in because he is theirnson, and he is back; he didn’t die at war after all so who cares how strange henis acting? Little do they know that Andy is not really himself anymore! He mustnfeed on human blood now! And so, the similarities between Deathdream and The Revenantnare blatantly obvious, in my eyes, it’s practically a remake. But wherenDeathdream was all dead serious and a straight forward horror film, ThenRevenant is filled with humor, gore and takes it’s premise in a whole otherndirection then Clark’s film.

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nThe Revenant is essentially a ‘buddy film’ not unlike Tuckernand Dale vs. Evil (2010), Juan of the Dead (2011) or Shaun of the Dead (2004).nAnd you know how that goes, two best friends who are practically brothersnsuddenly have to face a horrifying situation together and try and over come it.nBart is the soldier who comes back from the dead while Joey is the the slackerntype, who basically behaves a lot like ‘The Dude’ from The Big Lebowski (1998);nhe even dresses like him and complains about his rug! That was in my opinion angreat nudge to a great film. At one point they both decide to use their ‘darkngift’ to stop evil in the world, so they become sort of like vigilante vampires/zombies.nAnd a thing about the whole vampire/zombie thing, this is yet another thing itnhas in common with Bob Clark’s Deathdream, we don’t really know if they areneither zombies or vampires, at the end of the day, these characters are anstrange mix of both.

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nThe film was directed by first time director D. Kerry Priornwho has done lots of extensive work on the field of special effects. He’snworked in such films as The Abyss (1989), Nightmare on Elm Street 3: DreamnWarriors (1987), The Lost Boys (1987), and Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994). NormallynI’d say this is a bad thing because when fx guys decide to direct, it’s notnalways a good thing, but on this case I’ll make an exception. Prior turned innan exceptionally good looking film that is well acted, is funny, has tons ofngore and is just a fun watch. It’s not a very original film because it drawsnfrom a lot of films that came before it, but if you ask me, the rewatchability factor is extremely high on thisnone, I know I want to see it again. I’m also curious to see what Prior will bendirecting next, because he deserves a chance to make another. The FilmnConnoisseur says go rent this one right now, The Revenant is a keeper! It’s the kind of film that makes me wonder why I hadn’t heard of it before!  

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nRating: 4 1 /2 out of 5  

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