Review: The Ritual Is The Horror Hit You're Looking For
- Feb 11, 2018
- 1 min read
If you go into the woods to day, you're in for a big surprise.
Following the death of one of their own, four friends go on a pilgrimage of sorts to the wilds of Sweden. With their goal complete, a small shrine dedicated to their comrade, the elect to take shortcut back to the lodge, one that will take them into a forest thick with trees and nightmares.
In a world dominated by an over-reliance on gory imagery and jump-scares, with even 2017's excellent IT falling prey, The Ritual is somewhat refreshing. While it does have a few of the afore mention jump-scares, they're not as awfully done as the majority of we see these days. Instead the film slowly ratchets up the tension, keeping its horrors just out of sight until finally, and oh so excellently, revealing them.
The Ritual is the kind of movie that has you peeking over your shoulder late at night, even though you're on the opposite side of the planet to Sweden and there isn't a norse forest in sight. Its story telling is effective, the characters a decently acted, if not exactly memorable, and it sports one of the most interesting, from both a lore and a visual standpoint, creature ever put to screen.
While The Ritual won't change the slowly dying horror genre, it will slow that death down. Between excellent cinematography, solid storytelling and, once again, the best monster possibly since Giger's xenomorph, The Ritual breathes life into a dying beast, even if just for a little while.
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