''Ritual'' is a 2002 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by

Avi Nesher Avi Nesher (Hebrew language, Hebrew: אבי נשר; born 13 December 1952) is an Israeli film producer, film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography Avi Nesher was born and raised in Ramat Gan, Israel. The child of a Romanian-born diplomat ...

. A remake of the 1943 film ''

I Walked With a Zombie ''I Walked with a Zombie'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for th ...

'', it stars

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 L ...

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film Reckless (1984 film), ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She earned wo ...

, and Craig Sheffer. It was released in select countries in 2002, the Philippines in 2003, and released

direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strateg ...

in the US in 2006. 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. The film is set in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. 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 A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

by use of voodoo, but the plan backfires when the nurse resists.

Plot

Crypt Keeper intro

The Crypt Keeper is in

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 A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...

-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

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 doctor in Jamaica caring for Wesley Claybourne, a young man apparently suffering from

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...

. 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

, 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 A blooper, or gag reel, is short clip from a film, television program or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast o ...

from the Crypt Keeper's intro are shown.

Cast

as Dr. Alice Dodgson * Craig Sheffer as Paul Claybourne * Daniel Lapaine as Wesley Claybourne * Kristen Wilson as Caro Lamb * Gabriel Casseus as J.B. *

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

''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

External links

* {{Avi Nesher 2002 films 2002 horror films 2006 films 2006 horror films American supernatural horror films Tales from the Crypt films Films directed by Avi Nesher Films set on islands Films scored by Shirley Walker American zombie films Dimension Films films Films produced by Walter Hill Films produced by David Giler 2000s English-language films 2000s American films Remakes of American films Films set in Jamaica Films about nurses Films about Voodoo Films about siblings English-language horror films