Ritual (2002 film)

Last updated
Ritual
Ritual poster.jpg
Poster art
Directed by Avi Nesher
Screenplay by Rob Cohen
Avi Nasher
Story byInez Wallace
Produced by Richard Donner
David Giler
Walter Hill
Ted Hartley
Starring Jennifer Grey
Craig Sheffer
Daniel Lapaine
Kristen Wilson
Gabriel Casseus
Tim Curry
CinematographyDavid A. Armstrong
Douglas Milsome
Edited byRobert A. Ferretti
Michael Schweitzer
Music by Shirley Walker
Production
companies
Distributed by RKO Pictures
Release dates
  • September 18, 2002 (2002-09-18)(Philippines)
  • May 2, 2006 (2006-05-02)(United States)
Running time
99 minutes
106 minutes (DVD/Blu-ray)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Ritual is a 2002 American comedy horror film. A remake of the 1943 film I Walked With a Zombie , it was released in select countries in 2002, the Philippines in 2003, and released direct-to-DVD in the US in 2006. It stars Tim Curry, Jennifer Grey, and Craig Sheffer with Avi Nesher directing. Subsequent home video releases added a newly filmed intro featuring the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt , though it was not produced as a Tales from the Crypt film. [1]

Contents

The film is set in Jamaica. In the film, a Jamaican girl has been excluded from her family' inheritance, and seeks revenge against her brother. She attempts to turn the brother's nurse into a zombie by use of voodoo, but the plan backfires when the nurse resists.

Plot

Crypt Keeper intro

The Crypt Keeper is in Jamaica wearing his hair in "deadlocks". He states that one of his favorite things about Jamaica are the "eye-popping honeys", as it shows different bikini-clad women that are nearby. He then talks about how he just finished wrapping up his new movie in Jamaica. He introduces the movie and tells them "Don't worry, the beast is yet to come".

Story

Dr. Alice Dodgson is fired from a hospital due to her involvement in the death of a patient. With few options, she decides to take a job as a nurse in Jamaica caring for Wesley Claybourne, a young man apparently suffering from encephalitis. Alice falls in love with Wesley, but she fears that she and Wesley are the targets of a voodoo cult.

She befriends Caro, a local girl. Caro advises Alice that any recrimination from the Voodoo community will only come as a result of her interference with their practices. Tension mounts as Alice suffers additional unexplained phenomena.

Caro is revealed as the cause of the strange goings-on; she is seeking revenge against Wesley because their father Paul killed Caro's mother and rejected Caro as his daughter, denying her an inheritance. Caro attempts to paralyze Alice and turn her into a zombie, but Alice is only partially paralyzed. Alice causes Caro's plan to backfire, and Caro is turned into a zombie instead.

Alice and Wesley abandon Jamaica and move back to the United States. The local Police Chief takes Caro into his home and puts her in his bed.

In a post-credit scene, bloopers from the Crypt Keeper's intro are shown.

Cast

Release

Ritual was originally released for foreign countries in 2002. The film saw release in the Philippines on September 18, 2002, and was also released in Japan on January 25, 2006. It was not released in the United States until May 2, 2006, on DVD. It was later released on Blu-ray in the United States on December 4, 2012.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Liddell</span> Basis of the character in "Alice in Wonderland"

Alice Pleasance Hargreaves was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip became the classic 1865 children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She shared her name with "Alice", the story's protagonist, but scholars disagree about the extent to which the character was based upon her.

<i>Demon Knight</i> 1995 American horror comedy film by Ernest Dickerson

Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight is a 1995 American black horror comedy film directed by Ernest Dickerson, starring Billy Zane, William Sadler, Jada Pinkett, Brenda Bakke, C. C. H. Pounder, Dick Miller, and Thomas Haden Church.

<i>Bordello of Blood</i> 1996 American horror comedy film

Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood is a 1996 American horror comedy film directed by Gilbert Adler, from a screenplay by Adler and A.L. Katz, and a story by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis. Dennis Miller stars as Rafe Guttman, a private investigator hired by Katherine Verdoux to investigate the disappearance of her brother Caleb which leads him to a bordello run by Lilith.

Tales from the Crypt may refer to:

<i>Tales from the Crypt</i> (film) 1972 British film by Freddie Francis

Tales from the Crypt is a 1972 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis. It is an anthology film consisting of five separate segments, based on short stories from the EC Comics series Tales from the Crypt by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, and Bill Gaines. The film was produced by Amicus Productions and filmed at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England.

<i>The Plague of the Zombies</i> 1966 British film by John Gilling

The Plague of the Zombies is a 1966 British horror film directed by John Gilling and starring André Morell, John Carson, Jacqueline Pearce, Brook Williams, and Michael Ripper. The film's imagery influenced many later films in the zombie genre.

