In the Mood for Some Raw Meat

Raw Meat has been sitting on my Netflix queue for a while now but it took Edgar Wright to inspire me to finally watch it (because, let's face it, I'd do anything Edgar Wright told me to do). I've got sort of a psychological aversion to movies about cannibalism which is weird because isn't that essentially what zombie movies are? My mind creates this absolute and grotesque image of the most real special effects you can possibly imagine. Every cannibalism movie I see I build up to a documentary-like vision where I'm going to get sick watching it even if the film shows nothing or is highly stylized. Of course, like with any other movie, the build up is never as bad as I expected it to be, but this particular genre gives me more anticipatory creeps than any other. So thank you, Mr. Wright, for pushing me to watching Raw Meat.



And the Trailers from Hell version:


The trailer actually gives more backstory to the subterranean flesh eaters (can we call them C.H.U.D.s?) than actually exists in the movie, though some of it is implied. The "Man" (Hugh Armstrong), as he's billed, doesn't make an appearance for quite a ways into Raw Meat. Unfortunately, since all advertising about the movie talks about the family of cannibals in the subway, there's not much surprise when the first victim is taken even though it should be shrouded in mystery. Alex and Patricia (David Ladd and Sharon Gurney, respectively) find a man passed out in the subway station and go to find the police. When they return, the man is gone and an investigation is started except the viewer already knows what took them man. It's an issue with hooking the audience with cannibalism at the sacrifice of the film and may have been unavoidable in this case (though I can certainly think of some approaches).

Donald Pleasance plays Inspector Calhoun who has the lead on the case. He plays the part with an amazing dark, dry humor and it's great to see him in a role that isn't too serious (like Sam Loomis in Halloween who is always running around warning and lecturing people about Michael Myers). He has a knack for it and if anyone has any other recommendations for great Donald Pleasance roles, please tell me.  Christopher Lee pops up randomly in a scene that may be essential for the film, but is certainly not in need of Lee. He basically stands in one place with an umbrella and he and Pleasance argue over who should have the case. I like Lee, but this feels like a gimmick to get a few more butts in the seats.

In Edgar Wright's 24-hour horror marathon write-up linked above, he mentions that Raw Meat feels like they ran out of footage and were padding the running time. I agree with that to an extent, but I really like the way that the pacing of the movie changes every time we go underground. There are long, deliberate takes that track around to give the viewer a sense of the space and just a general sense of lingering. It's much like I would expect having to live in an abandoned subway stop would feel like. Slow and dark.

Something I find very admirable about Raw Meat is that it doesn't vilify the cannibals. They are essentially feral humans who know little of etiquette or even malice. They kill to survive, sure, but the "man" clearly loves the "woman" and is heartbroken when she dies. Later, when he gets a hold of Patricia, he really tries to make a connection to her, but can't speak more than just a single phrase (Armstrong does remarkable work conveying meaning with various tones of that phrase). He's a sick (as in ill), inbred cannibal, but he's no monster.

There's not a ton of focus on the cannibalism aspects, even though the title conjured horrific images in my mind, and it's a lot talkier than I expected it to be, but Raw Meat is a solid movie with good acting and direction. It won't explode you mind with terror and gore, but it's got a lot to offer, including a subway line that will take you all the way to "Cockfosters." And, once again, being an American International release, it's got an amazing (if misleading) poster: