Das Ritual

Hal Holbrook and four other doctors take their yearly vacation off in the deepest woods for uninterrupted fishing and camping. Once there strange occurrences begin to happen. All their boots are stolen. A deer is slaughtered and strung up with a snake crawling down its leg like a caduces. Someone is out there and someone knows these guys are doctors. Well, differing personalities and breaking points get the better of the men. Doctors begin to die...usually through no fault but their own in the beginning. Later the few survivors are hunted and (some) killed prior to reaching the film's resolution. This film is a little diamond in the rough of bad, pointless horror films of the seventies. It has some truly inspired moments of terror. It also has some truly disturbing moments. The deer scene is one such scene, and another scene is where a head of a previous killed doc is mounted on a pole ala Macbeth to greet the surviving doctors after their sleep. The image is horrifying as is the realization that the lives of the living could have been had at any moment by the hunter. Director Peter Carter is good at keeping the pace of the film moving and tight. The editing is the biggest problem as needless cuts and cutaways seem to be all over the place. They may be cuts made for the video distribution way back on the Embassy label. What really separates this film from a mindless slasher film is the heavy use of characterization throughout the film. We just don't see nameless doctors killed, but they are real people with real problems. Each character can be described in more than just appearance. Holbrook gives a very credible performance as a man who has a strong ethical base. Lawrence Dane does a likewise job as a man with a low breaking point. All the acting was very credible. The ending of the film is somewhat slapdash and some things just dont fit perfectly, but budgetary constraints appear to have been at fault for this little Canadian production. Despite, as an earlier reviewer noted, Siskel and Ebert giving it two thumbs down, I enthusiastically recommend the film as an entertaining suspenseful horror film.

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.

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 .

Hal Holbrook stars as one of five friends(all doctors) who are taking their usual outdoor vacation, only this year they fly into a secluded wilderness, where their rest is disrupted by a sinister and unseen figure who first steal their boots, then escalates things with terror then murder...

Well directed by Peter Carter in real Canadian locations, this film creates an effective atmosphere of suspense and fear, aided by a capable cast that really involve you in their plight, leading to a harrowing climax.

Best to see this on the restored DVD, which has the best picture quality possible, since the original negative was damaged, which makes the ending quite(literally) too dark. Otherwise, this is much more than just a "Deliverance" rip-off, which isn't a fair description.

Haunting final scene is memorable.

Long before THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT took the crown of 'lost-in-the-woods-and-stalked-by-evil' movies, there was this poorly distributed low budget gem which deserves reevaluation, and should be seen by any serious horror/thriller enthusiast.

A buddy group of medical field professionals trek into the solitude of the forest for a relaxing fishing trip. On their first day out, their boots mysteriously turn up missing, marking the inception of a tense and distressing game played against an unseen evil adversary. One by one, the men meet grisly fates, and a scattering of vague clues which may reveal the reason behind it all are left to be pondered.

Quite good of its type, and deserving of mention in the same breath as DELIVERANCE and SOUTHERN COMFORT.

7/10.