Instant Favorite.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This movie is horrible. Granted, I only got about two minutes into it, but it was the longest two minutes of my life. It felt like twenty. The heavy-set man that Wayne Montgomery was talking to at the beginning reminded me of my son-in-law, which was a good thing for him. It made him likable for me. However, the milquetoast sounding 'serial killer' just rubbed me the wrong way. The effort to make him sound like 'every man' was a pathetic attempt to gain some sympathy for the 'antihero', and it failed abysmally. Then they throw in some young, smug looking punk as the new 'protege', and it all slides downhill from there. For a 'found footage film', it had no interesting shots, no real flow, and no realism. The black and white filming was intended to make the film, and therefore the subject matter, seem bleak and ugly, and they succeeded, at least with the ugly part. Not worth the time or effort, in spite of the fact that I got it for free through Prime.

This follow-up to Head Case is quite impressive. Spadaccini took a completely different direction in The Ritual and I like it. The Ritual takes the disturbing horror elements from its predecessor and adds some depth to the story. This film introduces some new characters. Jared, played by Joey Garrison, is one of my favorite characters. His performance was stellar. We also got to see more from Brinke Stevens, whose performance was also outstanding. She had such an intense presence in the film, even with little screen time. The characters all meshed together so well. The cinematography and editing improved dramatically in comparison to Head Case. Head Case was gritty and raw, while Ritual has a more elegant feel, yet maintains its realism.

The Ritual is a sequel to the 'found footage' horror film Head Case. It isn't what I was expecting. I wouldn't even consider it to be a horror film. It's more of a serial killer drama. The story, about a fugitive serial killer and his teenage accomplice, is engrossing. It's beautifully shot and well-acted. Paul McCloskey returns as serial killer Wayne Montgomery, whose even-keeled demeanor and matter-of-fact delivery make him a very endearing character. Joey Garrison plays his teenage accomplice Jared with a frightening (and all-too-realistic) blend of angst and glee. The chemistry between the leads is one of the strongest parts of the film. The Ritual (much like Head Case) isn't for all tastes. It's a character-driven film with improvised dialogue and a low body count. But it's very entertaining and stuck with me long after it was over.

The acting of the supporting cast left much to be desired. Don't get me wrong, the leads were great, story line was great but the supporting cast just could not keep up. Wayyyyy out-classed.Good movie overall but the the actors that played Holly, Robert....etc. need to get more acting lessons before embarking on something as intricate as this. Hopefully they will get better with time.I really look forward to more shorts and features from this director. Anthony appears to be a natural at this craft but it is almost like he cast some of his friends with little or no real training to play bit parts thus bringing down what was a film with potential.I look forward to watching Post-Mortem but the supporting cast has some of the same names that did not impress me in this one. Hopefully, they give a better performance in Post-Mortem.Alex