Ritual (2002 film)

2002 American film

Ritual

Poster art

Directed by| Avi Nesher
Screenplay by| Rob Cohen
Avi Nasher
Story by| Inez Wallace
Produced by| Richard Donner
David Giler
Walter Hill
Ted Hartley
Starring| Jennifer Grey
Craig Sheffer
Daniel Lapaine
Kristen Wilson
Gabriel Casseus
Tim Curry
Cinematography| David A. Armstrong
Douglas Milsome
Edited by| Robert A. Ferretti
Michael Schweitzer
Music by| Shirley Walker

Production
companies

Dimension Films
Silver Pictures

Distributed by| RKO Pictures

Release dates

* September 18, 2002 (2002-09-18) (Philippines)
* May 2, 2006 (2006-05-02) (United States)

Running time

| 99 minutes
106 minutes (DVD/Blu-ray)
Country| United States
Language| English

Ritual is a 2002 American comedy horror film. A remake of the 1943 film I Walked With a Zombie, it was released in select countries in 2002, the Philippines in 2003, and released direct-to-DVD in the US in 2006. It stars Tim Curry, Jennifer Grey, and Craig Sheffer with Avi Nesher directing. Subsequent home video releases added a newly filmed intro featuring the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt, though it was not produced as a Tales from the Crypt film.[1]

The film is set in Jamaica. In the film, a Jamaican girl has been excluded from her family' inheritance, and seeks revenge against her brother. She attempts to turn the brother's nurse into a zombie by use of voodoo, but the plan backfires when the nurse resists.

## Plot

[edit]

### Crypt Keeper intro

[edit]

The Crypt Keeper is in Jamaica wearing his hair in "deadlocks". He states that one of his favorite things about Jamaica are the "eye-popping honeys", as it shows different bikini-clad women that are nearby. He then talks about how he just finished wrapping up his new movie in Jamaica. He introduces the movie and tells them "Don't worry, the beast is yet to come".

### Story

[edit]

Dr. Alice Dodgson is fired from a hospital due to her involvement in the death of a patient. With few options, she decides to take a job as a nurse in Jamaica caring for Wesley Claybourne, a young man apparently suffering from encephalitis. Alice falls in love with Wesley, but she fears that she and Wesley are the targets of a voodoo cult.

She befriends Caro, a local girl. Caro advises Alice that any recrimination from the Voodoo community will only come as a result of her interference with their practices. Tension mounts as Alice suffers additional unexplained phenomena.

Caro is revealed as the cause of the strange goings-on; she is seeking revenge against Wesley because their father Paul killed Caro's mother and rejected Caro as his daughter, denying her an inheritance. Caro attempts to paralyze Alice and turn her into a zombie, but Alice is only partially paralyzed. Alice causes Caro's plan to backfire, and Caro is turned into a zombie instead.

Alice and Wesley abandon Jamaica and move back to the United States. The local Police Chief takes Caro into his home and puts her in his bed.

In a post-credit scene, bloopers from the Crypt Keeper's intro are shown.

## Cast

[edit]

* Jennifer Grey as Dr. Alice Dodgson
* Craig Sheffer as Paul Claybourne
* Daniel Lapaine as Wesley Claybourne
* Kristen Wilson as Caro Lamb
* Gabriel Casseus as J.B.
* Tim Curry as Matthew Hope
* Ron Taylor as Superintendent Archibald
* Erick Avari as Dr. Peter Winsford
* Dorothy Cunningham as Violette
* Kathy Owen as Dr. Shaba
* Jessica Collins as Jackie
* Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Javitz
* Natasha Budhi as Dori
* John Kassir as The Voice of The Crypt Keeper

## Release

[edit]

Ritual was originally released for foreign countries in 2002. The film saw release in the Philippines on September 18, 2002, and was also released in Japan on January 25, 2006. It was not released in the United States until May 2, 2006, on DVD. It was later released on Blu-ray in the United States on December 4, 2012.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Tales from the Crypt - Ritual". Avrev.com. 2006-05-02. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-24.

## External links

[edit]

* Ritual at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Tales from the Crypt

* EC Comics
* EC Archives

Comics|

* 1950 comics
* The Vault of Horror
* The Haunt of Fear

Films|

* 1972 film
* The Vault of Horror
* Demon Knight
* Bordello of Blood
* Ritual

Television|

* 1989 TV series
* episodes
* radio series
* Tales from the Cryptkeeper
* Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House

Related comics|

* Crime SuspenStories
* Shock SuspenStories
* Three Dimensional E.C. Classics
* The Autumn People

Related films and television|

* Two-Fisted Tales
* The Frighteners
* Perversions of Science

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Avi Nesher

* The Band (1978)
* Dizengoff 99 (1979)
* She (1984)
* Rage and Glory (1984)
* Timebomb (1991)
* Doppelganger (1993)
* Taxman (1998)
* Raw Nerve (1999)
* Ritual (2002)
* Turn Left at the End of the World (2004)
* The Secrets (2007)
* The Matchmaker (2010)
* Wonderland (2013)
* Past Life (2016)
* The Other Story (2018)
* Image of Victory (2021)
* Gan Kofim (2023)

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