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Released by: Lionsgate
Released on: September 18, 2012.
Director: D. Kerry Prior
Cast: David Anders, Chris Wylde, Annie Abbott
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
If you're not burnt out on zombies yet, and nobody will blame you if you are because let's face it, they've been done to death (pun intended) over the last few years, you might want to give D. Kerry Prior's 2009 film The Revenant a chance. Thought made with a modest budget and not without its flaws, it is the rare film that actually manages to do something a little different with the shambling corpses that have been invading screens big and small across the world for the last decade or so and most importantly, it manages to also be pretty damn entertaining.
When the movie begins, Bart (David Anders) is on a tour of duty in Iraq where he's fatally shot. His body is brought back to his native Los Angeles for burial. Bart's best friend Joey (Chris Wylde), Joey's girlfriend Janet (Louise Griffiths) and mutual friend, Mathilda (Jacy King) all attend the funeral and leave when it's over - and then Bart wakes up inside his coffin. He manages to make his way out of his grave at which point he heads over to Joey's place, Joey understandably shocked to see him when he arrives at his door. After trying to figure out just what exactly has happened to Bart, they realize he needs blood to survive, though he'll remain a walking corpse regardless of how much he ingests.
From here, Bart and Joey figure that since Bart can't be killed, that they should use his ability to better the streets of the City Of Angels. They head out to fight crime, vigilante style, but soon figure out the obvious: fighting crime isn't easy, even if you are already dead.
A nice mix of surprisingly strong gore, slapstick comedy and occasionally touching moments of friendship (seriously!), The Revenant (meaning someone who returns after death) is an enjoyable genre mish-mash that borrows from the likes of Shaun Of The Dead and other zombie comedies but also films like Death Wish (what with the strong vigilante justice) and Deathdream (the whole veteran returns home angle). A mix of obvious and rather hokey CGI and impressively spat-tastic traditional effects work keeps the gore coming in spades though at almost two hours in length some more judicious editing might have helped with some of the pacing.
The comedy is more hit than miss, though not without a few fails here and there, thanks primarily to the two leads. David Anders just comes across as a nice guy, you like him here even if the skin is rotting off of his bones and he has to drink human blood to survive. Chris Wylde plays things different but fits the bill as the slightly slacker-ish pal and the two actually have a really good chemistry here. Where the movie hits a few stumbling blocks is in its lack of focus. A common problem with films that try to pull from too many genres is that they don't wind up excelling in any of them and there are times where The Revenant jumps from action movie to horror movie to buddy comedy and back again too sporadically for its own good. The positives outnumber the negatives by enough of a margin, however, that this is one worth seeing, it's actually a whole lot of fun.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer on Lionsgate's DVD is solid, with good black levels and only very minor compression artifacts evident. This isn't a particularly bright film but it offers fairly good shadow detail and what we can assume is accurate color reproduction. Skin tones look lifelike and natural except when they're supposed to look sickly and pale and there are no issues with print damage, dirt or debris worth noting.
The English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix is pretty active, doing fun things with the surround channels during the shoot outs and offering some pretty strong bass response when gunshots erupt. The score is well mixed and spread out effectively while the dialogue remains easy to understand. There are no alternate language dubs offered but removable subtitles are provided in English SDH and Spanish.
The main extras on the disc are the two commentary tracks that are included, the first of which is with director Kerry Prior and the second of which is with actors David Anders and Chris Wylde. Prior's track is a bit more technical and a bit more behind the scenes oriented as it covers things like concepts and origins for the story, casting the film, stunts and more. The actors track gets into the characters a bit and discusses what it was like playing the different parts and noting some specifics as to which scenes were more interesting to work on and related trivia.
Additionally Lionsgate has included a collection of marginally interesting deleted scenes and a featurette entitled Revealing The Revenant which shows off some of the effects work created for the feature. A trailer for the feature, a still gallery, menus and chapter stops round out the supplemental package on the disc.
The Final Word:
The Revenant turned out to be a nice surprise, a fun mix of horror, action and comedy with an emphasis on the macabre. It's not a perfect film but it certainly is an entertaining one and Lionsgate have done a fine job bringing the movie to DVD and thrown in some solid extra features as well.
