Ravenous
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: March 19, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
9
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Has all the ingredients for a cult film success but most definitely is not for everyone. It's stylish, sophisticated, venturesome--to say the least. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Though it definitely requires a strong stomach, Ravenous may be the best cannibal tragicomedy ever made. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Bird's grim, picture-perfect direction -- the Sierras are more character than backdrop, and everything else looks like it's already been digested and expelled -- augments what is frankly a small, albeit lusterless, gem of a horror show, for once with as many smarts as body parts. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Clever in the way it avoids most of the cliches of the vampire movie by using cannibalism, and most of the cliches of the cannibal movie by using vampirism. It serves both dishes with new sauces. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
At its best when it’s least overtly allegorical--and fortunately that’s most of the time. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
Although the hinges connecting the film's elements -- slapstick, political satire, thriller, gross-out shots -- sometimes squeak loudly, they hold the movie together nicely. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Unfortunately, much of the skill and craft evident during the first hour evaporate during the second, when mayhem and bloodshed supplant legitimate scares and intelligent writing. Read full review
60
The DissolveNoel Murray
Ravenous is misbegotten in multiple ways. It isn’t scary enough to be an effective horror movie, or funny enough to be much of a comedy... But say this for Ravenous: It isn’t generic. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Bird's keen visual imagination keeps the action grimly watchable. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Ravenous loses resonance as it proceeds. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
An eccentric historical horror tale whose blackly comic tone wavers distracting. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
A potentially strong cast makes its way in deadly earnest through material that's often better suited to a Monty Python skit. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
For about half its length, Ravenous is a fairly effective scare picture, with a laugh or two. Then it just goes sour and pretentious. [19 March 1999, Friday, p.D]
42
Entertainment WeeklyDoug Brod
Oddball period tale of cannibalistic shenanigans. Read full review
40
SlateDavid Edelstein
I'd like to recommend it, but it's too silly. On the plus side, it's ravishingly well directed by Antonia Bird. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Essentially approaches its subject seriously, but does take stabs both at horror and grotesque comedy, neither with much success. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
It's not really serious, not especially funny, and not noticeably scary. Strikeout. Read full review
38
USA TodayMike Clark
This movie is a howler as well -- possibly even intentionally -- but if it is a black comedy, the joke is overextended by far too many arms and legs. [19 March 1999, Life, p. 13E]
25
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
In concept alone, Ravenous is anything but appetizing, but in execution it's worse than you'd imagine. Read full review
25
Rolling StoneStaff (Not credited)
You don't want to see this bilge. Director Milcho Manchevski, who was fired in midproduction, is the only one with cause to celebrate. Read full review
20
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The film is one of those accursed self-styled "outrageous" comedies that play the horrific for broad laughs, with a comically inflated style of dialogue that's so hip one doubts it could have been conceived before 1997, much less 1847. Read full review
20
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Do not be concerned if laughter trickles out of the scary parts or boredom creeps into the funny parts; this is to be expected. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Don't go to this movie on a full stomach. Better yet, don't go. Read full review
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