MovieChat Forums > The Ritual (2018) Discussion > Pretty good horror/adventure melding pie...

Pretty good horror/adventure melding pieces of other movies


This is basically a meshing of "The Blair Witch Project" (1999) and "Ogre" (2008), but without the tongue-in-cheekiness of the latter. There's also a little bit of "The Wicker Man" (1973/2006). Like "Blair Witch" the foul-mouthed protagonists become increasingly horrified in the foreboding forest and eventually turn on one another. But the sylvan cinematography is leagues superior due to the spectacular Romanian locations as opposed to the pedestrian film-work of "Blair Witch" in Maryland (which is understandable since the latter is a "found-footage" flick).

The Creature is basically a hybrid of the monsters in "The Relic" (1997) and "Wendigo" (2001), albeit bigger and akin to a large moose, and superior to both.

The second half deviates from the book and people complain about it, but it's superior to the lame black metal cult of the book IMHO and you can't beat one potent sequence that smacks of hell-on-earth. There's also an intriguing element about achieving nigh-immortality at the price of submissive veneration. Despite these positives, the movie's a little uneventful and humdrum, plus it's lacking in the female department.

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Yeah I was pleasantly surprised as all hell. I definitely got a Blair Witch vibe too but I am very glad this was not found footage as well.

The movie did a nice job of building suspense for me, and I found myself hoping that the monster was never visibly revealed because I felt that with the buildup it was bound to be a disappointment. I was again pleasantly surprised. I thought it was pretty dang freaky looking especially those eyes. I've never seen The Relic or Wendigo so this was a really new concept for me.

I've never read the book and to be honest had no idea it was based on one. Overall do you recommend it?

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Yes, I gave it a solid 6.5/10 (anything 6 and above is a 'thumbs up' for me). The only reason I didn't rate it higher is those few negatives noted above. "The Ritual" is superior to "The Relic" IMHO (which takes place completely in a dark Chicago museum), but I favor "Wendigo" because of it's insightful subtext (as explained here: https://moviechat.org/tt0275067/Wendigo/58c769076b51e905f686771e/My-explanation-SPOILER).

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