Ravage

First of all, I love a nice, tight, independent horror film.  Anything with a runtime of less than 80 minutes really appeals to me. That’s the first bit of good news about Ravage, the first feature written and directed by Teddy Grennan. The film is gripping right from the beginning, and the performances are excellent from the entire cast. Annabelle Dexter-Jones plays Harper, who is wrapped in bandages in the opening sequence, being interviewed by a skeptical cop. The audience knows she has been through hell, and the story unfolds through flashbacks. Harper is a nature photographer who stumbles upon a murder in progress. Things go very badly for her when she encounters the ringleader of the group of men behind the crime. Ravener (Robert Longstreet) is motivated by what he believes are his community’s best interests, and he is committed to doing whatever it takes to protect those interests. Bruce Dern also makes an appearance and is as creepy as ever. The threats feel very real and the action is almost non-stop, with dialogue only featured when absolutely necessary. That’s another refreshing aspect of this movie; we don’t always need an exhaustively complete back story. Ravage is lean and effective, and I really liked it. “Torture is the barometer of a nation’s creativity.” Use this quote from the film as your guidepost and skip the trailer: it gives away too much, in my opinion.

[NR]