Consumed
Director: Mitchell Altieri
Written by David Calbert
With Devon Sawa, Courtney Halverson and Mark Famiglietti
Not rated
89 minutes
In cinemas and on demand from 16 August

by Rachel Shatto, Editor

On a recent walk through the nearby woods, I watched in horror as my partner slipped on a pile of loose rocks, fell, and rolled down the rocky path. Aside from some scratches and bruises, he was ultimately unharmed. Yet in those few seconds that stretched into an eternity, his mortality and our relative isolation collided in my mind’s eye. I was reminded that there are few places where we are simultaneously more peaceful and vulnerable than in the woods. Therefore, it is the perfect setting for a horror film like Consumedwhich attempts, with varying degrees of success, to explore the fragility of the human body in the face of external (a skin-stealing monster) and internal (destruction of the body through disease) attacks.

In the film, the couple Beth (Courtney Halverson) and Jay (Mark Famiglietti) go deep into the woods. Despite the stunning forest setting, there is a palpable tension between them. It is not long before we learn that Beth is a breast cancer survivor and the treatment has left emotional scars on both of them. The trip is intended to give Beth and Jay the reset they need and allow them to get closer again. Unfortunately, the secret that Beth is keeping, the creature that is stalking her, and the man who is stalking her, are It (Devon Sawa) through the forest make these plans fatally difficult.

The ideas the film chooses to explore are worthy ones. The parallels between entering the wilderness and facing a debilitating disease can lead to the profound terror of isolation. That even surviving a near-death experience can leave deep psychological scars, not only on the person fighting that battle, but on the people who love and support them. That revenge is as corrupting to the mind as cancer cells are to the body. These fears are timeless, but unfortunately Consumed It lacks the subtlety in text and presentation necessary to convey these themes in depth.

The result is a film that’s emotionally unconvincing, which in turn robs it of the tension needed to deliver effective scares. What the film does right is its final act, in which it presents audiences with an incredibly bizarre and conveniently created creature that recalls the charming mix of silliness and horror of earlier monster movies. There’s a simple and innate pleasure in seeing your hero thrown into disarray by a huge special effect, with just enough creepiness to get under your skin. Plus, Sawa stands out in his role as the tormented hunter Quinn, although his story arc is rushed and a gruesome discovery in his house doesn’t quite add up. Still, he adds a bit of kitsch to the proceedings and is one of the film’s bright spots.

Any time Sawa returns to the genre, it is a blessing for horror fans. But while he does his best in performance, giving Quinn as much pathos as the script allows, the rest of the film doesn’t quite hold a candle to him. There are some interesting ideas and Consumed makes the most of its forest and ruins setting, but ends up nibbling at the edges rather than offering a viewing experience with real bite.