Rituals (film)
Rituals, aka, The Creeper, is a 1977 Canadian eco-horror film about a group of doctors who are menaced while on a camping getaway trip in Northern Ontario.[1]
The film, directed by Peter Carter, stars Hal Holbrook and Lawrence Dane. Rituals was discussed at length in the book, The Canadian Horror Film: Terror of the Soul, (University of Toronto Press). The film was viewed as a reaction against National Film Board documentaries which had proliferated at the time, showcasing the beauty of the Canadian wilderness.[2] Some critics have dismissed it as a "Canadian Deliverance."
Plot
Doctors on a weekend retreat in the bush, begin to bicker among themselves after drinking around a campfire. Suddenly, one of them has his boots stolen. The medics soon realize they're being hunted by an unknown entity.
Cast
- Hal Holbrook as Harry
- Lawrence Dane as Mitzi
- Robin Gammell as Martin
- Ken James as Abel
Reception
TV Guide summarized it thusly: "Five doctors take a vacation in the woods and are terrorized by baddies in this cheap north-of-the-border ripoff of Deliverance.".[3] Canuxploitation, the "Complete Guide to Canadian B-film" called Rituals "an unorthodox Canadian film that offers a terrifying twist on the rural revenge movie..."[4] Really Awful Movies said Rituals was "an underseen and unappreciated Canadian survivalist tax-shelter classic."[5]