by Chuck Hoodak

Created on: May 31, 2009

"you are what you eat"

This is true in the case of the film Ravenous, where the taboo of cannibalism is merged with the myth of the Indian legend of the Wendigo.

Lt. Boyd (Guy Pearce) has returned from a battle as a hero, but it is soon discovered that his act of bravery is nothing compared to the cowardly act that he committed, allowing his men to die as he plays dead himself. Rather than ruin morale by by punishing a decorated war veteran, Boyd is shipped off to a remote California outpost where he will help delegate other army undesirables.

One evening a stranger by the name of Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle) finds his way into the fort. Colqhoun is nearly dead from exposure and nursed back to health. Ragged and with the look of a man who may not be all there, Colqhoun tells the soldiers about his ordeal. He was part of a group of settlers who were going west. Their guide, Colonel Ives promised them a quick route but ultimately got them trapped where the weather turned on them, forcing them to find shelter in a cave. As they ran out of food stores, the settlers were forced to eat their oxen, and then ultimately turned to cannibalism.

Colqhoun is ashamed to have partaken in that activity, but was starving. One by one party members were eaten and soon Colqhoun decides that he must run away before he becomes the next meal.

One Indian guide is distressed after hearing Colqhoun's story. He tries to warn the others of what he thinks that Colqhoun has become, a Wendigo, and once that he has eaten human flesh his hunger will never be satisfied.

Deciding to form a rescue party, the soldiers take Colqhoun back to the cave. During the trip, one soldier falls and injures himself. That night, the camp awakens to the screams of the injured soldier, Toeffler (Jeremy Davies), who tells them that Colqhoun was "licking his wound". Begging for forgiveness Colqhoun asks to be restrained for the remainder of the trip.

On reaching the cave, a grizzly discovery uncovers the real truth: Colqhoun has led them to a trap and he quickly dispatches everyone except Boyd, who nearly dies while trying to escape. Severely injured, Boyd tries to restrain himself but his hunger forces him to eat one of the dead soldiers. This is not the first time that he has tasted blood; while playing dead during the infamous battle that made him a hero, he inadvertently swallowed the blood from the dead bodies stacked on top of him. A surge of strength allowed him to extricate himself from

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