Obviously modeled after the earlier hit DELIVERANCE (1972), the Canadian produced RITUALS manages to set itself apart and puts a unique twist on the blooming 70s backwoods slasher genre. Like the Boorman film, RITUALS showcases the clash between big city types and backwoods folk. But whereas DELIEVERANCE featured men coming together due to their horrific situation, RITUALS shows them falling apart. The characters in this film shatter the moment they fall into danger, arguing at every moment and even refusing to help their wounded brethren.
This realistic portrayal of trauma helps to lay on a much more literal war allegory (right down to the perverse reason for the murders). Director Peter Carter starts things off calm (albeit a bit slow) as the men are dropped off at their location but increases the intensity with each encounter with the killer (enemy). By the end of the film, sole survivor Hal Holbrook looks like he has been through a war (and oddly resembles Charlie Sheen at the end of PLATOON). Subtle hints are dropped throughout the film about the doctors' service time in Korea. As the eerie events begin happening, one doctor even theorizes that the group might be being stalked for one of their past medical transgressions. But, as the killer gets closer, he begins leaving clues in the form of medals and x-rays revealing he is a wounded World War II veteran looking to unleash his unrequited anger at the doctors who harmed him on this group of medical professionals.
Made in 1976, RITUALS beat most backwoods slashers to the punch, even though it did not see theatrical release for several years after completion. In fact, Jeff Lieberman's JUST BEFORE DAWN owes quite a bit to this film, playing almost like a remake of RITUALS right down to the twist of two brothers being in the woods (although only one is a killer here). For a film that debuted before the slasher craze, RITUALS is surprisingly violent in its last half hour. There are stabbings, burnings, shotgun blasts and a great shock involving a severed head. Two versions of RITUALS are floating around. One, released by Embassy in the US, is a cut down version that runs 89 minutes which obscures/cuts the violence and cursing. The uncut version running 100 minutes can be found on the Canadian label Astral Bellevue.
This realistic portrayal of trauma helps to lay on a much more literal war allegory (right down to the perverse reason for the murders). Director Peter Carter starts things off calm (albeit a bit slow) as the men are dropped off at their location but increases the intensity with each encounter with the killer (enemy). By the end of the film, sole survivor Hal Holbrook looks like he has been through a war (and oddly resembles Charlie Sheen at the end of PLATOON). Subtle hints are dropped throughout the film about the doctors' service time in Korea. As the eerie events begin happening, one doctor even theorizes that the group might be being stalked for one of their past medical transgressions. But, as the killer gets closer, he begins leaving clues in the form of medals and x-rays revealing he is a wounded World War II veteran looking to unleash his unrequited anger at the doctors who harmed him on this group of medical professionals.
Made in 1976, RITUALS beat most backwoods slashers to the punch, even though it did not see theatrical release for several years after completion. In fact, Jeff Lieberman's JUST BEFORE DAWN owes quite a bit to this film, playing almost like a remake of RITUALS right down to the twist of two brothers being in the woods (although only one is a killer here). For a film that debuted before the slasher craze, RITUALS is surprisingly violent in its last half hour. There are stabbings, burnings, shotgun blasts and a great shock involving a severed head. Two versions of RITUALS are floating around. One, released by Embassy in the US, is a cut down version that runs 89 minutes which obscures/cuts the violence and cursing. The uncut version running 100 minutes can be found on the Canadian label Astral Bellevue.