Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Arianna Moses
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Ella-May O'Brien
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Leofwine_draca
I've always had a special affinity for backwoods slashers. Films like Friday the 13th and THE BURNING were among the first horror films I saw, and I love them to this day. On the other hand, I also really enjoy the low budget lost-in-the-woods type films, of which THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is undoubtedly the most popular. The late '70s/early '80s seemed to be a really good period for gritty, real-looking wilderness horror yarns, and this one makes fantastic use of the Canadian wastes and forests as an isolated setting. RITUALS combines elements of both films, presenting a POV stalker a year before HALLOWEEN, and it also happens to be one of the best darned films I've ever seen! British director Peter Carter is a man who knows what he's doing. I have no idea where he got his inspiration from, but he turns this film into a truly frightening experience by relying on the atmosphere throughout. There are false scares or jump scenes; instead, just eerie shots of a distant figure watching on the horizon or a deer's head mounted on a tree. Suspense and tension escalate throughout the movie and by the end I could hardly breathe, wanting to watch and find out what happened, and at the same time wanting to switch off, wanting NOT to know. I can't believe just how atmospheric this film is: the bleak locales are a character themselves. This film reminded me of the creepy fiction of Algernon Blackwood, who utilised the same surroundings to the same effect in The Willows and The Wendigo.The film is even more affecting thanks to the realism and believability surrounding the characters. There's no show-off acting here, just five men trapped together, gradually fraying each other's nerves until they're barely alive, dehydrated, almost dead in the hostile surrounding. Holbrook takes acting honours; before, he was just that guy with the cockroaches in CREEPSHOW; now he's an actor I'll watch out for in every film I see. He's that good, and the other guys are too. Dialogue is written with an ear for how it really sounds, so it has that documentary feel to it.As for the horror...sure, it's slow paced, but when it comes, it's real. The head-on-a-stick scene is one of the most horrifying I've witnessed and in this single moment, RITUALS is more disturbing than the whole of something like WOLF CREEK. The river scene made me cringe, and the whole set-piece of the climax is also particularly gruelling, reminding me of a similar moment in Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES – which ironically came out at exactly the same time as this film. Speaking of other movies, I think the producers of the Rambo trilogy got a few ideas from this flick, with Holbrook's red bandanna and the bit where he cauterises a wound with gunpowder. All in all, RITUALS is that rarity: a cheap, low budget, entirely affecting and truly scary horror yarn. One for the collection.
Nick7080
Seriously, why nobody talks about this movie more? It has great actors who do their job right, direction is also good, atmosphere of fear is wonderful, cinematography is quite good, special effects are CREEPY, death scenes are actually realistic and therefore sometimes hard to watch, and ending is one of the better ones that i seen from some movie in this genre. Scene where decapitated head is found by two characters as soon as they wake up really shocked the hell out of me when i first saw it and ending "fight" between last survivor and killer kept me on edge first few times when i saw the movie. I think that these scenes still pack a punch even after repeated viewings. Speaking of gore in Rituals, i'm glad that Code Red has released uncut version, cause after seeing so much lousy versions with different titles, seeing all uncut gore is amazing.Anyway, i just wanted to say a few words about this film. I'll put it right with Deliverance and Southern Comfort quality as another "lost in backwoods" type of movie. I could put it with some B films, but i think that it deserves more then that.
Bezenby
Properly creepy, grim, seventies stalk and slash film starring Hal Halbrook as one of five cantankerous old surgeons out in the Canadian wilds for a bit of recreation, only for all their boots to be stolen on the first night. One of them sets off for help, but when a deer carcass is displayed outside their camp, the other reckon that hanging around might not be a good idea, and head off themselves. They are followed (or perhaps even led on) by a mysterious figure, whose motives aren't clear, but not friendly for sure. I guess the slasher film hadn't fallen into the 'teen victims only' by this point in the genre, so instead of mouthy youngsters, you've got bitter middle aged men bickering, drinking whiskey, and having meltdowns while traps are laid for them and their friendship is tested to the limit. When I thought the film was beginning to tread water a bit (literally at one point) it actually started to get a bit nasty, what with the head on the stick bit and a nasty shotgun blast to a hand. There's an element of mystery to proceedings and the glimpses of the killer (reflected in water, standing on distant hill) was very effective. My only gripe isn't with the film but just the quality of the DVD I had, which made some parts of the finale a bit hard to see (but luckily I didn't seem to miss anything). Highly recommended.
Witchfinder General 666
Often compared to John Boorman's "Deliverance" (1972), Peter Carter's "Rituals" (aka. "The Creeper") of 1977 is a creepy and effective Canadian 'backwoods' Horror film which isn't too well-known, but enjoys a certain cult-status among Horror fans. The comparisons with "Delicerance" are obvious: A bunch of civilized men take a trip into the wilderness in order to have an adventure in the beauty of nature, and have to experience unexpected terrors. In this case, five medical doctors take a trip to go hiking in a remote lakeside area in the deep Canadian woods, days' walks away from civilization. In the first night, their boots get stolen. From that time onward, the friends are getting stalked by a murderous phantom fiend...The film was obviously shot on a modest budget, and is very well-made. The beautiful but inescapable Canadian wilderness is a perfect location for a backwoods horror film, and "Rituals" maintains a truly creepy and menacing atmosphere from the beginning to the end. None of the characters is really likable, which slightly lessens the suspense, as one isn't as scared for them. The characters are thereby those one would expect in such a film: There is the heroic tough guy (Hal Holbrook), the scumbag (Lawrence Dane), the wuss (Robin Gammell), the clown (Gary Reinecke). Personally, I always lament the lack of a woman character in a Horror film, as I find it a lot easier to be scared for a woman than for a man. However, I see the point, as a trip into the wilderness is something that a bunch of guys would do together. The somewhat gonzo-style cinematography in the wilderness sometimes increases the feeling of presence (and therefore the creepiness) and reminded me of the Italian Cannibal films (such as "Cannibal Holocaust") that were shot around the time and later. The score is very good and effective, and the moments of powerful Classical music fit the film very well. The violence is not overtly gory, but quite disturbing. Especially in its second half, the film gets creepy as hell. Overall, "Rituals" is highly recommendable, especially to my fellow fans of gritty low-budget 70s Horror.