<i>I Walked with a Zombie</i> 1943 film by Jacques Tourneur

I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for the ailing wife of a sugar plantation owner in the Caribbean, where she witnesses Vodou rituals and possibly encounters the walking dead. The screenplay, written by Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, is based on an article of the same title by Inez Wallace, and also partly reinterprets the narrative of the 1847 novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

<i>The Haunt of Fear</i> American horror comic anthology series

The Haunt of Fear is an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series that was published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1954 created by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein. The magazine began in June 1947 as Fat and Slat. It continued under this title for four issues before becoming Gunfighter (#5–14). It was retitled The Haunt of Fear with issue #15 (1). The numbering was reset after #17 (3). The comic bore this title for 28 issues until being discontinued after issue #28.

<i>Resident Evil: Extinction</i> 2007 film by Russell Mulcahy

Resident Evil: Extinction is a 2007 action horror film directed by Russell Mulcahy and written by Paul W. S. Anderson. A direct sequel to Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), it is the third installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the Capcom survival horror video game series of the same name. The film follows the heroine Alice, along with a group of survivors from Raccoon City, as they attempt to travel across the Mojave desert wilderness to Alaska and escape a zombie apocalypse.

<i>Tales from the Crypt</i> (comics) American horror comic anthology series

Tales from the Crypt is an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series that was published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1955 created by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein. The magazine began in March 1947 as International Comics. It continued under this title for five issues before becoming International Crime Patrol (#6) and Crime Patrol (#7–16). It was retitled The Crypt of Terror with issue #17. Two more issues were published under this title before it was rebranded as Tales from the Crypt for issue #20. The comic bore this title for 27 issues until being discontinued after issue #46.

<i>Dreamchild</i> 1985 British film

Dreamchild is a 1985 British drama film written by Dennis Potter, directed by Gavin Millar, and produced by Rick McCallum and Kenith Trodd. The film, starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley, is a fictionalised account of Alice Liddell, the child who inspired Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

<i>Boy Eats Girl</i> 2005 film

Boy Eats Girl is a 2005 horror-comedy film directed by Stephen Bradley and starring Samantha Mumba, produced and shot in Ireland. The plot tells of a teenage boy who comes back to life as a zombie, similar to the plot of the American film My Boyfriend's Back.

<i>The House on Skull Mountain</i> 1974 film

The House on Skull Mountain is a 1974 horror film directed by Ron Honthaner. After Pauline Christophe, the sole heir for the mansion on Skull Mountain dies, four of her family members are called to hear her will. Upon arrival, each of the guests is stalked by a skeleton in a robe.

<i>King of the Zombies</i> 1941 film

King of the Zombies is a 1941 American zombie comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury, and Mantan Moreland. The film was produced by Monogram Pictures, and was typical of its B films produced by the Pine-Thomas team. Along with flying scenes, the use of zany characters and slapstick efforts were juxtaposed with a spy and zombie story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie (comics)</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

The Zombie is a fictional supernatural character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett for the standalone story "Zombie" in the horror-anthology comic book Menace #5, which was published by Atlas Comics, a forerunner to Marvel. The character later became well known for starring in the black-and-white horror-comic magazine series Tales of the Zombie (1973–1975), usually in stories by Steve Gerber and Pablo Marcos.

<i>The Vault of Horror</i> (film) 1973 British film by Roy Ward Baker

The Vault of Horror is a 1973 British anthology horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker, and starring Terry-Thomas, Dawn Addams, Denholm Elliott, Curd Jürgens, Tom Baker, Michael Craig, Terence Alexander, Glynis Johns, Mike Pratt, Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies, Daniel Massey and Anna Massey.

<i>I Eat Your Skin</i> 1971 American film

I Eat Your Skin is a 1971 American horror film written, produced and directed by Del Tenney. It stars William Joyce, Heather Hewitt and Walter Coy. The film was shot entirely in Florida in 1964 under the title Caribbean Adventure to disguise from potential investors the fact that it was a zombie film.

<i>Twice-Told Tales</i> (film) 1963 horror-film by Sidney Salkow

Twice-Told Tales is a 1963 American horror anthology film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Vincent Price. It consists of three segments, all loosely adapted by producer/screenwriter Robert E. Kent from works by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The Dead One is a 1961 American independent horror film written, produced and directed by Barry Mahon. It stars John McKay, Linda Ormond, Monica Davis and Clyde Kelly. The narrative follows two cousins—one a businessman (McKay), the other a woman who practices voodoo (Davis)—who each seek control of their family's Louisiana plantation.

<i>Alice in Wonderland</i> (1949 film) 1949 French film

Alice in Wonderland is a 1949 French film based on Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Directed by Dallas Bower, the film stars Carol Marsh as Alice, Stephen Murray as Lewis Carroll, and Raymond Bussières as The Tailor. Most of the Wonderland characters are portrayed by stop-motion animated puppets created by Lou Bunin.

References

  1. "Tales from the Crypt - Ritual". Avrev.com. 2006-05-02. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-24.