Friday 20 October 2017

The Ritual - The scoop and digest

David Bruckner brings Adam Nevill's British horror novel of same name to the big screen.

Rafe Spall - Luke
Robert James-Collier - Hutch
Sam Troughton - Dominic
Arsher Ali - Phil

Six months after their friend Robert was murdered in a convenience store robbery, Luke, Dominic, Hutch and Phil go hiking in Northern Sweden to reflect on recent tragedy.

Dom falls awkwardly and does knee in, so to save time, they take a shortcut through the forest.

What a good idea.

Geezers stumble across a creepy abandoned house and stay overnight.

Strange wooden symbols and headless statue suggests evidence of witchcraft.

Also, growls from 'something' are heard outside.

Bright light selfishly disturbs forty winks and along with sustaining wounds on chest, Luke is forced to relive murder.

Phil is found hugging statue in birthday suit, Hutch has pissed himself and Dom is going ape shit.

Experiences and Luke's wounds are dismissed as bad dreams and accident respectively.

As night falls, guilt continues to torture Luke and noises grow louder, as madness draws ever closer.

Hutch and Phil are killed off-screen, with Luke and Dom finding buddies impaled on trees.

Fleeing from evil presence has them inadvertently discover now active ritual camp, where they're knocked out.

Waking up inside cabin, hideous hag notices Luke's wounds and reveals hers, confirming he's been chosen to join the family.

Dom is tied to a stake and prepped for sacrifice.

Meanwhile, a younger female informs 'God' is worshipped because it gives them life beyond their own.

To his relief, Dom's wife appears, but true form hangs ass up high.

Having wriggled free by breaking thumb, Luke goes exploring and torches humanoid like obscenities bound in wood.

I'm not really sure of purpose.

After shotgun blows away selected peeps, we finally get a proper look at Keith Thompson's Lovecraft-esque monster, as giant skeletal moose with human arms for antlers briefly goes on the rampage.

Although creature has ample opportunity to kill Luke, he manages to leave both forest and nightmare behind.

Stylish

Nothing original, but this is a welcome addition to genre.

Elements of Blair Witch, The Evil Dead, The Wicker Man and even Kill List are here for all to see, but this does more than enough to stand out on its own.

Joe Barton's screenplay never slices cheese, performances are excellent and characters have real personality.

What's most impressive about Bruckner's film is how banter is balanced with serious horror.

However, it's a shame final act flushes tension down the toilet and slips into clichéd familiarity.

Man at the helm is obviously no mug and perhaps talent will be fully realised in next project.

1 comment:

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