The Ritual

All over the world in different time periods of history you can find many well known cases of exorcism. There are people who believe a demon can take over the body of a human and control you or an evil spirit who intend to harm you. No matter what you believe in or if you believe in exorcism at all, i find it fascinating reading about classics cases of documented exorcisms that according to witnesses actually happened. Over the years i have read about some cases that happened in the past and i especially remember a couple of exorcism cases. Let´s bring one of these cases up in here and i choose to talk about the exorcism case of Michael Taylor in 1974. This took place in October in the small village of Ossett in Yorkshire County, England. It is said that Michael Taylor was possessed by at least 40 demons as the exorcism took place during October 5 - 6 at St. Thomas Church in Gawber. The exorcism was headed by Vincent, the Angelican priest of St. Thomas, and was aided by a Methodist clergyman, the Rev. Raymond Smith. As the exorcism finally ended they believed they managed to remove all 40 demons. But as they allowed Michael to go home, they had a feeling that something didn´t feel right, as if at least 3 demons--insanity, murder and violence--were still left in him. While Michael returned home, he brutally murdered his wife Christine. He attacked her with his bare hands, tearing her eyes and tounge out and almost tearing her face off, then strangling their poodle. He was found by a policeman, naked in the street, covered in blood. At his trial in March, Michael was acquitted on the grounds of insanity. He was sent to Broadmoor Hospital for two years, then spent another two years in a secure ward in Bradford before being released. Since we usually don´t hear a lot about exorcism cases in England i feel that this case is fascinating. They actually mention the case of Michael Taylor in the 2021 horror film The Conjuring - The Devil Made Me Do It from director Michael Chaves, even though this film is based on another exorcism case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson that took place in 1981. A good film by the way, not as powerful as the previous The Conjuring films but still worth a watch. Speaking of exorcism films i have been curious to see the exorcist horror film The Ritual since this summer from director David Midell ( who directed the critically acclaimed 2019 drama thriller The Killing Of Kenneth Chamberlain ). I was especially curious about seeing legendary actor Al Pacino as an exorcist priest. Is this a solid horror film in general or should you watch the 2005 horror film The Exorcism Of Emily Rose instead?

In 1928, in the quiet farming town of Earling, Iowa, a young woman named Emma Schmidt ( Abigail Cowen ) begins to suffer from terrifying and inexplicable supernatural phenomena. She is tormented by night terrors, violent outbursts, speaking in languages she doesn´t know, and an unnatural hatred towards anything sacred. Her family, devout Catholic Christians, believes she is possessed and seek help from the Church. Their desperate plea reaches Father Theophilus Risesinger ( Al Pacino ), a seasoned priest of the Capuchin religious order known for conducting exorcisms. Riseinger travels to Iowa with a reluctant companion, Father Joseph Steiger ( Dan Stevens ). Steiger is skeptical of demonic possession but promise Riseinger to help him during his exorcism sessions.

One detail that i really appreciate especially in horror films is if the film is shot on a professional level, where you can tell that the director made an effort to make the horror scenes effective. If you know how to film a horror film and make an impact on the audience, that alone can help the film work well with some other ingredients included. In the case of The Ritual there is especially one big problem with this horror film and that is how director David Midell decided to make this film. He moves the camera around a lot, in every scene basically. No focused shots that we usually see in quality horror films, it´s like he´s walking around with the camera as if this could be a found footage horror film but it´s not. This is a very traditional excorcist horror film and i would probably have viewed this film differently if this was supposed to be a found footage horror film. This is also another problem with The Ritual that this is a very basic exorcism film. If you compared this film with others within this specific genre there is not much that stands out. Even the exorcism scenes ( for the most part ) don´t really add much to make this film interesting. And to be honest i have to say actor Al Pacino as the exorcist priest Theophilus is actually a pretty weak performance from such a legendary actor. I can mention at least 10 films where i would recommend his performances and The Ritual is nowhere near on that list. I will say that Stranger Things actress Abigail Cowen as the possessed young girl Emma is one of the few highlights of this film. At least you can sense that she tried to make an effort into making her character feel like she is possessed. Of course you also have actor Dan Stevens ( who i really enjoyed in the gothic horror Netflix film Apostle, worth checking out if you have not seen it ) as the character Father Jospeh. Hes not horrible like Pacino but i would have liked some more steady balls from his character, he is a bit too soft. The Ritual is not the worst exorcism film i have seen and i have seen a lot of them, ( one of the worst is definetely the 2020 exorcism film The Last Exorcist ), but overall i can´t really find much positive to say regarding this film. Director David Midell tries to tell a traditional exorcism film but doesn´t have an interesting story to tell. I swear once you read my review of The Ritual you have already forgotten about this film, it is a film that will most likely dust on DVD shelves.

Rating: DD