Product Description

From the hit-making producers of HOUSE OF WAX and GOTHIKA, RITUAL is the latest chiller from "Tales From The Crypt." Dr. Alice Dodgson (Jennifer Grey -- DIRTY DANCING, BOUNCE) finds herself traveling to Jamaica when a wealthy American (Craig Sheffer -- HELLRAISER: INFERNO) hires her to treat his mysteriously ailing brother. Immediately upon her arrival, Alice finds herself immersed in the exotic rhythm and harmony of this foreign civilization . . . and besieged by the locals with terrifying tales of zombies and demonic possession! As her long-held faith in science clashes with her new experiences in the supernatural, Alice must ultimately submit to the strange and sensual native culture to save her patient, while fighting to escape with her own life! Also starring THE ROCKY HORRY PICTURE SHOW'S Tim Curry!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35589 in DVD
• Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
• Released on: 2006-05-02
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 99 minutes

Customer Reviews

The Cryptkeeper Is Turning In His Grave
Look at any of my other reviews of the Tales From The Crypt series (I've reviewed them all)...they all get 5-stars (with the exception of Bordello of Blood).

Demon Knight, the first Tales From The Crypt feature film, is also 5-stars. It was the exception to the rule...the rule being that the Tales From The Crypt episodes would be 1/2 hour shorts that mirrored their EC Comics versions of the stories. Demon Knight got full length feature film treatment and it was well deserved.

Bordello of Blood, the second feature film, was a complete failure. It took a great formula (1/2 hour shorts) and added senseless length and detail to a story that could have made a great 1/2 hour episode.

Ritual was scheduled as the follow-up to Bordello, but when Bordello failed in the theatres, the full length theatre release of Ritual was scratched. In fact, the Tales people abandoned their commitment to Ritual, but apparently the legal eagles found a way to keep the Tales From The Crypt ties to the franchise for DVD.

It is clear by the introduction to the movie by a poorly puppeteered and lip-synced Cryptkeeper that the EC Comics guys and HBO were not involved in Ritual. The Cryptkeeper intro segment is recklessly spliced into a movie that really was never approved as a Tales From The Crypt story. And the Cryptkeeper doesn't even show up at the end of the movie as he without fail does in any other Tales feature. In fact, the movie isn't even based on an EC Comic as all the Tales From The Crypt moving picture stories are....Ritual is a remake of 1943's I Walked With A Zombie.

So here is Ritual on DVD. A Tales From The Crypt episode that might have been fair if included at 30 minutes in length in the awesome series. But it just doesn't even qualify. It is not a Tales From the Crypt, Haunt of Fear or Vault of Horror comic book interpretation. Ritual is an RKO Pictures release that is simply a Tales From The Crypt rip off that is mediocre at best resembling nothing of the terrific Tales From The Crypt franchise that was such a big hit with HBO.

Pass, pass, pass on this. Wait for it on cable. Wait for it on the Sci-Fi Channel. Regardless of how you wait for it...just wait for it.

Not spectacular but pretty darn good!
First let me say that I think I'm the biggest Tales from the Crypt fan alive, so of course I had to have this movie. Ritual has been out on dvd for several years in other countries, I'm honestly not sure why it took so long to get it here. Perhaps the success of the television show's dvds helped spur Dimension into releasing it (or maybe it's because I emailed them like a million times lol). At any rate it's finally here, and I must say I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. It's definitely more of a low budget movie than Demon Knight or Bordello of Blood, but that doesn't detract too much from the entertainment value. The storyline is good, the action is good and the one scene of real gore is done quite well. I cannot in good conscience recommend that anyone pay $30 for it, but if you can nab yourself a cheaper copy, I don't think you will be too disappointed. There is really nothing scary about the movie, but it's a bit better than Bordello of Blood that's for sure! Plus the new Cryptkeeper segments at the beginning of the movie and after the ending credits are pretty enjoyable. And if all of us fans actually buy the movie, who knows what doors that could open for the Crypt?!

Not the same ole' crypt, but still not bad!!!
This movie is not the same formula/format as the previous two (Demon knight & Bordello of Blood). But that is not to say that it is bad. This movie is more of a voodoo thriller than a horror movie... but it still very much holds your attention (more ways than one!) and stil delivers the goods. Tim Curry is excellent in this movie, and Jen Grey... well, just see the movie!

Now this movie is not without faults, but hell! ITs a DTV release! So..sheesh! Plus the cryptkeeper is added in only the beginning and end. But as a rasta-man version.

Overall, I say give it a shot. Its not the same... but its not too bad either!