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'The Revenant,' 2.5 stars

In 1974, Bob Clark -- the same guy who made "Porky's" and "A Christmas Story" -- directed a film called "Dead of Night."

It also went by the name "Deathdream," and it told the story of a soldier killed in Vietnam who returns home as a sort of zombie. The film is scary and an obvious metaphor for the damage suffered by those who fought in that war. (At one point, the zombie soldier injects the blood he needs to survive with a syringe and rubber tube, as if he were a junkie.)

"The Revenant" makes you think that it might mine similar territory, but it doesn't take long to dispel any such notions. Writer and director D. Kerry Prior isn't making a political statement, although he does give a sociological one a shot. But mostly he's in it for laughs -- bloody, gory laughs.

Bart (David Anders) is a soldier fighting in Iraq. He is ambushed after a creepy accident and killed. But he doesn't stay dead.

Instead, he shows up at the LA apartment of his slacker friend Joey (Chris Wylde). After the initial shock wears off, the two figure Bart must be a zombie-vampire something or other. He's not staying dead, and he needs blood to keep from decomposing. But he's not slow-moving or hungry for brains or showing any of the usual zombie symptoms, and he still has his wits about him. Or at least whatever wits he had to begin with.

Of course, it doesn't really matter what he calls himself: Bart needs blood. He tries stealing some, drinking pints like they were gory red juice boxes. Joey urges the killing of homeless people for nourishment, but Bart doesn't want to. Then a deadly fight with a man who tries to rob them puts them onto an idea: Maybe they can roam LA, kill bad guys in the commission of a crime and, as a little reward, Bart can drink their blood. What can possibly go wrong?

Don't answer. Prior, in fact, has a hard time doing so, but not for lack of trying. The film lasts nearly two hours, way too long for this kind of thing. Subplots involving Bart's girlfriend (Louise Griffiths) and a Wiccan buddy (Jacy King) never go anywhere. Anders and Wylde are pretty good, given that part of the job description involves things like throwing up gobs of blood.

Horror comedies can be wildly entertaining -- "The Return of the Living Dead," from 1985, for instance. It sends up horror movies in hilarious fashion while still managing to be gross-out scary. "The Revenant" never rises to that level. Nor does it seem to want to. Instead, like Bart and Joey, it just sort of hangs around, trying to find its way, fun at times but mostly kind of lost.

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David Anders and Chris Wylde (background) in a scene from Putrefactory Limited

David Anders and Chris Wylde (background) in a scene from "The Revenant."

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'The Revenant'

Bad to fair: 2 half stars

Director: D. Kerry Prior.

Cast: David Anders, Chris Wylde, Jacy King.

Rating: R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, some drug use, sexual content and graphic nudity.

Note: At Harkins Valley Art.

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