*Originally written September 18th, 2017*
"The Blairy Bunch"
There's not a massive lot to be said about The Ritual, a low-budget British horror film about four friends who find themselves lost in the woods being taunted by a monster after they go on a memorial trip after their friend dies in a store robbery.
It's all just fairly serviceable and stuff you've seen before, there's clear inspiration from The Blair Witch Project, and to be honest, this is still a better Blair Witch film than last years remake disguised as a sequel. There is also a fairly intriguing mystery at what the monster is and where that goes at least.
Where The Ritual shines most is easily in its lead character. Luke (Rafe Spall) is a man haunted and guilty after the death of his friend, his arc of facing his demons (Both metaphorical and literal) is easily the most compelling part. Spall manages to hold his own in a horror film, he's always an actor I've liked, even from his days in the vastly underrated Channel 4 comedy 'Pete Vs. Life'.
It's a shame that the rest of the cast are very under served an one not. I honestly can't remember the name of a single one of them, and I wasn't too bothered when any of them were killed off. That said, I was surprised at how funny this could be at times, the cast all had great chemistry together, it's just a shame their characters were so bland.
Being a 90 minute film really helped too. Things went by really fast and before I knew it, I was in the middle of a very surprising and decent final act that none of the trailers spoiled at all. It changed from horror into something else (It also made me realise I need to finally watch The Wicker Man. Not the Nicolas Cage masterpiece, the original).
We don't get a lot of answers as to what the monster is directly, but it was pretty easy to work out. I also liked the design of the creature, it's hard to explain other than "A horse mixed with a Jawa from Star Wars". There's also a lack of jump scares and extreme gore, which I'm getting tired of, the film gets its tension from mystery and atmosphere, which I always appreciate.
The Ritual might be far from the best horror films of the year in a very good year for the genre, but for what it was, it's a perfectly acceptable lost in the woods horror that might make up for that terrible Blair Witch remake.
6/10 Dans
The Ritual is out October 13th in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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