User reviews

Low budget slasher, that copies most of it's ideas from Jeepers creepers 1 & 2.

It takes at least 20 minutes to even get going (and by that I mean for something.. hell anything interesting to happen!) I watched this film because of the reviews on IMDb which said said the gore was cool.. Where? when? Two badly done fake blood splatters and one comical rubber finger slice later any hope I had Rites of Spring being any better than a bad student film project left.

Better films (..as in the plot, acting or effects) in this genre are..

Husk [2011] Triangle [2009] Summers Blood [2009] The Collector [2009] Amusement [2008} Kill Theory [2009].. If you haven't seen one those films I suggest you do over Rites of Spring.

Even the ending sucked big time.

Avoid!

If Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th) and The Creeper (Jeepers Creepers) were to have a baby, Wormface would be the result. It's a low-budget slasher/creature movie that didn't knock my socks off, but didn't leave me gagging either...Well, not too much.

If you're not too anal retentive about your horror movies, the film in itself is not as bad as the others I've seen where I wanted to pour bleach in my eyes after seeing the first 5 minutes, sometimes less. You just have to understand that this movie is not up to par with the great horror classics. It's unoriginal, cliché-ridden and there are numerous flaws as you go along.

However, the actors are good and the cinematography is not bad either. Their shots of the corn field reminded me of Husk, which is an excellent film, by the way. The ending would probably leave you scratching your head, thinking WTF just happened. There are some loose ends left in the story that attempted to add some mystery, but failed.

In short, it's like an appetizer film that would be good to watch on a lazy night. It's watchable, if your expectations are not that high.

A ransom scheme turns into a nightmare for a group of kidnappers who become victims of a horrifying secret that must be paid every spring.

Horror fans will instantly recognize AJ Bowen, the current independent horror go-to actor. Beyond that, many faces appear on screen that we may never see again. There is particularly terrible acting from the father character, which might take some viewers out of the movie.

This might appeal to some people, but it never seems to quite capture what it was going for. While it starts as a kidnapping film, it turns into something like a poor man's "Jeepers Creepers". And even then, there is an undercurrent that is not far removed from "It". At no point does anything seem quite original enough to merit respect.

Two girls are kidnapped in the parking lot of a bar by unknown assailants. They are taken to a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and strung up as sacrifice to a local deity that comes out in the spring. One escapes, stumbling onto a group of kidnappers right in the middle of a ransom plot gone wrong, and about to be made worse when a large, ugly beast out of a Party City costume log comes after them.

"Rites of Spring" is your definitive mediocre, boring slasher trying to be an homage to classic seventies horror. It's not bad, and those that say it is bad clearly haven't ever seen the films this is trying to remake. No horror slasher is good. Some are simply more exciting than others. This is not one of those films.

Our heroes are nonplussed actors who are not very good at what they do. But they represent the film in that they are not bad. Perhaps it is because the script has about as much life as a decorative plastic rock made to cover up blemishes in one's lawn. It's not ever particularly interesting. But it's not bad.

"Rites of Spring" is not a bad film. But it's not a good one.

This film reminded me of "From Dusk Til Dawn" in that it had two different stories - one a crime drama and the other a supernatural horror. However, it failed to reach an interesting level in either category. Simply put, it was weakly executed.

Either story would have been OK on its own as a TV movie, and a decent film if pulled off correctly - but, alas, they both left much to be desired. The crime drama had a weak plot, not too believable or well thought out, and the horror was not horrifying nor was it gory. Nothing about this movie will keep you up at night, unless you're a film producer wondering how these people were approved and given a budget of more than $5. The monster is laughable, and the ending was rushed and truly half-cheek.

This incredibly low budget horror movie has no clue what it wants to be. It is a home invasion movie, then a kidnap movie, then a serial killer movie, then a killer hillbilly movie, and the worst part is that it does all of these equally bad. The acting is terrible across the board, the story is laughable, the direction is all over the place, like it was filmed by a 10 year old that was using all the new features on his camera phone, which it was probably shot on. I understand that this was a bad movie and it knows it, but that does not change the fact the it is awful on every level, well, except maybe for the poster, which was interesting enough to catch my eye and got me to watch this waste of time movie. 1.5 Beards Out Of 5

I have never written a review on IMDb before but I just had to defend this movie. I am a huge fan of the Slasher sub genre so I was excited to check this out. Yes it may be part crime thriller, but this is a slasher at heart. Good 80s throwback feel and a great killer. Wormface...what else do I need to say? At the end of the day, this is still a post scream slasher flick and it is far from perfect. It may not have enough gore for some. However, I thought there was just enough. Some may not like the genre mash up (and I usually don't) but this one will surprise you. What would you expect from a film like this? If you are looking for a good horror movie, look away. If you are looking for a good ole slasher, look no further, they are hard to come by these days. With that being said, if you are a fan of the genre,this is well worth a watch.

