Das Ritual - Im Bann des Bösen

"Tales from the Crypt" was a product that was very successful on radio and as a television series, but never found the formula for success in cinema. The first two releases, still in the 70s, remained faithful to the original product, with a succession of short stories, some better than others. The third film was much more audacious: "Demon Knight" really tried to give us a feature film, and to a certain extent it managed to respond well to that challenge. Then it all came crashing down with "Bordello of Blood", which was a real fiasco and shattered the producers' ambitions. Maybe that's why this movie never really adopted the franchise, and only in the physical versions do we see the opening, with a rigid, cheap and inelegant version of the Cryptkeeper introducing the movie.

Let's face it, this one is not within the parameters of what we could consider a good movie for the cinema. Even so, we are pleased to see that the production has learned something from past mistakes and that the film is committed to a solid story, a consistent and relatively well-structured narrative. It's not a good movie, but it's better than its predecessors and, honestly, it manages to be an average movie, within the quality standard of made-for-TV and DVD movies.

The script begins with Alice Dodgson's medical license being suspended after a medical error in which she was at fault. In order to support herself during the suspension period, she takes a job as a private caregiver in Jamaica to care for Wesley Claybourne, who has encephalitis but believes he is being targeted by voodoo magic. At the same time, she befriends Caro, an attractive, sexually intense young Jamaican woman, and begins to discover that Wesley's delusions may, after all, have some raison d'être.

The film has a very solid cast and some well-known names, but the material given to the actors was relatively weak, several characters were sexualized to the maximum and the director Avi Nesher proved incapable of guiding the actors and getting results. Jennifer Grey, the protagonist, is not an inexperienced actress, but we've seen her do better in "Dirty Dancing" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The material received harmed her, in addition to the fact that the personage was quite sexualized, taking advantage of the physical attributes of the actress. Daniel Lapaine did an average job, committed, but histrionic and lacking in direction. Tim Curry has been underused and only appears once in a while. Craig Sheffer is as supportive as possible, but he's not a good villain. Lastly, Kristen Wilson appears to have been chosen solely on the basis of her svelte and sculpted body, almost entirely visible in the film, where she appears nude several times.

Technically, the film is much more modest and poor than we could have expected, considering the list of actors present in the cast. Thought and produced as a film for TV and DVD, it lacks a cinematic notion, and budget or team to carry it out. Without the staff and money to make a film with a cinematic dimension, the production's options were limited in aspects such as costume design, visual and special effects, digital resources and the choice of filming locations. That's why the voodoo scenes are so few and concentrated. What's good here? We have good set construction (a good medical lab, the magic props, with crosses and herbs and strange objects mixed with candles etc.), we also have a good cinematography (for a TV movie) and, finally, an effective soundtrack.

This turned out all right and looks interesting. However, as it goes on the attempts at creating emotions between the characters is so inept that it really turns the horror off and is an insult to serious viewers. The story this is based on "I walked with a zombie" is probably much better although unfortunately I haven't seen it yet. "Ritual" looks so exciting and could have been a great movie about zombies and voodoo but in reality it has turned out very poorly which is a shame. It's hard to say what is wrong with it. I guess there are just too many inept scenes and it is hard to believe, for example, in the lovestory between Alice (who is called Alice Dodgson like the girl who supposedly inspired Lewis Carrol to call his heroine Alice) and the younger brother. Absolutely nothing has been built up between them and then in the end they get married. Anyway, this looks great, and it was worth a look - but the movie is just so poorly performed. 3/10.

Jennifer Grey stars as a troubled doctor who's just had her license revoked for accidentally killing a child patient she was trying to save with an experimental procedure. Desperate for work, she takes a job in Jamaica looking after a rich man who believes he's a zombie. From the minute she arrives, it's obvious that someone doesn't want her there and will do anything to stop her from saving her newest patient.

Ritual comes in stops and starts. Some scenes are exciting and some will bore you senseless. It's way too long at 106 minutes, when a 90 minute runtime would have easily done the job better, but there are some decent performances and even a few wild sequences of gore (the opening death scene is memorably gruesome). There's a bit too much reliance on spooky dream sequences as well.

I was most surprised that Jamaica seems so cold. At least that's what Jennifer Grey's nipples seemed to be telling us throughout most of the movie. Someone, get that poor woman a bra and turn on some heat. She looks like she's freezing.

First it's a Tales From the Crypt film, then it's not. Then it is, then it's not. Finally this film was given a decent release and they used the Cryptkeeper to try and sell it. Sadly, this will be the only thing under the Tales From the Crypt banner that I will never own. Ritual just wasn't up to Crypt standards. Demon Knight was one of the best horror films on the 90's and Bordello of Blood was a laugh riot. Ritual is neither of these things. It's basically a retelling of I Walked With a Zombie. It has no surprises and it's rather straight-forward in it's direction. I'm also not big on voodoo movies. There's just something about them, and they all tell pretty much the same story. So not much stands out and the film is a bit boring. The pace could have been tightened up a bit. It's a shame too because the acting is quite good. Jennifer Gray leads the cast and is up to the task. The new nose must be working out for her because she looks to be in the best shape of her life. Daniel Lapaine and Kristen Wilson, both of whom I'm not familiar with, also are admirable. And Tim Curry and Craig "I need to fire my agent" Sheffer show up to lend their credentials. Seriously, Sheffer is a way better actor than his filmography would have you believe. Another plus is the effects. What little gore there is is done expertly. Gotta love the doctor getting microwaved.

Can't remember where I got this movie from, but it suddenly appeared off my DVD shelf, as it had been there for months and I always skipped over playing it. Anyway, moved by the hand of huge laziness, I decided to give it a chance and feed my tray with what I thought was a slice of pure digitalized boredom. The result was a nice surprise. Obviously, this is not the flick of the century, but the plot line is consistent enough to keep you in for the whole runtime long. Atmosphere is particularly dense and thrilling (3 phone calls during the viewing didn't manage to kick me off it !), highlighted by a really efficient soundtrack. The cast is just right as it should be, and the breathtaking beauty of Caro (Kristen Wilson) will do anything but spoil it. The machete/drums/ceremonial scheme, usually utterly heavy in this kind of film, is always kept on a due balance, which, I figure out, must be quite a challenge for the editors. I gave it a 6/10 which means, in my opinion, frames this movie as (at least) advisable/worth watching.