Since its inception, I’ve typically dreaded scrolling through the horror options found on Netflix. The service has always been littered with straight to video garbage and lackluster sequels, although recently the service’s original programming has become my go to for a horror fix. Releasing 1922, The Babysitter, and now The Ritual directly to their service has made access to Netflix more important to me than ever before.

The Ritual starts out with our protagonists planning a group vacation while at a local bar. After throwing around some ideas and nothing being set in stone, the group heads to the local liquor store where one of the group members is violently mugged, resulting in his death. Fast forward 6 months and our group of characters are hiking through Sweden, which was the late friend’s suggestion. While the characters are not horribly written nor are the performances poor, they are simply interchangeable, with only occasional bits of personality shining through.

Early into their trip one of the friends suffers a minor injury; both his friends and the viewer will likely question whether or not he’s faking it. When one of the men notices a shortcut through a dense patch of forest area, they debate on whether they want to stick to the path or continue through parts unknown. Very soon after the group enters the heavy foliage, things start to get weird.

I’m not sure about most people, but I can wholeheartedly say that seeing an eviscerated deer hanging from about 10 feet in the air, still dripping blood would probably have me running back out of the woods as fast as my feet could carry me, almost as if my head was on fire. Does this affect our group? Not in the slightest. While there are a few comments about how it could have been a bear or hunters, it really doesn’t feel plausible and makes our heroes look a bit dumb, but they proceed anyway.

After a brutal storm begins they seek shelter in an abandoned cabin, which houses a strange human-esque shaped shrine in the upper floor. This is when things really pick up; characters will wake up inexplicably outside of the cabin, found naked worshiping the shrine in their sleep, hallucinating or suffering strange unexplained wounds. From here on out, it’s clear that something is out in the woods and it does not like them one bit. At this point in the film, the tension finally picks up and the horror they are facing really sets in.

I am a huge fan of movies that are so confident in their visual effects that they show the creature or monsters up close in full light without the need to use smart camera angles, but can also respect when the director chooses to hide a more impressive creature to build tension; The Ritual has the best of both worlds. Early into the film you will occasionally get a glimpse of the creature, but it’s not until the last fifteen to twenty minutes of the film you really get to see it in all of its glory. One scene, which features a blazing fire behind it, really highlights the creature and will likely haunt you for days, which says something considering you only see its silhouette at this point.

Up until I actually saw the being, I felt that the movie was going to head down a B movie route, lacking the budget for the grotesque thing that we actually ended up with. The monster would be best described as a moving Rorschach test, since anyone you ask will likely have a different description of it. For me, it appeared to be a mummified horse, with a spider-like head made of corpses. Regardless of how you look at it, the thing is one of the best designed movie monsters in years.

While the acting isn’t outright bad, I did have to watch the movie with closed captioning due to the actors’ British accents being extremely thick. Coupled with their unique slang, some of the more verbal scenes are a bit hard to follow. It may have been the difficulty I experienced following the conversations, but I found these areas to be a bit dull compared other scenes. When the film picks up, it rarely slows down. The fact that you do not see the creature in more than brief glimpses throughout the midpoint of the film, as well as the occasional flash or flicker of something moving in the foliage around the lost hikers, you’re bound to be on the edge of your seat.

While The Ritual is nothing we haven’t seen before, it does offer a solid horror experience at no additional cost than the standard Netflix fee. It’s far from perfect, but the creature alone makes this one worth giving a view.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Great Sense of Tension
• Impressive Creature Effects

Cons

• Some Pacing Issues
• Accents Are a Bit Thick
• No Standout Protagonists

The Ritual was directed by David Bruckner and written by Joe Barton.  It was released on Netflix in February 2018. The film was not provided to us for viewing.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth your time, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great movie that you can feel confident about paying money to see in theaters or at home. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate movies, please let us know.

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