Compared to It Waits, the last DVD I reviewed, Tales From The Crypt: Ritual is a cinematic masterpiece.  In truth, I actually did enjoy watching it, though I can’t say for certain if it’s because it was a decent film, or because I was in fact coming from It Waits.

Ritual was originally released in 2001, but I don’t remember ever seeing it in theaters.  It features a decent cast of B-List actors, including Jennifer Grey (Ferris Beuller’s Day Off), Tim Curry (Legend), Craig Sheffer (Hellraiser: Inferno), and more.  The plot isn’t particularly original.  A New York City Doctor is fired after honorably prescribing an experimental drug to a patient against her boss’s express orders.  She loses her medical license and turns to the classifieds, where she finds an ad for a personal care physician in Jamaica, where no medical license is required.  Her patient is believed to be under the influence of a voodoo curse, and it’s her job to cure him.  I can’t tell too much without ruining the admittedly thin plot, but the mystery and some of its twists are something that made the movie interesting.  I took pleasure in performances given by Kristen Wilson (Dr. Dolittle) and Daniel Lapaine (“The 10^th Kingdom”), both of them given meaty parts and ample opportunity to show plenty of skin.  In addition to the sexuality, there’s a good balance of gore that makes its appearance early on and gets the ball rolling.  Surprisingly, the movie maintains a pretty good balance of scares and blood, while never getting too far away from the main thread, which is at its core a thriller/mystery. 

It’s a shame, actually, that Bordello of Blood was such a flop, since Ritual probably would have made some money if it’d been given the attention it deserved.  Well, it’s a shame for Miramax, who took the last film in the Crypt trilogy over from original studio Universal.  The cinematography is nice, the action/scares are definitely adequate, and the acting, though at points a bit over-the-top, certainly serves the story well.  One thing I could definitely have done without was the intro (and post-credits “blooper” reel) by the Cryptkeeper.  It was so forced and unfunny, it almost derailed the movie before it could even get started. 

Extras

It took five years to put this movie on DVD and they couldn’t come up with any extras?  There’s subtitles at least, and they do come in English, Spanish, and French, but come on.  It’s a decent movie, but it’s not that good.  It won’t move without something extra…  Even Cursed got four making-of docs, and it sucked! 

Final Words

Despite the lack of extras, it’s a decent movie.  A little late in its arrival to home video, but if you can find it at a value price (the $29.99 list price is most assuredly not a value), go ahead and get it.  If you’re a fan of Serpent and the Rainbow and I Know What You Did Last Summer, this feels kind of like a cross between the two.  If that’s your bag, it’s definitely worth putting on your Netflix list.  Also, if you ever said to yourself, “I wonder what Ferris Bueller’s sister’s nipples look like under a sweat-soaked white shirt.”  Here it your chance to find out.