I'm not sure what the worst thing is about this low budget horror yarn, the script or the directing. The script, I think, although the direction is pretty poor and uninteresting. The problem with RITES OF SPRING is that it's all so predictable, and it has less going on than even the likes of a WRONG TURN sequel.

The story tells of a kidnapping gone wrong, as a group of kidnappers attempt to take a rich man's daughter in return for a big ransom. A second storyline sees a couple of young women kidnapped by a creepy old farmer, where they are to become lunch for something terrible living in the basement. Eventually the two plot strands combine in the most predictable way imaginable.

There's very little going on here and nothing we haven't seen before. The shocks and twists are very well telegraphed and of the type we've seen countless times. The characters are thinly drawn and the performances completely forgettable. All this has going for it is some half-decent make-up and some okay gore effects, but that's hardly a reason to keep you going; this is barely watchable.

The movie starts off with two ladies leaving a bar at night, then get kidnapped by a man who we never really get to know, nor his intentions.

Then all of a sudden the story makes a split and we follow the kidnapping of a rich man's daughter for ransom. It adds little to the main story, but oh well.

After the 'ritual cleansin' (for lack of a better word) of one of the ladies and some sort of ritual sacrifice bordering on torture p0rn, some anthropomorphic creature awakens from it's slumber (no idea who or what it is or what it wants) and goes on a killing spree against the ladies and the kidnappers who seem to botched their job and ended up in the same place.

A stalk and slash scenario ensues, where the 'villian appearing in the background' is repeated ad nauseum. The ending is total letdown.

I won't waste any more words on this. Maybe if you're *really* into slasher movies this might be a good appetizer, if not stay away.

When I was younger, I used to love goreporn, but now slasher films are absolutely boring and too realistic and not to mention overplayed. Add Rites of Spring to the long list of slasher films that doesn't treat violence with dignity, and you have another mindless run-of- the-mill goreporn splooge Fest. The monster is cool, so it has that going for it, but the desperate reaching of the two-plot collision enhances the feebleness of this movie. The only real reason to watch it, is if you enjoy watching one friend made to suffer while her other friend dies. The positive is that wormface is a pretty excellent monster. The effects are nauseating and creepy and it's interesting how harmless he looks. I think it's far-reaching to involve a real- live missing persons with this one though. There are simply too many gimmicks for this to be a good movie. SPOILER. if you like watching beheadings so much, just watch the news.

Never having heard about this 2011 horror movie titled "Rites of Spring" as I happened to stumble upon it by random chance here in 2024. Of course I opted to sit down and watch it, given my 40-some years love and admiration of the horror genre.

I had no idea what I was in for, but that hardly mattered, as it was a horror movie. And that was, actually, more than sufficient to make me opt to sit down and spend 82 minutes on watching the movie. So of course I had zero expectations to writer and director Padraig Reynolds, whom effectively had every single available chance to entertain and impress me with this movie.

The movie was off to a good start, because you don't get more than 15 minutes into the narrative before things already start to happen. I must admit that I enjoy movies that throws the audience right into the action or mayhem, which definitely was the case of "Rites of Spring".

However, I have to say that the narrative stagnates and sort of settles into a slump about halfway through. And the story sort of flattens out, offering no ups or downs along the way. Sure, "Rites of Spring" is a watchable movie, and if you're a newcomer to the horror genre then it will be a thrilling movie to watch. But for a life-long horror fan, then it just ended up being a bland movie.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, though the name AJ Bowen does sound familiar, I just can't mention any movie in which I've seen him act. The acting performances in the movie were fair, which definitely helped to bring the movie to life on the screen in a more enjoyable manner.

Visually okay, but you're not in for anything grand here. Sure, it wasn't a movie that was particularly needing a grandiose array of special effects, but it would have been nice with a bit more effects to spruce things up, as it was somewhat needed. And as for the killer (or creature), whatever you opt to call him, well, I can't claim that I was particularly impressed. But again, it might be sufficient and suitable to a newcomer to the horror genre.

"Rites of Spring" might be worth checking out if you enjoy horror movies and haven't been jaded by years of exposure to the horror genre. Otherwise it just makes for a somewhat bland viewing experience.

My rating of writer and director Padraig Reynolds's 2011 movie "Rites of Spring" lands on a four out of ten stars.

I personally enjoy watching bad scary movies and roasting them in real time. If you also enjoy doing this, then Rites of Spring is the movie you've been waiting for. The plot is just barely passable as an actual coherent story, with "twists" you'll see coming a mile away. I found myself completely not caring about the characters at all. In fact, this movie features quite possibly the most annoying female "protagonist" (who just barely qualifies as such purely by process of elimination) I've ever seen. The acting is bad. BAD.

But, like I said, bad horror films are kind of my bag. So I had fun watching it. The only reason it got two stars instead of one was because of this. And because the gore was actually pretty decent quality.