"The Ritual" is a creature feature with the same problems that generally plague films of that genre. It is handled well, with some effective moments in the beginning, and superior acting. But when we actually see the creature, and get an explanation of what it is and why it is, we lose interest, and it's not really scary anymore.
It doesn't help that the creature makes no visual sense. I imagine that some people might find that makes it scarier. I didn't. It looks like a cross between a goat and a reindeer with human limbs added here and there for no reason I can tell. "Weird" does not always equal scary.
The film is about a group of friends who take a hike through the woods of northern Sweden to fulfil the dying wishes of a mate of theirs, who was killed in an armed robbery that one of the friends was also present for, but survived due to hiding.
They follow a hiking trail but decide to take a shortcut through a wooded area, where they discover signs of witchcraft, and soon, an inhuman creature shows up.
There are many superior moments in these scenes, which take up more than half of the movie. It's the ending where I felt the movie fell down. The creature is unconvincing, yes, but so is the left-field Norse religious subtext that tries to explain it.
I think Swedes would probably get a laugh out of this movie.
It doesn't help that the creature makes no visual sense. I imagine that some people might find that makes it scarier. I didn't. It looks like a cross between a goat and a reindeer with human limbs added here and there for no reason I can tell. "Weird" does not always equal scary.
The film is about a group of friends who take a hike through the woods of northern Sweden to fulfil the dying wishes of a mate of theirs, who was killed in an armed robbery that one of the friends was also present for, but survived due to hiding.
They follow a hiking trail but decide to take a shortcut through a wooded area, where they discover signs of witchcraft, and soon, an inhuman creature shows up.
There are many superior moments in these scenes, which take up more than half of the movie. It's the ending where I felt the movie fell down. The creature is unconvincing, yes, but so is the left-field Norse religious subtext that tries to explain it.
I think Swedes would probably get a laugh out of this movie.