13 Days to Halloween: 'The Ritual' uses its arresting, desolate setting to frightening effect

For the '13 Days to Halloween' series, I collect, watch, and write about 13 brilliant and spooky 'underseen' movies that more people need to see. Note that I did not use the term 'underrated', as I believe they were just overlooked for various reasons, and not necessarily rated lower than they deserve. The films are ranked worst to best, in my opinion. The series will end on October 31 with the film that I think is the best and scariest little-known horror flick.

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When I saw 'The Ritual' back in 2018, I did not think much of it. Based on Adam Nevill's book of the same name, David Bruckner's 'The Ritual' is about four friends Phil, Dom, Hutch, and Luke ( (Arsher Ali, Sam Troughton, Robert James-Collier, and Rafe Spall, respectively) who go on hiking in northern Sweden to honour their departed common friend's memory. After bad weather and winds, they decide to cut through a forest rather than go through a marked trail to shorten their route. And that ends up being their undoing.

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The film appeared to be a not-very-interesting knock-off of many, better horror films with its premise. But a second viewing led me to appreciate its many pleasures. Yes, it still feels derivative, but it is more of an inspiration than an imitation.

The group encounters strange things in the woods, like a gutted carcass of an elk hanging from a tree and pagan symbols on the trees, and then a human torso without its head and elk antlers as his hands. They decide to take shelter in an abandoned cottage and think about their next course of action. There is, clearly, something wrong in this godforsaken place. But then they begin to lose their sanity and appear to do strange things without meaning to.

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It's a forest, but this is a predator unlike any other on earth. And true enough, a hellish creature stalks them, playing on their fear. The survivors, Luke and Dom, believe at one point that they have evaded the creature, but then their circumstances enter the really terrifying territory.

'The Ritual' uses its picturesque, desolate setting to instill a sense of dread right at the beginning before any untoward has occurred to the group. It does feel like a place a monster might inhabit, away from civilisation. There are gorgeous shots of mountains and valleys. It is an austere place that one will appreciate but from a distance.

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Despite the creature in question, though, 'The Ritual' is not really a creature feature. We do not see the monsters until the very end. Which is worth it. The design of the monster, a pagan god, is fascinating in an unsettling way.

With a runtime of fewer than 100 minutes, 'The Ritual' is lean and mean. It has thrills, scares, and boasts of a beautifully immersive setting that belies the evil within.

'The Ritual' is available on Netflix.