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Now Streaming: THE RITUAL (2025)
Filmed in the miracle of Unsteadicam!
Meadow Williams, Courtney Rae Allen, and Al Pacino in Exorcist Rebuild #6479.
THE RITUAL (2025) David Midell / Writers: David Midell & Enrico Natale / Producer: Andrew Stevens (Stella’s kid) / Cinematographer: Adam Biddle (2.00 : 1) / Design: Julie Toche / Editor: Enrico Natale / Composers: Jason Lazarus & Joseph Trapanese / Hair Designer to Al Pacino: Trish Almeida / Acted by: Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, Abigail Cowen, Patricia Heaton, and Patrick Fabian / Countries of Origin: USA & India / Distributor: Variant Films / Not Rated / Length: 98 mins.
Is there an exorcism film out there that wasn't based on true events? How many times must the same story be told the same way? Answers: probably not, and so long as budgets are kept low enough to turn a profit and audiences believe that repetition is the key to entertainment. And why is it always young women strapped to a bed and vomiting their guts out? I’m sure that others exist, but the only evil spirit-ousting that takes place from a male point-of-view to come to mind (without Googling) is The Possession of Joel Delaney.
After being subjected to decades of imitations gone astray, I took The Last Exorcism at its word. As a result, it's been years since I willingly booked passage on a demon-driven pea-souper. This time, Al Pacino was the reason I broke my vow. Horror is a genre he's generally shied away from, though he did star in one widely recognized supernatural fright show, The Devil's Advocate (1997). Young enough to play Father Karras when The Exorcist premiered, he's now old enough to assume the Max Von Sydow role, which he does in David Midell’s The Ritual.
Video:
Trailer: THE RITUAL
The story re-presents what we learn is the most thoroughly documented case of demonic possession in American history. (Thank goodness for title cards.) Erlanger, Iowa, early autumn, 1928. The case of Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen) has exhausted all medical and biological theories. In a last ditch effort, her parents called in the services of Pazuzu-Rooter.
The Exorcist was a fundamental study of good against evil; The Ritual is an exercise in duelling pulpiteers: in one corner, the committed Father Riesingernon (Al Pacino); in the other, the doubting Father Steiger (Dan Stevens, Pacino's worthy opponent). A ritual a day helps keep Moloch away. Over the next week, we’ll follow these two men and a handful of background nurses — the most committed of whom is Sister Rose (Ashley Greene) — as they try to shoo Satan away from Emma’s soul. A cross between Friar Tuck and Doc dwarf, the Good Father is quite the ladies man in these parts; the nuns melt like groupies hanging outside the stage waiting for a rocker to appear after a particularly rough set.
Little did William Friedkin realize when he directed The Exorcist in 1971 that he was starting a cottage industry of fright, a new genre of terror that would be repeated ad nauseum with minor variations: Emma curses! Emma pukes! Emma levitates! Emma talks in tongues! It isn't until a hank of Nurse Rose’s hair is torn from her skull that Father Riesingernon decides it might be a good idea to restrain the girl.
A bit of advice for those intent on downloading. The Ritual was filmed in the miracle of Unsteadicam! When in doubt, those unable to move an audience’s emotions compensate for their lack of technical savvy by jiggling the hell out of the camera. It dangles! It bobbles! It quakes! There is not a shot in the film in which the camera is anchored. What's the point? Hand-held is but one tool in the cinematographers’ bag of tricks, and as such, should be used sparingly — and then only as a means of drawing attention. Did the filmmakers really think this was an intelligent, sophisticated way to tell a story, let alone to express anxiety, suspense, and/or tension? To whom do I mail this year’s Worst Cinematography award? The director? The shooter? Both? It’s so horrifying to behold, you’d swear the power of Christ compelled Satan to diabolically possess the camera.
If you can afford Pacino and a Digital Cine camera, you can afford a tripod. Either that, or put in a line for Dramamine at the concession stand. See it for the uniformly splendid performances and sensible script or not at all. **
Now streaming on a platform near you.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Now Streaming: THE RITUAL (2025)
Filmed in the miracle of Unsteadicam!
