The Ritual

I'm sorry, but who the fuck, with no promotional material, and with a name as generic as _The_ fuckin' _Ritual_, told this movie, it was allowed to be so good? _Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time._

RELEASED IN 2017 and directed by David Bruckner, "The Ritual" is a psychological adventure/horror about four British dudes in their 30s who embark on a hike in remote northern Sweden wherein it slowly becomes evident that some THING is stalking them in the dark woods. Will any of them make it out alive? This is basically a meshing of “The Blair Witch Project” (1999) and “Ogre” (2008), but with...

The Ritual is a monster movie with psychological ambitions and seemingly a decent budget. The jötunn monster is actually quite good and so are the cyclic re-enactments of the early on liquor store trauma. Unfortunately the rest of the movie is as bland as the title and relies too much on exotism of the deep Swedish forests. Sadly even that component gets watered out and the endgame cultists seem t...

David Bruckner's The Ritual is an atmospheric horror film that effectively combines psychological tension with a touch of the supernatural. The story follows four friends on a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness, where they encounter not only the haunting landscape but also their own fears and regrets. What sets The Ritual apart is the authenticity of the characters and their relationshi...

Has a great first half but really lets itself down after the monster makes its first appearance. Still a solid horror, definitely worth a watch but nothing to cry about. The first house sequence was really well done and genuinely scary 3/5