Ravenous

Off-kilter tale of cannibalism in the American West in 1847 (loosely based on the Donner Party) loses its way when it begins to use man-eating as a metaphor for settlers carving up the land. When stringy, twitching Colqhoun (Carlyle) shows up starving and nearly frozen at an army fort in the Sierra Nevadas, he tells Captain John Boyd (Pearce) that he was with a party that resorted to eating their dead when stranded. When a team is sent to investigate, more than the facts are digested. Soon Colqhoun is extolling the virtues of pan-frying your pals to Boyd. The unusual subject and offbeat attempts at humor make this a recipe not for all tastes.