Consumed

There are two types of people in this world…those that hike – and those that don’t. After watching director Mitchell Altieri’s Consumed, I have yet another reason why I will not be camping any time soon. Not-so-happy campers Beth and Jay are caught between a flesh-eating forest monster and a deranged mountain man.

A year after she beat cancer, Beth (Courtney Halverson) and her husband Jay (Mark Famiglietti) decide to go on a celebratory camping trip deep in the woods. Beth grows frustrated at her inability to keep pace with Jay like she normally used to when they would go on their hiking adventures. Her battle with cancer has taken its toll on their relationship, and they are doing their best to make this trip a final stage in the healing process.

“…Beth and Jay are caught between a flesh-eating forest monster and a deranged mountain man…”

Beth is plagued by nightmares of having cancer and being stranded in the woods as an otherworldly being tears at her flesh. These nightmares prove to be prophetic after Beth and Jay’s first-night camping. Beth wakes up feeling something is stalking them and notices Jay is gone. She runs out of the tent and finds Jay, who has only stepped away to go to the bathroom. That’s when they encounter the being from Beth’s dreams. Their campsite has been destroyed, and they are now on the run from a monster that can travel through a ghastly gas-like cloud and wear the flesh of its victims.

While fleeing for their lives, Jay steps into a bear trap and can no longer walk. With death assured, they are saved by a mysterious mountain man (Devon Sawa), who spends his time hunting the monster, Wendigo, and takes them into his bunker. Can he be trusted? If they stay in the bunker Jay will die, if Beth tries to run, she will die. The fear of both monster and man leaves Beth with the only decision to take matters into her own hands and fight.

This is a film that unfolds as you watch it. The characters and their relationships are three-dimensional, and each act has plenty of twists that propel the drama and keep the pace engaging. There is lore behind the skin-tearing monster of the woods, but there isn’t an overexplanation of it. Think of how the original Alien presents lore visually but doesn’t necessarily explain anything about it. The viewer is an active participant in creating answers to the unknown. Writer David Calbert keeps the being shrouded in mystery.