Ravers: Low-Budget Sort-Of Zombie Film Too Awesomely Weird to Miss

By Thom Ernst

Rating: A

Get out your glowsticks; Ravers is a wild party of a horror movie amped to keep you up all night.

There’s a throwback feel to director Bernhard Pucher’s film as if the idea of attending a rave is a thing of the past. But when held against a line-up of current horror movies latching their gaze onto the evils of social media or touting timely scenarios about deadly viruses, Ravers seems a refreshing change. And though Ravers is arguably a variation on the zombie theme, its narrative twists enough to stake claim to being something other than a zombie movie.

To quote one character who has an uncanny ability to know what I’m thinking, “They’re not quite zombies, are they? More like mutant ravers.”

Mutant ravers? Well, darn it, if they’re not. There is no eating of brains or intestines, only an uncontrollable and deadly impulse to act on their most base desire. I’m not sure how much mileage can be had from the concept of mutant ravers, but if it’s even for just this one movie, then I’m on board. It hardly matters what brand of hellish beasts these creatures are— mutant ravers or zombies—these are the most impulsive, sensory-crazed maniacs ever to hit a mosh pit.

(I think there are mosh pits at raves)

The trouble begins with a mishap at a bottling plant that leads to a shipment of contaminated energy drinks falling into the hands of unsuspecting revelers. Alone, the drinks are harmless, but when combined with illicit and performance-enhancing drugs, the result can be lethal.

Just witness what happens at the factory when employees take a swig from a botched batch of energy drinks after learning of the plants plans to downsize. There has never been a more ironic and clever use of a Health and Safety Plaque.

At the centre of this madness is Becky (Georgia Hirst) a young journalist whose unfathomable repulsion to all things germy can leave her catatonic. She’s easy to spot: Her money is washed and dried, and she’s the only person in the university laboratory wearing a hazmat suit.

A former partner sums up the extent of Becky’s affliction with callous parting words, “This place always smells like mouthwash.”

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

And so, when a young woman (Manpreet Bambra) catches Becky’s eye and invites her to an illegal rave, she confronts her phobia by jumping into the fray—albeit protected by a hooded parka and a hospital mask.

Not being a drug user, Becky turns down the wide selection of offerings from Vince (Kamal Angelo Bolden) a charming and well-stocked drug dealer, leaving her one of the few uninfected partiers. But Becky is about to find her limitations shoved way beyond the max when locked inside the warehouse with a mob of violent single-minded revelers.

Pulling this off this kind of story requires a certain amount of sustainable absurdity that’s light in logic but heavy in effect. Not that Pucher dismisses logic altogether; the film does have an internal reality that makes sense—kind of—and he helps his story by creating likable characters. Even the unlikeable characters are likable—I’m thinking of you, Vince.

And the action pushes through bits of idiosyncratic improbability, aided by a constant beat of the background music. There is little time to contemplate improbable scenarios, including Becky’s astounding transformation from Rocky’s Adrienne to Alien’s Ripley in a matter of hours. And Pucher’s limited budget works to the films favour, particularly in the area of special effects that gives the film a look worthy of the late Lucio Fulci.

Pucher uses humour without resorting to satire or tongue-in-cheek parody. It’s well worth noting that the only drug users who don’t turn into hot-headed killers are the pot smokers whose only reaction to their physical transformation (eyes that bulge and blacken) is with uncontrollable laughter.

There are a lot of horror films released during this Halloween week. Plenty are good; plenty have a wry sense of humour. But of all of them, Ravers is the one most likely to fly beneath the radar. Don’t let that happen to you. Ravers is a Halloween treat well worth the trick.

Ravers. Directed by Bernard Pucher. Starring Georgia Hirst, Natasha Henstridge, Manpreet Bambra and Danny Kirrane. Ravers is currently available on VOD platforms.