Ravage Image

Ravage

By Alex Saveliev | August 19, 2020

Sick. Twisted. Nihilistic. Macabre. All these adjectives apply to Teddy Grennan’s impressive feature-length debut, Ravage, a cinematic exercise in sustained tension. Just when you think there’s a semblance of respite, Grennan ruthlessly thrusts you back into the depths of a sun-soaked hell. Yes, it contains plot holes, nor is it particularly deep, and it’s utterly unapologetic in its depiction of the brutalities inflicted upon its admittedly tough-as-nails female protagonist. Those looking for a message are missing the point. Grennan’s goal is to literally ravage your senses, leave you breathless and ashamed of humanity. At this, he mostly succeeds.

A “GI Jane with a camera,” photographer Harper (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) has had a rough field trip. Sent to ensure she’s not just some “mountain tweaker who burned herself up in a meth lab,” detective Slayton (Michael Weaver) finds Harper bandaged up head-to-toe in a hospital. He proceeds to question her about her journey into the Watchatoomy Valley, a mythical place that’s spawned legends of cop-killing Catholics, voodoo-practicing priests, and “leftover Chinamen from the railroad who ate their own.”

“After being raped and beaten, Harper eventually makes her escape.”

The film kicks into high gear once it flashes back to Harper’s misadventure. When she stumbles upon a bunch of rednecks feeding a strung-up human to raving dogs, Harper, the pro that she is, documents the grisly proceedings on camera and makes a run for it. She reports the incident at the local police station, then is promptly kidnapped and brought to a remote farmhouse, run by the mad Ravener (Robert Longstreet). 

Minor spoilers follow. After being raped and beaten, Harper eventually makes her escape. Little do those hillbillies know, they fu*ked with the wrong nature photographer. The young woman MacGyvers traps for her stupid assailants, including the elderly and confusingly-named Mallincrkrodt (Bruce Dern), who waxes poetic about torture and execution representing societies through history. I’ll leave you to discover how it all ends, although my biggest gripe about Ravage happens to be its conclusion, which favors cheap shock over a potentially powerful feminist message.

Ravage (2020)

Directed and Written: Teddy Grennan

Starring: Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Robert Longstreet, Bruce Dern, Michael Weaver, Ross Partridge, etc.

Movie score: 6/10

Ravage Image

"…no one will shrug their shoulders and go 'eh, whatever' after this one."

Leave a Reply to Troy Fairclough Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Dee says:

    How does Billy, the boyfriend, fit in?? Besides making a cameo from falling out of the rafters in the barn and then getting thrown in with the pigs. I guess it was meant to be left up to our imaginations…

  2. cat says:

    too many unanswered questions – why didn’t she just shoot him instead of letting him kill her boyfriend, and how long was she in the cow sewed up. did he burn her with chemicals, and how did she get to the hospital. what happened to the culprits??? frustrating ending

  3. Terri says:

    I just want to know who the guy is in the back seat of the red truck at the end. He has his hand under his chin smirking like he’s someone special.

  4. Ann says:

    Yea, how did she get out of cos stomach if sewed in? I thought ending was creative but definitely lots of in answer questions..

    • Troy Fairclough says:

      She had a knife in her back pocket.

    • Terri says:

      Earlier she cleaned and put a pocket knife in her back pocket.

      • Dee says:

        Yep she did, so why not cut herself out alot sooner, based on the terrible burns. She was a survivalist and did everything else quickly so she could of cut herself out quicker. The ending was soo bad, but I liked Annabelle’s acting she was good!

  5. Michael says:

    Ran out of time, then had nothing left for the rushed and silly ending. After exhibiting the attributes of a Navy SEAL, she suddenly got soft and fell to pieces. No point in it.

  6. Mike says:

    I agree lots of unanswered questions but if you watch the whole credits you see her gooey digested hand open up the barn door. Where she goes from there well who knows

  7. Richard McDonough says:

    At the end, who was the guy in the back seat of the red truck?

  8. JOHN BAGA says:

    A WOMAN GOES THRU HELL WITH THESE MEN AND THE MOVIE ENDS WITH HER BURNED AND ABUSED . ROTTEN ENDING.

  9. Jerry B says:

    Dumb ending. Ruined the whole movie

  10. Anna Beth says:

    How did she get to the hospital? What happened to Ravener? Where’s the sheriff that brought her back to hell? Too many unanswered questions…very disappointing…

  11. Cynthia Warren says:

    How did she get to the hospital ? Ending was incomplete.

    • Alex Saveliev says:

      Agreed. The ending felt tacked on for shock value, as opposed to resolving anything or making any sort of a coherent point.

Join our Film Threat Newsletter

Newsletter Icon