The Revenant (2009) Review

Saying goodbye to someone is one of the hardest things to do. So when a loved one passes, things are at their lowest. But what if that love one crawled out of their coffin and walked to your house, only to knock on your door in the middle of the night? Would you chop off their head because clearly they’re a zombie or would you drive around killing gangbangers for blood? It’s no wonder why D. Kerry Prior’s 2009 The Revenant is the owner of several film festival awards.

After the killing of several men overseas, families gather to bury their boys back home. Joey (Chris Wylde), Janet (Louise Griffiths), and Mathilda (Jacy King) attend the funeral of their beloved friend Bart (David Anders) and try to support one another in this difficult time. That night however, when Bart’s coffin isn’t sealed, something strange occurs. In the dead of night, Joey hears the loud knock of a familiar kind and opens the door to find his friend Bart standing before him. But he’s not looking too good. Joey takes him to the hospital, where the nurse politely tries to assess him until she realizes his grave condition and calls the police. They book it back to Joey’s apartment and try to satiate his hunger with hangover food. When feeding Bart causes him to throw up black blood and he uncontrollably goes comatose during the day, Joey has to look outside the box to keep his friend from dying, again.

A revenant: one that returns after death.

So accepting that Bart is now a full-fledged revenant seemed to be the easiest thing for Joey. The more difficult tasks were keeping him “alive” without getting thrown into jail for murder. So what do they do? Kill bad guys of course! But Bart had a life before he died, and has to explain to his girlfriend, who is only starting to accept his death, that he’s not dead anymore. Not completely.

The Revenant had a fantastic story to it. The down to earth comedy intergraded with plenty of gore offer audiences something real they could imagine themselves in. Turning an event as horrific as your dead friend returning to life only to need to drink blood to survive into an almost vigilante tale was, if I may, perfect. The entire film had a great pace to it. I never felt a low point; just always intrigued by what was on screen. I’ve always been a fan of Chris Wylde and David Anders, even in their minor roles, so it was a great surprise to see them starring in this together. They work well off one another, even if they use the f-word a lot. I’m not shy when it comes to language, they just happen to use it in this movie like it was going out of style.

Overall, my Savage Score is a tasty 4 out of 5. If you’re a fan of anything horror in the slightest, you’ll like this movie. It does, after all, send a positive message. Gore Score decomposes at a 7 out of 10 and I was very pleased. The movie progressed with more and more oozy funness. If you’re a fan of the genre, watch this. If you’re not, watch this. Spread the virus people!