Ritual

Was probably one of the worst horror/thriller movies I have watched in awhile and there are a whole lot of those. The story line was so easy to guess what came next. Throughout the movie my husband and I were both wanting to stop the movie so we could watch another worth what little time we have together. I really can't believe After Dark Films put there name on this. It was one of the only reasons I even rented it. The acting was even very poor. They never gave an explanation why they did what they did or explain what the "rituals" really were for or about. I just hope to God they don't intend to make a second movie of this crap caliber or with the same actors. BLEH!!!!

Ritual takes the often used trapped in a motel room thriller and adds in a satanic cult element but doesn't do anything original with the idea.

The intro had my hopes up with it's stylish opening and eerie credits with the gradually appearing skull mask setting the mood very well. yet as the movie carried on my interest gradually waned as each scene was a real effort to sit through. An almost totally unlikeable female lead and virtually no chemistry between the two main actors made for every exchange between them a real laborious viewing experience.

The cults masks were fairly effective but you never really got to see what they were up to. The strange use of a high pitched whine as scenes got more "intense" was a rather annoying sonic choice that for me didn't pay off. The usual horror movie foolish choices appear but you should be used to that sort of thing if you watch this sort of movie. Obvious comparisons to vacancy are likely but the two movies are almost poles apart in terms of delivery. Vacancy is almost relentless once it gets going were as Ritual is a more sedate slow burn.

The biggest problem with Ritual for me was it wasn't any fun. It was just a little too miserable and slow. Ritual is not really a bad movie but having seen it it's probably one I wish I'd waited to watch on the horror channel.

Wow, i was once prescribed valium for insomnia but it didn't work, i tried everything, herbal tea, Chinese medicine, Zopidone or whatever that stuff is called. Anyway all of that could have been avoided if i had just had this film at hand. Perfect remedy for peaceful relaxing sleep. Now the writer of this film probably thought that some of his ideas would look really cool once they got round to shooting them but seriously sometimes it's just best to look at the end product & shelve it. The Ritual is a bad movie! Awful Film School style visuals, mind numbing sound, terrible script, over long sequences of nothing in particular or interesting. Snap shot editing that feels clumsy & again like a 14 year old film wannabe threw his hand in. Skull masks don't make a film scary & dropping little homages to older, much better horror films does not make your film any cooler if the idea is crap in the first place. This wants to be edgy but ends up looking & feeling all wrong. If you need a film to help you sleep, wack it on but other than that seriously don't entertain the idea of watching it for real, its a mess.

This is the most frustrating film I have ever watched. When the plot finally decides to drag it's way to a point, it makes that point multiple times and lingers on every shot just to drive it home. You could easily cut 45 minutes off the beginning and not miss anything crucial to the storyline. Even the transitions crawl at a mind numbing pace. The characters are boring, and unbelievably stupid, the dialog is boring, the title is boring. This isn't the so bad it's good type of film, this is painful to watch. This movie is wasting your time and relishes in it.

Oh and the female protagonist's name is Lovely.

Not long before watching this film, I took a nice long dump. Never did I imagine that would be the highlight of watching this movie. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Please do not waste your time on the unintelligent protagonist or her dimwitted accomplice. The little story that is present in this film advances at the mighty pace of a disabled snail. It would have been very kind for the director to have poured a healthy dose of salt upon said snail, instead the creative direction of the film has him crawl across a southern Walmart parking lot in high sun of July. By the time our mighty snail (this film) finally did meet its overdue end, I had long been praying that a kind shopper would just run over it after fulfilling their family's weekly grocery and household needs. I think the actual story of such a snail would have been more interesting than the film as presented.