Rituals (film)

Rituals
Directed by	Peter Carter
Produced by	Lawrence Dane Harry H. Novak
Written by	Ian Sutherland
Starring	Hal Holbrook Lawrence Dane
Music by	Hagood Hardy
Cinematography	René Verzier
Edited by	George Appleby
Release date	1977
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

Rituals, aka, The Creeper, is a 1977 Canadian eco-horror film about a group of doctors who are menaced while on a camping getaway trip in Northern Ontario.

The film, directed by Peter Carter, stars Hal Holbrook and Lawrence Dane. Rituals was discussed at length in the book, The Canadian Horror Film: Terror of the Soul, (University of Toronto Press). The film was viewed as a reaction against National Film Board documentaries which had proliferated at the time, showcasing the beauty of the Canadian wilderness. Some critics have dismissed it as a "Canadian Deliverance."

Doctors on a weekend retreat in the bush begin to bicker among themselves after drinking around a campfire. Suddenly, they all have their boots stolen. The medics soon realize they're being hunted by an unknown entity.

TV Guide summarized it thus: "Five doctors take a vacation in the woods and are terrorized by baddies in this cheap north-of-the-border ripoff of Deliverance.". Canuxploitation, the "Complete Guide to Canadian B-film" called Rituals "an unorthodox Canadian film that offers a terrifying twist on the rural revenge movie..." Really Awful Movies said Rituals was "an underseen and unappreciated Canadian survivalist tax-shelter classic."

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