Red-Barracuda The Creeper, or Rituals as it's more commonly known, is a very good Canadian backwoods thriller. It's about five doctors who go on a camping trip in a remote woodland area; very quickly they become prey to an unseen murderous presence. For some reason, this film isn't particularly well-known. It's difficult to understand why because this is a very well directed and acted affair, with a good amount of effective suspense maintained throughout. The film it is most often compared to is, unsurprisingly, Deliverance. Both films share the basic idea of a group of city men coming unstuck in the back of beyond. But Rituals a more horror-orientated, as it has an unseen villain whom we witness stalking his victims from various POV shots. Furthermore, the men are picked off one by one in a variety of macabre ways, including a scene where the unfortunate men awake to discover one of their friend's decapitated head's stuck on a pole in the ground. Nevertheless, I wouldn't quite put this into the slasher bracket but its story definitely pushes into the realms of horror with this focus on the stalker and the succession of nasty murders. Interestingly the killer does remain unseen until the end, except for a creepy shot of him seen from afar atop a hill watching. His presence is continually felt throughout though as he leaves little mementos along the way such as military medals and x-rays, both of which serve as clues as to his motivations. Keeping the maniac off screen is particularly effective here though, as when we do see him in the explosive finale it's pretty haunting stuff to say the least.There is a welcome realism to proceedings on account of the very good acting. Of particular note is Hal Holbrook and Lawrence Dane, the latter of whom was the producer too and would go on to star in another classic Canadian horror film, Scanners. The characterisations of the men in general are well done and it was very interesting to see that one of these middle-aged men was portrayed as an openly gay character in a commendably matter-of-fact fashion; it's rare enough today for this to ever happen, never mind back in the 70's and it is worthy of some praise for this alone. In a general sense, this production is worthy of a great deal of respect. It's tense, well-acted and surprising. An unheralded gem.

sunznc We found a DVD copy from Synergy and it is poor quality in most spots. However, there is no denying the tension in this film. The premise has been done better in Deliverance and a few others but this film does have a very bleak and hopeless atmosphere. It's a familiar theme-five doctors go into the wilderness to camp and hike and are being hunted by someone. HIs first attack is subtle but very effective; he steals all of the men's boots. After that things quickly go downhill as the men are injured or worse. The acting is good but the dialog isn't always great. The editing is poor and this almost seems as though it was transferred from a copy made specifically for television. At times the picture is too dark to see anything. Still, the film is tense and effective.

Tony Bush Taking its cue from Boorman's Deliverance, Rituals features a group of middle-aged city doctors heading off for a yearly holiday, this time a hiking trip in the Canadian wilderness. They are systematically terrorised, tortured and killed by a disfigured redneck. As (bad) luck would have it, this one has an axe to grind with the medical profession. So, they really picked the wrong craphole in the middle of nowhere to tramp through.Visually, this looks like your typically grainy, low budget seventies exploitation flick. What sets it apart is the quality of the writing, the performances by real actors with some pedigree to recommend them and a lack of gratuitous on screen violence. The damage inflicted to human flesh and bone is not sensationalised nor lingered upon, rather the effects and outcomes of that damage becomes the focus and defines how the story arc is affected.Rituals starts out sedately enough, and slowly cranks up the tension, as the good natured banter and leg-pulling between the "friends" (some of which is quite witty and amusing) quickly spirals into accusatory bile and recrimination as events spiral out of their control. Hal Holbrook gives a fine performance as Harry, the most moral and principled member of the group, nicely counterbalanced by Lawrence Danes' Mitzi, a cynical, self-serving and duplicitous flip-side. This gives some indication early on of who stands the best chance of survival at the end of the day.The location scenery shots are carefully rendered and provide that faint and haunting sense of "being there." The events, as the protagonists attempt to escape, are suitably gruelling and the final confrontation is escalated nicely to a satisfying climax that avoids the usual clichéd frills, shock double endings, killers who aren't really dead, and the like. The closing image of Holbrook sat in the middle of a deserted, barren highway as the sun slowly rises in a slow burn of muted golden shades lingers longest in the memory.It is pleasing to see the profile of this unassuming "lost" genre piece now being deservedly raised in a re-mastered release on DVD. Fans of Deliverance, its eerie imagery and unnerving ambiance, could do far worse than give this a spin. Hardcore slasher jockeys will most likely be disappointed by the lack of blood, guts, gore and naked teen breasts.By today's standards, Rituals is a very tame beast indeed that hasn't really maintained much power to shock the system. It does, however, engage as a fairly gripping story of human endurance in an alien environment and a depiction of civilised man's inhumanity to man. I wouldn't call it essential viewing, but it's certainly worth a look. Especially as the grotesque Stadtler and Waldorf of film critique, Siskel and Ebert, apparently didn't rate it. To me that's usually a sign of some quality, worth and meaning.

lastliberal A bunch of guys going hiking in the woods. Boy, does that sound familiar. Cue the banjos. Oops, this movie takes place in Batchawana Bay, Ontario, Canada, so I guess no banjos.I never could understand why people would work hard all year so they could go in the woods to pretend they are homeless, but I am glad they do or we would not have a good slasher movie to watch.It starts with a prank. Someone stole their boots. D.J. (Gary Reineke) brought tennies, so he goes off for help. While he is gone, a bee hive gets thrown into the camp. One camper (Ken James) gone.The rest start off to find D.J. I'm not sure I would want to depend upon Martin (Robin Gammell), the alcoholic, and Mitzi (Lawrence Dane). What kind of name is Mitzi for a guy anyway? Thongs just keep getting harder as one man gets injured and the other have to carry him. Who is stalking them? OMG! A head on a stick.Hal Holbrook was magnificent in this gripping tale.