8 Horror Films Ruined By Showing Too Much
2. The Ritual
Maybe a little too Blair Witch Project in its execution, The Ritual soon tries to rectify this with an original movie monster - something huge, deadly, and supernatural lurking in the forest that pins its victims to the branches in particularly gory fashion. You’d think finding animals sacrificed in such a way at the start of the film would be enough to put four friends off wandering in the woods - but boys will be boys, and they plow on through in an attempt to get back in the quickest time possible.
Combining this mysterious force with traumatic flashbacks makes the film seem like it has something a little more nuanced to offer - and is genuinely very scary for its opening parts, when mystery and intrigue rule the movie’s narrative. It’s not until the closing scenes of the film that we see… well, it’s something: a weird amalgamation of a tiny pea head put into the body of an elk, with human-sized arms protruding like tiny mandibles out of its face.
Whilst it’s great to see an original movie monster, there’s no denying that it’s a little farcical, and that the tone of the film is transported from spooky woodland escape to just gawping at a ridiculous looking beastie.