Now Streaming: THE RITUAL (2025)
Filmed in the miracle of Unsteadicam!
Meadow Williams, Courtney Rae Allen, and Al Pacino in Exorcist Rebuild #6479.
THE RITUAL (2025) David Midell / Writers: David Midell & Enrico Natale / Producer: Andrew Stevens (Stella’s kid) / Cinematographer: Adam Biddle (2.00 : 1) / Design: Julie Toche / Editor: Enrico Natale / Composers: Jason Lazarus & Joseph Trapanese / Hair Designer to Al Pacino: Trish Almeida / Acted by: Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, Abigail Cowen, Patricia Heaton, and Patrick Fabian / Countries of Origin: USA & India / Distributor: Variant Films / Not Rated / Length: 98 mins.
Is there an exorcism film out there that wasn't based on true events? How many times must the same story be told the same way? Answers: probably not, and so long as budgets are kept low enough to turn a profit and audiences believe that repetition is the key to entertainment. And why is it always young women strapped to a bed and vomiting their guts out? I’m sure that others exist, but the only evil spirit-ousting that takes place from a male point-of-view to come to mind (without Googling) is The Possession of Joel Delaney.
After being subjected to decades of imitations gone astray, I took The Last Exorcism at its word. As a result, it's been years since I willingly booked passage on a demon-driven pea-souper. This time, Al Pacino was the reason I broke my vow. Horror is a genre he's generally shied away from, though he did star in one widely recognized supernatural fright show, The Devil's Advocate (1997). Young enough to play Father Karras when The Exorcist premiered, he's now old enough to assume the Max Von Sydow role, which he does in David Midell’s The Ritual.
Video:
Trailer: THE RITUAL
The story re-presents what we learn is the most thoroughly documented case of demonic possession in American history. (Thank goodness for title cards.) Erlanger, Iowa, early autumn, 1928. The case of Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen) has exhausted all medical and biological theories. In a last ditch effort, her parents called in the services of Pazuzu-Rooter.
The Exorcist was a fundamental study of good against evil; The Ritual is an exercise in duelling pulpiteers: in one corner, the committed Father Riesingernon (Al Pacino); in the other, the doubting Father Steiger (Dan Stevens, Pacino's worthy opponent). A ritual a day helps keep Moloch away. Over the next week, we’ll follow these two men and a handful of background nurses — the most committed of whom is Sister Rose (Ashley Greene) — as they try to shoo Satan away from Emma’s soul. A cross between Friar Tuck and Doc dwarf, the Good Father is quite the ladies man in these parts; the nuns melt like groupies hanging outside the stage waiting for a rocker to appear after a particularly rough set.
Little did William Friedkin realize when he directed The Exorcist in 1971 that he was starting a cottage industry of fright, a new genre of terror that would be repeated ad nauseum with minor variations: Emma curses! Emma pukes! Emma levitates! Emma talks in tongues! It isn't until a hank of Nurse Rose’s hair is torn from her skull that Father Riesingernon decides it might be a good idea to restrain the girl.
A bit of advice for those intent on downloading. The Ritual was filmed in the miracle of Unsteadicam! When in doubt, those unable to move an audience’s emotions compensate for their lack of technical savvy by jiggling the hell out of the camera. It dangles! It bobbles! It quakes! There is not a shot in the film in which the camera is anchored. What's the point? Hand-held is but one tool in the cinematographers’ bag of tricks, and as such, should be used sparingly — and then only as a means of drawing attention. Did the filmmakers really think this was an intelligent, sophisticated way to tell a story, let alone to express anxiety, suspense, and/or tension? To whom do I mail this year’s Worst Cinematography award? The director? The shooter? Both? It’s so horrifying to behold, you’d swear the power of Christ compelled Satan to diabolically possess the camera.
If you can afford Pacino and a Digital Cine camera, you can afford a tripod. Either that, or put in a line for Dramamine at the concession stand. See it for the uniformly splendid performances and sensible script or not at all. **
Now streaming on a platform near you.
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