A germaphobic journalist goes to an illegal all night rave, only to encounter clubbers, who, thanks to drinking a contaminated energy drink, become infected…
Ravers was a film I first came across in the FrightFest London 2018 festival. Like a number of films recently, I didn’t see it there as it clashed with something else I wanted to see, but finally have gotten round to checking it out.
And I’m glad that I did.
The writers Bernard Pucher and Luke Foster, the film spends time developing the main character, Becky, well. A journalist, with agermaphobe issue, she has ambitions, but her editor (a cameo from Natasha Henstridge) tells her that her work need to be more real, for Becky to experience things she writes about. Along with the break-up with her girlfriend, this makes her go to the rave and in turn confront her own fears. As portrayed by Georgia Hirst, Becky is a well rounded character.
The others don’t get as well developed but are interesting in their own way. Ozzy has a science background that doesn come in handy in the film. A friend of Becky’s, hes not your usual supporting character, full of comedic touches. He may not get as much development as Becky, but thanks to Danny Kirrane’s performance you do care about him. Although not as rounded, Maria Volk is good in support as Jen, a woman with her own secret, drug dealer Vince is well acted by Kamal Angelo Bolden and although more limited in screen time, Manpreet Bambra as Hannah, a woman interested in Becky, does well.
As directed by Bernard Pucher, the opening is terrific as a group of employees of the company than make the energy drink are made redundant, one of whom is played by Dave Johns, the star of I, Daniel Blake (the irony!), which leads to bloodshed thanks to the contaminated drink.
The outbreak at the rave is well staged. The climax too is well done as Becky, is forced to overcome her own fears to help save others.
Where I thought the film less successful was in the middle after the outbreak. It transpires that the drink brings out underlying issues in people, as we see those who are on drugs, want more of them, those wanting sex engage, slightly off camera to be fair, in what might be an orgy. And so on. I did think here the pace of the film slowed too much, even though it does have some fun little moments.
The soundtrack is obviously good for the setting, if in truth not my type of music (classic rock rules!), but it didn’t really bother me at all. The film is well shot and the make-up effects are well done for a film, I imagine was very low budget.
Despite my issues with the middle part of the film, I did enjoy Ravers. Perhaps it could have been funnier, but that said, it’s a well made little film, well acted and directed and certainly worth checking out.
Rating: *** out of 5
