Thursday, October 19, 2023

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Ritual (2017)

The Ritual (2017)
 Tonight is Folk Horror. I LOVE Folk Horror. The moodier, the better. 

I have been on a Scandinavian Folk Horror kick for a bit here with movies like Draug (2018)Midsommar (2019)Pathfinder (2007) (though not really horror), and of course, Häxan (1922).  

This one covers a type of film I refer to as "The Walk." This type of movie usually has the protagonists going from point A to B with all the horrors in between. 

In this one, our group of four American adventurers are trekking across Sweden and run into scary stuff.

This one is fun but honestly a little bit predictable. Lots of scary dark, creepy locals, cults that didn't die out like they were supposed to, crazy visions. All the great things about Folk Horror.

Lots of great references to Norse mythology. Though I watched this the same night as the Marvel Loki series and it was quite the contrast. I guess I could have added in the last handful of Ragnarok episodes for a full Norse mythology night.


October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 23
First Time Views: 15

31 Days of Halloween Movie Challenge



2 comments:

PT Dilloway said...

The only one you mentioned that I watched was Midsommar and I found it so dull and predictable. It was basically "Wicker Man" without the Nic Cage craziness.

Anyway, would "Deliverance" be considered folk horror? There are some folksy people doing horrible things.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

ACK. The Nic Cage "Wicker Man" is terrible. The original is far superior.

Deliverance is a type of Folk Horror I usually call "Southern Gothic" or even "Appalachia Horror."