A young lady called Lovely (Lisa Marie Summerscales) is being chatted up at the seaside. She's coy, all smiles. The next thing, we hear her disembodied voice on the phone crying, pleading for help. When her estranged husband Tom (Dean Cates) turns up to see her at a seedy hotel, he greets her desperate cries with all the sympathy of a sledgehammer. We soon see why. There's a corpse in the room with her, covered in blood. Apparently, 'this kind of thing' has happened before.Summerscales (who bears a resemblance to Billie Piper) is excellent in this, which is a role that really requires her to react to increasingly panicky situations. She's never unbelievable or unsympathetic – even when the 'corpse' turns out to have secrets of his own.Despite the leads' unwillingness to call the police (although looking back, it's just as well), I found myself fully invested in this. The performances are all strong, the atmosphere and music genuinely getting more and more unsettling. The direction is first rate – the hotel room, already seedy and unfriendly, takes on a more sinister tone when bathed only in the blinking static light from the television. The isolated nature of the location is powerfully utilised – poor Lovely's predicament becomes increasingly hopeless.There isn't much gore, and very few special effects to speak of. None of this matters when a story is told this strongly – in fact, sparingly used as they are, the effects depicting Lovely's deteriorating situation are all the more teeth-clenching. The setting, the 1950s, is effective and rids us of the convenience of mobile phones and the like.Director, writer and 'excited Cultist' cast member Mickey Keating has provided a terrific debut with this slow burning, often deliberately muddy production (we don't know much about the cultists and exactly what their 'mission' is, but that really doesn't matter), which continues to restore my faith in modern horror somewhat. At times it seems as if events are passing too slowly, but there's always a twist or a shock that makes sense of the decision. A dark, creepy, often claustrophobic story which remains compelling and unpredictable right until the end. Unnerving!

I thought this one had promise... Soon after it starts it's made known that this is set in "south Texas", Which really piqued my interest, Because to people who haven't lived here, it's a little known fact that in small towns up and down the Texas/Mexico border, people have long feared abduction from satanic cults... People go missing from Texas border towns, then turn up decades later when another mass grave of dismembered bodies is found on the Mexican side of the border... Not to demonize the Mexicans for this, it's long been rumored that they are delivering people to be killed by powerful business executives from the US... But back to the movie... The acting/script was pretty bad overall... Pointless and long transitional scenes... No depth to the plot, and ... They do try to ad depth to the protagonist husband and wife characters, but all that does is magnify how poorly written and acted this film is... I kept hoping that there night eventually be a payoff, but no, no climax, and a dumb abrupt ending...

you gotta give this one a chance. My significant other (opposite sex) brought this one home. I yawned when I saw the box...OK dearie...another skull and crossbones snoozefest. Was I ever wrong ! Ritual is everything but a snoozer ! It's a real unexpected surprise and offers much of the same during its 90 minutes of Satanic hell. ! We spooned on the couch watching this "retro thriller" and I was turgid (sensually) throughout. Sexy blonde who does her man wrong...and pays for it....in spades.Kinda confused why the cuckolded husband would answer the scarlet wife's call of distress...but love has a funny hold on us, doesn't it ?( I added as I cupped my lover's bodacious ta-tas, which probably added to my enjoyment of this movie).Acting solid and loved the music score. Someone's done some nice editing, although I missed the credit, since lovie and i decided to partake in our own conjugal ritual as the film ended.I'd recommend this film for cheaters who need to learn a lesson...for filmgoers who want a cheap set of thrills. Good movie and good time was had BY ALL. Rewind her Satchmo !!!!!Play it again Sam !!!!

Wifey and I settled in to deal with the cold. Warm popcorn and frigid sheets (initially). I was looking for something to curdle our blood and heat things up. Picked out this new offering...Ritual...which had a kick-ass trailer and an interesting story line. We were not disappointed ! It's no Psycho or Friday the Thirteenth...but c'mon...for the price of Redbox...it more than holds it own with some of the other, more highly touted, recently released thrillers.We spilled the popcorn at least twice and made sure we locked the door at the movie's end. I'd recommend this to anyone who's looking for an enjoyable evening.