User reviews

My son found this film & recommended that I watch, having been a fan of David Anders from Heros as Adam Monroe & being a fan of the Zombie genre I had high hopes.

I wasn't let down, this film was brilliantly entertaining & the ending totally unexpected! Anders & Wylde work brilliantly together & D. Kerry Prior's script is a great new take on the zombie genre which other film makers should take note of. This film is up there with Shaun Of The Dead, The Vagrant & a host of other films, most of which never get the credit they deserve.

A true future classic

What fun for any horror lover. I must say I am truly surprised! Most other horror/comedy flicks are absolute dreck and not worth the time. But this brought back memories of An American Werewolf in London, and Evil Dead II without being a ripoff. Not bad company for this writer/director/producer. I can't wait to see what he does next, as well as the two male leads who were absolutely, hilariously brilliant! And I've seen some comments here that some thought the ending was probably not the smartest thing to do, but when has the military thoroughly thought out the ramifications of their tactics such as invading Iraq, which turned out not to have WMDs, just being the first blunder and the ingenious setup for the plot. I personally thought the ending was perfect. A soldier who at the beginning is so morally conscientious it gets him killed, becomes the perfect killing machine at the end which comes full circle. The anti war/gun mentality is deftly embedded. The script is witty, ironic, and very, very funny with a balanced dose of pathos thrown in for good measure which made the characters much more believable and human. Overall great entertainment for those of us who love this deliciously twisted genre when it's done right. Two thumbs way up!!

I saw this as a midnight horror-show at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Film Festival on April 24, 2010. Knew nothing about the movie beyond the scant information contained in the festival program. Tired from a whole day of movie-going, I considered skipping this one but decided I'd watch the first 15 minutes or so. Then, unless my interest had been captured, I could walk out and head home for some much-anticipated sleep.

My interest was captured. After 15 minutes, I thought to myself, "This is pretty good." A bit later I thought, "This is really good." And before long I was thinking, "This is great!" As a result, "The Revenant" wound up ranking #1 on my 10-Best-List for 2010.

(Okay, for the record, my other 10-Best choices were: #2 "The Ghost Writer";" #3 "Toy Story 3"; #4 "The Happiest Girl in the World"; #5 "The King's Speech"; #6 "Tears of April"; #7 "Music on Hold"; #8 "Letters to Father Jacob"; #9 "Buried"; #10 "The North Face.")

Warning: I saw "The Revenant" under ideal conditions. Walked in on it "cold." Had no expectations, no pre-conceptions. If you see "The Revenant" after reading this review, you may be disappointed. It'll lack that element of surprise which made my experience of it so memorable.

Don't know if "The Revenant" will ever get wide distribution. It's a hard movie to sell since it can't easily be labeled or described or categorized. But one thing is clear. Writer-director D. Kerry Prior is something of a cinematic genius.

I had no expectations other than wanting a time-killing zombie film to watch. How could there be films that are well-done but passed over? Well, this is one of them. What this film has is exactly what most films don't, especially among the spate of overblown summer films this year. While it's slow-moving at times, all the extra time is spent on genuine, realistic character development, a too rare exercise sometimes. Surrounding some of the most original zombie movie treatments are reactions to unreal circumstances that ring true. At one time funny, it is also part snarky, sinister and visually dark. Some images are hair raising. The camera work is consistently striking and playful, matched by well thought-out dialog and street-wise sensibilities. The diatribe by the black gang member about race and it's implications is dead on ridiculous. I've heard it in real life. For all of the film, I was convinced that the writer believed in these possibilities and made sure they worked beyond theory. Buried among some really creepy scenes are clever snippets of sarcasm and non-pc banter. And none of it comes off as insulting. It's almost a realistic ghetto version of a monster film. No one character in this film is allowed to escape, either. It's kind of beautiful, in many ways, a real love project that probably suffered from its title. I won't give away anything here but what happens to the "cholo" who robs them is creepy as all hell, even stunning. The one weakness is the girlfriend's acting which seemed unconvincing. Granted, crying on cue is difficult, but her acting seemed untrained. It's a minor weakness though. And none of this film comes across as cheaply done. I'm sure this will become a bigger favorite over time. George Romero could never achieve this.