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THE REVENANT – The Review
By Joe Vanourney
Kerry Prior’s vampire-zombie-horror-comedy-hybrid THE REVENANT makes its way into limited theaters starting this weekend as well as various Video-On-Demand platforms. And for those of you lucky enough to be in one of those “select cities” that is playing the film, please do yourself a favor and immediately go out and support this. Especially if you tend to complain that Hollywood tends to spew out retreads and unoriginal uninspired offerings. THE REVENANT is special. And it deserves your support and attention.
THE REVENANT stars David Anders (TV’s “Alias,” “Heroes,” “Vampire Diaries”) as Bart, an American soldier killed in Iraq, who is brought home in a coffin, but awakens one night to discover that he is a “revenant”—a decomposing living corpse—one who talks and acts as he did when he was alive, but needs to consume human blood in order to remain “animated.” Bart enlists the help of his slacker best friend Joey (in an inspired performance from Chris Wylde), who helps him acquire blood, first by stealing it from a hospital (in a scene that maximizes comic effect), and then later, after they accidentally stop a convenient store robbery by killing the gunman and drinking his blood, by becoming a pair of superhero blood-drinking vigilantes.
Horror films with comedy elements rarely work this well. Sam Raimi pulled it off with the EVIL DEAD films, Edgar Wright succeeded with SHAUN OF THE DEAD. And Ruben Fleischer was able to partly succeed with ZOMBIELAND. You can add THE REVENANT to that list.
Part of what makes the film work so well is that Prior (a former visual effects artist whose work includes THE ABYSS, STARSHIP TROOPERS, PHANTASM III and IV, and BUBBA HO-TEP) keeps the film grounded in reality. Every move that the pair makes seems like the logical one to make. The comic elements work because the reactions to what is happening with the action in the scene seem real. And the tragic third act is a logical result of the film’s entertaining (and comically brilliant) vigilante-fueled second act.
THE REVENANT has played the film festival circuit for over two years and has won Best Feature Film and/or Best Director at over 20 of them. I have seen it three times in two different cities over those two years and the reaction from the audience at all three screenings has been universally positive. For whatever reason, the big studios have ignored this gem. Indie distributor Lightning Entertainment stepped up and acquired it. They should be thanked and rewarded for enabling this jewel to get a wider exhibition. I hope it succeeds. It deserves it.
THE REVENANT is in select theaters and available on VOD TODAY.
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