Vashirdfel
Simply A Masterpiece
Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Leofwine_draca
THE FINAL RITES (aka RITES OF PASSAGE) is a very strange little movie. It involves a group of high school students who are being taught about esoteric Native American drugs by their slick teacher. One of the students has an elder brother who experiments with these narcotics, which turns him into a psychopath. Inevitably a group of the students go away for the weekend for a beach holiday and find themselves being menaced by all and sundry.There's a definite sense here that the story was being made up as they went along. Certainly it seems to make little sense and by the end it's fallen apart entirely, so the "narrative" consists of characters killing each other off until only the final survivors are left. The first half of the film, which is the build up, is actually mildly enjoyable, so it's a pity that the it goes absolutely nowhere come the end.Three famous faces are mixed up in this mess. Wes Bentley plays virtually the same likable loner/weirdo character as he did in American BEAUTY. Stephen Dorff shows up as a cool teacher who's down with the kids, and strips off to show his buff body when required. Then there's an almost unrecognisable Christian Slater, hilariously playing a demented psychopath who just wants to kill everybody. His interactions with a sock puppet bring to mind the PG Tips adverts in the UK starring Johnny Vegas and Monkey. It's all very silly and relatively bloodless, meaning there's not much here for the viewers.
Reladamjod
This was a fun movie, Slater and his little imaginary buddy stole the show. The acting was very good, much better than most movies out there as compared to big budget productions and far superior to the goofy movies churned out on Chiller or SciFi networks. Worth the watch, especially knowing the background & history of how the film was made by two friends who met while in college, and then 30 years later finally got together to make this movie. It's something they can be proud of, I'm hoping more people will watch this film as word of mouth should raise an low, unfair IMDb rating. It's rare that I'm pleasantly surprised by an "unknown" horror genre film (my favorite category), this one is definitely worth the watch.
mcbwallace
First - it takes WAY too long for this movie to get going.Second - I believe in respecting all cultures, but this movie was so ridiculous (talking sock puppet), that I don't know how any Native American could be offended by any representations in the film.Now, college professors and students look pretty stupid.There ARE some pretty amusing moments. Most from Christian Slater.Although I felt all the actors did a great job, the material? I wouldn't waste my time. The "4" is because I actually made it through.
Evan Chipman
Peter Iliff has come a long way since his first successful screenplay, Point Break. His new film, Rites of Passage, is a complete departure from the Hollywood norm. The film focuses around a group of friends in Santa Barbara who take a lot of drugs and trip out on some ranch. The film is clearly directed towards a younger audience, and for the budget they were given, I think they did a great job. There isn't much past the surface of the film, but it works great as a popcorn thriller that I enjoyed with my friends. It was great to see all of the recognizable spots around Isla Vista and SB where Rites of Passage was shot. Would I watch it again? Maybe not. But it was certainly an entertaining and relevant film for a college student like myself.
