''Ritual'' is a 2013 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

written and directed by Mickey Keating. It stars Lisa Summerscales and Dean Cates as a married couple who must deal with a murderous cult. It was released in the United States on December 31, 2013.

Plot

Tom Moses' estranged wife, Lovely, kills a man who tried to kidnap her and calls him for help. Finding a video of a cult sacrifice in the dead man's car, Tom realizes he and his wife are in danger.

Cast

* Lisa Summerscales as Lovely *

Dean Cates Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

as Tom * Brian Lally as Roman * Derek Phillips as The Man *

Larry Fessenden Laurence T. Fessenden (born March 23, 1963) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits inclu ...

as Motel Clerk

Release

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...

released it in the United States on December 31, 2013.

Reception

Samuel Zimmerman of ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'' rated it 3/4 stars and wrote, "Being a brisk film, ''Ritual'' is one half intimate, indie motel dilemma/one half violent pursuit, punctuated by stark oddities in aesthetic and sound design throughout." Patrick Cooper of

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

rated it 2/5 stars and, though he complimented the score and acting, said the film comes off as "an uninspired attempt at tapping into David Lynch's style". In comparing it negatively to '' Vacancy'', Rohit Rao of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 2/5 stars and called it "an odd little thriller that hardly ever thrills".

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, ritual_2013 2013 films 2013 horror films 2013 horror thriller films Films about cults American independent films American horror thriller films Religious horror films 2013 independent films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films