Wuchak Released in 2008 and directed by Sean Dillon, "The Craving" is a low-budget horror flick about five youths who get stuck in the desert after a crazy hermit disables their van with a shotgun. The hermit is the least of their problems, however, as an unknown creature of the night preys upon them.I've been watching a lot of barely-a-budget independent horror flicks lately, many with the identical plot as this one (e.g. "Delirium" & "Feeding Grounds"), and "The Craving" is noticeably professional by comparison. Despite a couple cases of dubious photography, the filmmaking is adept enough to pass for a theatrical release, at least a drive-in release—the cinematography, cast, acting, script, editing, gore effects, creature effects, etc. No-budget horror flicks usually have sub-par women and actors in general, but the first act showcases Lesley Paterson as Jeannie and she's Prime A all the way (I'm not referring to the dark-haired girl, Diane, who has a top-nude sequence right out of the gate and who's decidedly average by comparison).The low-ratings for "The Craving" are inexplicable because it delivers the goods for what it is in all the requisite areas noted above.The movie runs 99 minutes and was shot in Desert Center, California.GRADE: B

DigitalRevenantX7 A group of friends heading to the "Burning Man" festival in Mexico take a wrong turn & end up stranded in the desert. Driving around they reach a dilapidated hut where a mysterious man disables their van with a shotgun. In defending themselves, they accidentally kill the man. With nowhere to go the group set up tents near the hut to spend the night there. But once night falls they are suddenly attacked by a mysterious creature that emits an intoxicating stench.A while ago I reviewed a film called Trespassers, which concerned a group of friends who head to a remote location for fun but are attacked by crazed cannibals once night falls. It seems that somebody out there saw Trespassers & decided to try their own hand at making a similar film. Enter The Craving.The Craving is an interesting film in some aspects, despite its cheapness. Of course it's nothing especially good but does have its moments. The cast only number about seven or eight, not including those who are just passing through the film; the location is restricted to a remote run-down shack in the middle of the desert & the creature is only seen in shadow or extreme close-up shots. I thought that not revealing too much about the creature, aside from its carnivorous appetite & that the powerful stench it emits can make a person high was a smart move to make the possibility of sequels more likely, although it would be hard to make a follow-up picture without messing with the atmosphere of the film. The film takes its time in setting the scenario but once the action starts it attains a modest intensity. The actors give decent performances & the gore, while cheap, looks reasonably realistic.

Woodyanders A group of college students find themselves stranded in the desert while embarking on a cross country road trip to the Burning Man Festival. Come nightfall a vicious predatory monster comes out searching for a meal. Director Sean Dillon, working from a tight and compelling script by Curtis Krick, relates the gripping story at a steady pace, builds a substantial amount of suspense, makes excellent use of the arid and remote harsh location, and adroitly creates and sustains a grimly serious tone that becomes more increasingly bleak and hopeless as the narrative unfolds towards a surprising downbeat conclusion. Moreover, Dillon further spices things up with a few bits of ghastly gore, a nice smattering of bare female skin, and even a dab of sizzling soft-core sex. The startling moments of bloody'n'brutal violence pack a pretty potent punch. The sound acting from the able non-star cast rates as another major asset, with praiseworthy contributions by Grayson Berry as the decent, likable Brian, Jesse C. Boyd as easygoing druggie Scotty, Anselm Clinard as the surly, hot-tempered Troy, Wallis Herst as the sassy Diane, Lesley Paterson as the gutsy, sensible Jeannie, and Jason Kehler as a folksy ranger. Krick's crisp widescreen cinematography gives the picture a pleasing polished look while his shuddery score hits the shivery spot. A worthwhile low-budget indie fright film.

Paul Andrews The Craving starts as five teenage friends drive through the isolated unforgiving desert on their way to some party or something, they ask a gas station clerk about a shortcut & don't get much of an answer but decide to take it anyway which just takes them deeper & deeper into the desert & they soon become hopelessly lost without even a road to guide them back from where they came. With miles of desert that looks exactly the same all around them the friends are relieved to see an old wooden shack in the distance & drive to it in the hope of some help. However once there a crazy old man named Larry (musician, co-editor & co-producer Curtis Krick) shoots their van up & they become stranded there, in a struggle with Larry he is shot dead & to make matters worse his van doesn't start so they are really stuck. Then when nighttime comes things get even worse as some sort of reptilian creature that preys on flesh attacks them...Co-edited, co-produced & directed by Sean Dillon this is a lacklustre & throughly routine 'Creature Feature' that is stuffed with clichés & little in the way of monster action. The script is very unbalanced here with almost three distinct acts, the first half of the film is all about these typical horror film cliché teenage character's getting stuck in the middle of nowhere (their mobile phones don't work as per usual), the next quarter has them standing around arguing about whose fault it is as tensions rise between them (you can just tick the clichés off as we go) before the final quarter in which a barely seen monster runs around outside a lot & a throughly, throughly predictable twist ending kicks in (you didn't actually think the Sheriff/Deputy/whoever was there 'in the middle of nowhere' by coincidence did you?) where the monster plays second fiddle all the time & is actually more or less relegated to a subplot as the moral messages about the dangers of drug addiction start to flow. The pacing is bad with long, long stretches of basically nothing happening & an overlong 100 odd minute running time, the dialogue is poor (one guy says 'we're safe in the daylight' to which his bird says 'how do know?' which is a reasonable question & then he says 'I don't' & I was like sat there thinking 'so why did you say it then?') & the character's are all cardboard cutouts you never care about or connect with. There's a mildly interesting subplot about the monster giving off addictive toxins that are obviously a parallel to drug usage but it never really comes to anything & anytime the script goes for depth like the feelings of guilt yet at the same time power after having shot & killed someone are badly handled & forgotten about by the end.The entire thing is set in a rather dry looking desert & has a repetitive look to it with it bleached out colours, for instance many times the sky is not blue but pure white & the contrast just looks ugly. There's one moment in which a camera zooms out from a guy climbing a mountain & the blockiness & grain is terrible, how cheap were the cameras that they used here because my one I own at home could have produced a better & clearer zoom. There's not much gore either, there's a bit of blood splatter, a man is seen ripped in half (why does this monster kill people anyway if it doesn't eat them?), a woman is seen ripped in half with her guts hanging down, someone cuts someone else's stomach with a knife & there's a fairly gory shot as we see a guy's head who has had his face ripped-off & his skull is visible. The monster is never seen in it's entirety but you can tell from the quick glimpse that it's just a guy in a rubber suit. There's zero suspense or tension as the attacks are all quick editing in very dark conditions & it just looks a bit of a mess really.I would imagine this was a low budget effort shot in a single location with only six or seven cast members & people from the production team doubling up & doing several jobs as evidenced in the credits. Apparently shot in somewhere called the Desert Center in California. The acting is OK for this type of thing but no-ones going to win any awards.The Craving is a monster film with barely any monster action & a dull clichéd plot that takes ages to get to the point & even then it wasn't worth the wait. Not something I would ever want to see again or something I could ever recommend in good faith, I am sure whoever made this put lots of effort into it but that doesn't make it any good & doesn't mean I want to spend 100 minutes watching it.