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★★★½☆
8 January 2018
A movie review of LES AFFAMÉS a.k.a. RAVENOUS. |
“It’s been 45 years since someone carried me,” Pauline (Micheline Lanctôt)
LES AFFAMÉS does not waste time. Straight into a zombie attack. Problem: the undead run here. This update to the horror subgenre does not make sense to me. Why does brain death suddenly turn a human body into an athlete? Perhaps the filmmakers would argue LES AFFAMÉS is atypical. The Ravenous also give off the vibe of being body snatched. As humanity dwindles and is scattered, the zombies work in teams to trap. They don’t talk, natch, but they do unsettlingly scream.
LES AFFAMÉS does not waste time. Straight into a zombie attack. Problem: the undead run here. This update to the horror subgenre does not make sense to me. Why does brain death suddenly turn a human body into an athlete? Perhaps the filmmakers would argue LES AFFAMÉS is atypical. The Ravenous also give off the vibe of being body snatched. As humanity dwindles and is scattered, the zombies work in teams to trap. They don’t talk, natch, but they do unsettlingly scream.
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For gore fans, the movie does not scrimp. If that’s your thing, you don’t have to wait long for blood splashes and heads exploding. The violence is not to thrill. It is almost matter-of-fact. Vézina (Didier Lucien) lies on a truck bed bleeding out while talking to lead Bonin (Marc-André Grondin). Characters’ deadening to corpse disposal suggests the outbreak is not recent. Intriguingly we do not find out when or how it started.
“I shouldn’t have hesitated, but when it’s your wife,” Réal (Luc Proulx)
That rarity in horror: Tension and style go hand in hand. Writer-director Robin Aubert and his team set out their stall early: A kill point of view from inside a car. Claustrophobia and restricted sight lines demonstrate to other creatives how to scare your audience without recourse to a big budget. The camera swings slowly back and forth, restricting the action, as we will it to hurry to reveal the dread.
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The standout image is the giant furniture monument that appears and holds the attention of the Ravenous. Sinister like THE WICKER MAN, what is the undead worshipping? What might be coming?
Countryside-set, the human protagonists are disparate groups, who we get snapshots of until they inevitably combine. Witty repartee enlivens the pared back characterisation. As Marc-André Grondin is the only recognisable actor, one figured everyone else is expendable. The most necessary question when aiming to thrill an audience: Who will make it to the finish line?
Unlike TRAIN TO BUSAN, the women here are not weak. Even a young girl holds her own. More of this gender parity please in undead flicks.
LES AFFAMÉS is a stylish, surreal, tense Québécois zombie flick. It de-glamorises the model, but offers little allegory.
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