Five Scary-Ass Moments from Netflix's The Ritual

*** MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD ***

This past Friday director David Bruckner's new horror film THE RITUAL hit Netflix and I was excited as hell to check out the movie. I've loved everything Bruckner had helmed thus far and I was eagerly awaiting for his first true feature (he has mostly directed solid segments within anthologies such as VHS and SOUTHBOUND). So what did I think of David Bruckner's THE RITUAL now that I had the chance to view it in all of its dark-woods horror? Well, to put it simply, the film scared me. Good. But to go a bit more in-depth let's talk about the five scariest moments!

5. This is Kinda Intense

Let's start at the beginning. From the trailers and poster, I knew the film was about a group of buddies that go off into the woods and befall something scary as hell. What I didn't remember when I popped the film up on my TV was HOW MANY friends there were. So when two of them enter a convenience store in the beginning and shite goes from bad to worse, to brutal, I was taken aback in a big way. This scare wasn't witches in the woods, or boogens in the backseat. No, this was real horror. Out of nowhere tragedy. What a great way to start of a dark-woods horror flick!

4. Nope, Nope, Nope

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those guys that watches the backgrounds in horror flicks like a motherf*ker. I never took my eyes of those back bedrooms down the dark hallway in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, and I sure as hell did take my eyes off the space between the trees in THE RITUAL. My big blues were always searching for another body in the trees, another hand in the branches (a moment, by the way, which would have been #6 on this list), anything, everything. I was playing Where's Waldo big time throughout this film, and then I was rewarded in a big way. The set up is the guys are climbing a steep hill, and as usual, director David Bruckner holds the shot. And holds. And holds. And just as we are anticipating the cut to more monotonous climbing – it happens. Deep in the trees. Hidden in the mist. Something moves… Something BIG… And it was there the entire shot… Scary. Ass. Shite.

3. What in the Absolute Hell??

This was the moment that freaked me out the most – at first. To put it another way, this was the first moment in the film where I said, "Oh, boy, we're in for some shite with this one." And yet another way of putting it is this was the first moment where I made an excuse, paused the flick, and took a "bathroom break." The moment goes like this: The guy who played with the Alien worm in PROMETHEUS (aka Rafe Spall) is sleeping with his buddies in a BLAIR WITCH house in the middle of the woods. They've seen some wicked witchcraft shite and now they're bedding down for the night. Spall is the only one awake. Lightning flashes. Thunder crashes. Again and again. Then one time, the lightning flashes… and holds… Bright white light blares in through the windows. Shining through like the freaking sun. This was effectively scary to me in a truly primal way. Thanks, THE RITUAL. Now I'm scared of lightning again.

2. Ew, Ew, Ew

I've heard many criticisms of this film's final act already, but no one can talk bad about THIS part. As the last guy standing enters the room of whispers at the climax of the film he finds (for lack of a better term) a congregation of dead, decomposing, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE/DEEP RED style bodies lined up in pews, all facing a horrific body on a throne at the head of the room. Our hero swears he heard whispering… but these are all LONG dead bodies. So who was whisper–ohmygodno! One just moved! Then another. It's this moment both the audience and the hero realizes all of these corpses are still alive (through the power of the evil Jawa-Horseman entity). Oh, Good. So what does our hero do? He kills all of them, with all the fire. Smart move. Hope that helps you sleep at night, brother.

1. @*$%!!

No doubt there are going to more than a handful of peeps who complain about the main baddie in THE RITUAL. Some will say it looks silly. It doesn't, at all… Well, it kinda does. But that's forgivable when you're trying to conjuring unimaginable terror on four legs. Personally, I found the creature to be an utter delight. Sure, it was less horrific when we saw it outright, but those are just the rules of the game, unfortunately. That said, the design was so f*cked and nightmare-shifting I was positively delighted (horrified) by what I witnessed in these woods. Badass and brave choices, filmmakers. Bonus Points: The creature is based on Norse mythology and the Jötnar clan of giants. Great.

What did you think of Netflix and director David Bruckner's THE RITUAL? Make sure to hit us up and let us know in the comments below or on social media!