Ritual (2002)

i rarely give a 9 but at a B film, this film ROCKS! by straight to DVD standards this is a must see. i did not see some things that happened coming at all. Jennifer Grey is a vision in this film. TIm curry was underutilized but with the exception of his last scene his acting was GREAT. i was very surprised by this film. it is not a typical tales of the crypt film, but don't hold that against it. i thought the locale was great. the cinematography was top notch. not everyone gave a stellar performance but overall most of the actors were believable in their roles. no one seemed to be sleepwalking through their act. i recommend this for fans of horror and thrillers.

This turned out all right and looks interesting. However, as it goes on the attempts at creating emotions between the characters is so inept that it really turns the horror off and is an insult to serious viewers. The story this is based on "I walked with a zombie" is probably much better although unfortunately I haven't seen it yet. "Ritual" looks so exciting and could have been a great movie about zombies and voodoo but in reality it has turned out very poorly which is a shame. It's hard to say what is wrong with it. I guess there are just too many inept scenes and it is hard to believe, for example, in the lovestory between Alice (who is called Alice Dodgson like the girl who supposedly inspired Lewis Carrol to call his heroine Alice) and the younger brother. Absolutely nothing has been built up between them and then in the end they get married. Anyway, this looks great, and it was worth a look - but the movie is just so poorly performed. 3/10.

This film was meant to be the third & final film in the Tales From The Crypt movie trilogy. Why it wasn't made official? None of us may ever know. In my opinion though it definately had the Tales From The Crypt feel to it. It had all the right elements & I had a great time watching it. As with all Tales movies & episodes don't watch it expecting to get the crap scared out of you, expect some good ole fun. The main element missing that would've made this a complete Tales movie however is The Cryptkeeper. If you're a fan of Tales From The Crypt, you like zombie/voodoo films like The Serpent & The Rainbow, or you like horror in general then I definately recommend giving this film a look. That is if you can find it.

If you've read any of my other reviews you will know that I am somewhat partial to the Tales From the Crypt movies.... who am I kidding?..... I LOVE THEM!Way back when Demon Knight came out it was apparent that there would be a series of three movies. Bordello of Blood followed on shortly after and then there was a massive lull.... nothing. Finally after a couple of years it was made official that the third movie was ready! And it was going to be a 'Voo-Doo' movie...... Hmm, I dont really like Black Magic movies but the excitement remains!!So then I saw it...... WTF? Hmmm, yes sure it was a good movie. I really did enjoy it. It had all of the key eliments of a "Tales from the Crypt" movie.... all except for the one VITAL factor.... The Crypt Keeper??....... No sight of Him.I can only wonder why the hell these guys (Gilbert, Zemekis, Silver, Donner etc etc) would have the audacity to release this movie without The Crypt Keeper? Surely they know that they are cheating the audience. What is the point of calling it a 'Tales' movie when there is no obvious connection?With that massive qualm aside, this is a good movie. It seems to me that they may not have had much of a budget, and if that is the case... then they pulled it off excellently. It is not entirely gory or gruesome but it is still packed with the typical comic relief that makes a 'Crypt' movie so fun to watch.So come on guys.... make us some MORE Tales From the Crypt movies!! We can't get enough of them. And bring back the 'Keeper'... pleeeeease??I give this one 6.5 out of 10.