The Revenant

The Revenant blends zombie and vampire subgenres into an odd living dead horror comedy. Written and directed special effects artist Kerry Prior whose visuals have been seen on cult classics such as The Lost Boys, Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and Bubba Ho-Tep. The Revenant follows Bart who returns from the dead, and immediately tracks down his best friend, Joey, for help. They soon realise that Bart cannot be killed by conventional means and must drink human blood to prevent his body from decomposing. In the process of trying to meet Bart’s blood dietary needs, the two friends fall into a vigilante mission, cleaning up the hard streets of Los Angeles.

The film has been made on a modest budget, but you wouldn’t be able to tell, as you expect from Kerry Prior, the visuals, sets and special effects are impressive.  The film looks raw and graphic with a heavy dose of blood, buckets of black spew and reanimated, dismembered limbs.  The script is deliciously funny at times, without falling back on cheap gags or jokes, successfully mixing hardline horror with dark, fiendish comedy.

It runs a little long, finishing at almost two hours, and is full of obvious plot holes. The acting is a bit flat, but all the characters are extremely likable and there is a fun, infectious rapport between the two leads. The Revenant has its flaws, but these are easily over looked in this quirky and charming movie.  It has a real ‘watch with a group of friends’ feel to it, and there is no doubt most diehard horror fans will love it.

The Revenant has been playing on the festival circuit for over two years, gathering an admirable collection of awards along the way.