Famintos

This one went straight under my radar and I simply hadn't heard of it, had it not been for a recommendation I may not have come across it at all.

A multi award winning French Canadian effort this could be compared to the 28 Days Later (2002) franchise. In that our antagonists are not zombies but arguably just feral people.

I was struck by the creators choice to have the movie filmed in French. Canadian movies rarely are and it seems like a baffling choice, surely they know that English would have made it more accesible and how many people do not like subtitles.

Thankfully I'm not one of them so despite this weird choice I gave it a go and was left rather undecided.

Without a doubt The Ravenous is a pretty film, the cinematography is fantastic as is the score that goes with it. It tells your usual story of a group of survivors doing everything they can to stay alive during this outbreak and the characters are interesting enough.

Sadly it comes across really rather dull. I didn't expect nor want wall to wall action, that's not the issue. The issue is it just comes across quite lifeless, almost like creators knew how to make a visually impressive film but didn't know how to tell a story.

The Ravenous isn't bad, it's just underwhelming and despite it's multiple award wins I think it's still a title that will only appeal to a certain type of moviegoer.

With its junior Walter White lead and unexplained confusing plot points this failed to impress.

The Good:

Beautifully shot

Well scored

The Bad:

Frustratingly dark in places

Leaves a tad too much to the imagination

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Musical instruments should be a no.1 priority during the apocalypse

I really liked this film. Its a very different take on the genre, with the emphasis on the need to be quiet to avoid attracting the zombies. Its a slow burn, but I think that helps build the tension, and it relies more on that than shock scares. The gore is minimal, but effective when used. It suggests there is more to the Zombies than just mindless eaters, but it doesn't really answer what. So it has a bit more brains in it (pun intended...) but is a good addition to the genre. Unlike many of the other Zombie films I've seen, most of which are over padded shorts.

After an apocalypse where most of the population in a small location in the woods has turned into ravenous zombies, survivors join forces expecting to go to the protection of the big city. However their journey becomes hopeless when they learn what happened in other locations.

"Les affamés", a.k.a. "Ravenous", is a dismal and hopeless story of a sort of zombie apocalypse. The screenplay keeps the mystery and tension in the beginning with the lack of explanation to what is happening (and has happened). The lack of explanation why the ravenous creatures stack chairs and other objects and then stop to stare is another flaw in the story. The fool character has the intention to break the tension but is annoying indeed. In the end, "Les affamés" has a promising storyline that should (and could) have been better and better. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

This film manages well to give anxiety to the viewer even if it is very slow and without much sense accomplished to exist. The majority of the film is carried on thanks to the stupid choices of the protagonist that generate a terrible cascade effect.

The infected are confused and hostile they roam the land looking for healthy people to bite - this time with a French twist.

It is nice to have a change from the glut of U.S and U.K offerings; despite the obvious similarities in setup the style is definitely different.

Two groups of survivors do their thing: running, fighting, crying, dying. There are elements of dark humour and a few surreal moments that were welcomingly unexpected.

The film does become a bit stereotypical French artsy. Some of the shots of scenery are a bit long and strange - almost as if the director really wanted to do something more high-brow than a zombie movie.

This is fairly straight forward. Details of some of the zombie-law are left to the viewers discretion. The ending was too artsy and open for me.

If you have a lot of zombie films under your belt then sure give this a go. If you are fairly new to the genre then this may feel like a waste of your time and I would direct you towards the likes of "REC", "Carriers", "28 Days Later" or "Day of the Dead"