Rituals

This is a powerful,surreal and frightening film. Like Deliverance, It's mostly about the very thin veneer of civilization. Shot in a cinema verite style, the brutality and horror seems almost documentary like, unlike Deliverance where there are practically signposts saying "meaning" per 24 frames, this film allows the horror and absurdity of itself unfold itself slyly around the edge of the frame.( consider the brilliant satire of having the surgeons chant "take him apart! take him apart!" as they dance around the campfire. And the eerie shot of the forest dwelling killer standing on top of the hill, a shadow against the sun.) Wheras Deliverance was all about northern white guilt, the doctors in this film have something to be guilty about. I think "Deliverance" is great but this film reveals it's limitations, it's lack of guts, and it's prettifying of nature. Ultimately this is a superior film.

Five doctor friends go hiking in the wilderness where they are stalked and terrorized by an unseen killer.

Rituals, also known as The Creeper, is a rather forgotten and underrated early slasher flick. While the premise may seem like the formula, stereotype backwoods killer story this film actually came along before the time of Friday the 13th and its countless followers. Rituals really owes its inspiration in part to Deliverance, but it is hardly the rip-off of that classic movie that some critics would have you think. It has a gritty, low budget atmosphere and some effectively nightmarish moments in its plot (head on a stick, anyone?). The film is also rather gruesome, particularly in the rare uncut version of the film. It has plenty of creepy mood to keep it from being the routine slasher outing.

However there are a few flaws. First, in all versions of the film that I've ever seen the lighting in the climax of the movie is so dim that it's difficult to understand what is happening. Second, the plot is very thinly written and the characters aren't sympathetic in the slightest. Also, the editing is very rough.

Never the less, the effective atmosphere and chills come to the rescue and save this woodsy slasher. Not bad, but best enjoyed by the dedicated horror fans.

** 1/2 out of ****

Terrifying and unsettling movie plenty of thrills , chills , lush outdoors and top-notch acting . Five doctors (Hal Holbrook, Lawrence Dane, Robin Gammell ..) set out in a camping trip across the Canadian wilderness which starts as a holiday but soon becomes a weekend of sheer terror . It suddenly becomes desperate when occurs a chain of nightmarish events . The four friends realize that something is very strange when someone leaves a decapitated deer head just outside their camp . Shortly after , their path is blocked by someone who doesn't wishes to see them leave the woods alive and subsequently taking place a string of weird happenings . They'll never forget into the risked back-country filled with rare and violent hillbillies . If you go down in the woods today, you're in for a big surprise. In A World Turned Suddenly Savage The Answers Have Become ... Brutally Simple! It's Too Late for Prayers . He Knows You're Out There ... It's too late for prayers. He's out there. Run...hide...it won't do any good. Start praying. The Creeper is coming.

Yet another low budget ¨Deliverance¨ rip-off , but this time the film results to be acceptable and decent enough . This good and interesting picture dealing with some companions going on vacation in the deep wilderness c, ontaining intrigue , action , violence , strong final confrontation and marvelous landscapes. This trilling film was based on an exciting screenplay Ian Sutherland . To minimize costs, the production wasn't insured and the actors did their own stunts , for instance, some actors actually climbed the mountans and risked landscapes in order to save costs . Very good cast giving nice acting , such as : the veteran and recently deceased Hal Holbrook, Robin Gammell and Lawrence Dane who produced as well.

Gorgeous cinematography by René Verzier, though a perfect remastering being really necessary . Well filmed on location in the following filming locations : Batchawana Bay, Ontario , Lake Superior, Ontario, Canada and studios : Cinespace Film , Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada . The motion picture was competently shot by Peter Carter . He was a craftsman filmmaker , making some passable films as ¨High-Ballin'¨ , ¨Klondike Fever or Adventures of Jack London¨ , ¨Highpoint¨ , but he moved to Television , where he developed most his career until his early death at 48 . As he made several telefilms as ¨The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog¨ , ¨The intruder within¨ , and TV episodes of popular Canadian series , such as : ¨Doctor Locke¨ , ¨The Swiss Family Robinson¨ , ¨The Collaborators¨ , ¨The Rowdyman¨ , ¨Shannon¨ , ¨Wojeck¨ , ¨A Man Called Intrepid , ¨McQueen¨ , ¨Corwin¨ , ¨Telescope¨, among others. Rating : 6.5/10 . Notable and better than average flick . Worthwhile watching .

After reading no less than positive thoughts (mainly by horror fans), in the back of my mind I was thinking that maybe I was setting myself up for a huge letdown after finally managing to get my hands on a copy (uncut too). Gladly to say it lived up to its reputation and I was thoroughly enthralled by the slow grinding, suspense-drilling minimal 70s survival horror set-up amongst the remote, vast Canadian deep mountainous backwoods.

Five doctors meet up every year, and this reunion they decide to go on a trek in a remote mountain terrain known by the local Indians as the Cauldron of the Moon. However they soon realise they're not alone, and find they'll being stalked and slowly picked off by someone who seems to hold a grudge of some sort.

What I found that separated this from most backwoods survival horror (and it shares common ground with its blatant influencer 'Deliverance') is that the characters are given more emotional weight (as background mistakes and methodical differences arose from the unbearable stress) and in doing so makes their conflicts and petty bickering intensely raw and effective in the way they stretch their friendships. This is based more so on the inflicting psychological drama, than say just the nasty action (gore and violence is kept low-key, but there is still a dangerous air of sinisterness within). It's a fight for survival, reverting back to primal instincts isn't option at first, but eventually it succumbs to. Also lingering in the well-written script is the focus of being frightened by the unknown and paralysed by abandonment. Our deranged tormentor stays pretty much a shadow (we're give a brief story or explanation to why he's humiliating and torturing these doctors. Is it personal? Does someone know more than they let on? Or it is just in the wrong place at the wrong time) to only appear as an eerily ominous figure in the picturesque backdrop (that sets off some nerves), until the final closing frames we come face-to-face with the freak of nature. The material formed by Ian Sutherland is cerebral and emotionally guided, if a little grey.

Director Peter Carter efficiently constructs a productively tight pace and bleak atmospherics from the alienating locations. Distinctively skin crawling imagery can leave a haunting mark. Sure the low-budget showed up some niggles (jumpy editing and dark passages), but was neatly worked around it. The tension is gained more so from the authentic character interactions and attitudes that they battle to stay one step ahead. As it's just no the killer to worry about either, but the tearing harshness of Mother Nature. Being eaten alive by bugs. Rapid moving rivers. Unstable terrain and the beaming sun. And not to forget one another. The performances are tremendously towering and strongly delivered by a dependably competent cast. An anchor-like Hal Holbrook is demandingly sharp and Lawrence Dane is suitably good. Hagood Hardy's majestically shuddery music score had that organic sense surrounding it and fitted in perfectly. Rene Verzier's camera-work is top-rate as he sharply lenses the colourful backdrop, but also the impending intensity in the character's actions.

An excellently uneasy and captivating low-budget survival trek that keeps it all quite basic, but manages to also bring out the bitter blows when it counts.

I thought this was a very well-acted, believable and absorbing film. It's is a crime that there is not yet a DVD release of this title. It is very similar to DELIVERANCE in many respects, but with more of a horror-movie feel. Five doctors take their annual camping trip into the thick wilderness of "The Cauldron," a huge, basin-like spot in the forest which was formed, according to Native American legend, when the moon once bumped into the earth. Things go from bad to worse to horrifying for the doctors, as they're faced with a trip through hell brought upon by an unseen, unknown stalker. If you're a horror fan, this is a forgotten gem. Highly recommended for fans of backwoods slashers.