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Night 5: The Ritual (2017) – Woods might be Cursed | 13 Nights of Halloween w/ @Facethemovies
23 Plays1 month ago
🎃 Night 5 of The 13 Nights of Halloween: Folk Horror Edition! 🎃 Tonight, we’re heading deep into the dark woods for The Ritual (2017) — a chilling blend of grief, guilt, and Norse mythology that proves some paths should never be taken. 🌲🔥 Tim and Johnathan are joined by GC from @facethemovies to explore one of the best modern folk horror entries of the last decade. Together, they unravel the film’s themes of masculine vulnerability, trauma, and the monstrous power of ancient gods that lurk just beyond the tree line. 💀 In this episode: • How The Ritual redefined modern creature design • The influence of Norse folklore and pagan worship • The film’s emotional weight and survival-horror tension • Why it stands tall among A24-style psychological horror ✨ Be part of the conversation! Submit your own score here: 👉 https://tr.ee/iGtZ-DpOO6 📚 Want more horror? Check out our books on Amazon: 👉 https://a.co/d/bUtniBd 🎧 Check out our friends at Zencastr and get 30% off your first 3 months of Zencastr Pro: 👉 https://zen.ai/theaveragereviews 📖 Enjoy $5.00 off your first purchase when you use Tim Umpleby’s code “TIMOTHYREADS” at checkout: 👉 https://pangobooks.com/TIMOTHYREADS 🔥 Big thanks to GC from @facethemovies for joining us — go show him some love and check out his channel for more great movie talk! 👻 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT your score for The Ritual, and SUBSCRIBE as we continue the countdown toward Halloween night! #TheRitual #13NightsOfHalloween #FolkHorror #NetflixHorror #TheAverageReviews #FaceTheMovies #MonsterDesign #NorseMythology #PsychologicalHorror #MovieDiscussion #HorrorPodcast #ScareScore #Halloween2025
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Transcript
Introduction to The Ritual and Themes
00:00:32
Speaker
Welcome back, horror family. We are well into the 13 nights of Halloween, and tonight we are deep in the woods. I'm Jonathan. And I'm Tim. And joining us is someone you know well from the Dread broadcast, our friend, the one and only GC from Face the Movies.
00:00:49
Speaker
He's back with us tonight to talk about one of the most underappreciated modern horror films, The Ritual. GC, thanks for being here. Dude, thank you so much for having me, man. When you mentioned the the title of the movie, I was like, dude, you had me right before you even finished. I was like, I know where he's going.
00:01:05
Speaker
Let's make it happen. Awesome. So glad. Right on. So that's right. The ritual dropped on Netflix in 2017, directed by David Bruckner, who you might know from the night house and Hellraiser reboot or the Hellraiser reboot.
00:01:20
Speaker
But this one, this one's about grief, guilt, masculinity, and the kind of ancient God that lives somewhere just past the tree line.
00:01:29
Speaker
It's based on the novel by Adam Neville, which leans even harder into cosmic horror and Norse mythology. The movie trims some of that but keeps the heart.
00:01:40
Speaker
Four old friends on a hiking trip through Sweden that turns into a psychological and supernatural nightmare.
Comparison to Similar Films
00:01:47
Speaker
If the Blair Witch Project is about getting lost, the ritual is about what's waiting for you when you're found.
00:01:56
Speaker
And that's why it fits so perfectly into our full core lineup. You've got isolation, you've got pagan imagery, a backworld cult, and the kind of ancient force that doesn't need to explain itself. You don't stumble into these woods and walk back out the same, if you walk out at all.
00:02:11
Speaker
We've got personal demons, literal gods, and GC's insight to break it all down. So let's string up some effigies and head into the trees.
Folk Horror Genre Discussion
00:02:20
Speaker
This is the ritual.
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah. Oh yeah, I'm excited.
00:02:27
Speaker
I'm excited to have you. You always bring great energy to the Dread broadcast, so i'm excited to have you for a movie review with us. So we're recording this early. This actually will come out like October 25th or something like that. I don't know exactly, but we ah little ways that we're sitting on it, but it'll be in our 13 nights of Halloween release.
00:02:50
Speaker
So we kick this off by addressing the story elements. How do we feel about this story? How unique is it compared to other folk horror films, other horror films in general?
00:03:04
Speaker
How does this film stand up for you guys? I like this movie. I thought it was just going to be some kind of like, you know kind of B film, but it turned about it turned out to be way better than that.
00:03:14
Speaker
I was actually impressed with this film. That's good. I was kind of nervous what your response would be. just We've been all over the place on our folk horror dive this October because yeah the i don't like folk horror that much. So I can appreciate a lot of the films and still not really enjoy them. I think there's a difference between respecting the craft and enjoying it.
00:03:43
Speaker
So this this one was one that I do enjoy, and I was kind of curious to see where we would all line up on this. So GC, feel free to chime in whenever. Do not worry about thinking you're interrupting us. Just, just, if you got something say, just say it.
00:04:01
Speaker
So, dude, okay. Yeah, no, that's, I was, I was waiting. Cause I was like, I didn't want to like interrupt if there's like a whole like process to it or anything, but nope we're past the scripted intro now it's just open conversation. So feel free to chime in whenever you want.
00:04:16
Speaker
Don't interrupt me. ah but My opinions matter. water Man, I gotta say look when it comes to story and plot ah for me, am I allowed to give it the score?
00:04:28
Speaker
We kind of talk about it for a couple of minutes and then we all drop the score at the end together. Okay. Perfect. I'll hold that part back. um I think from the very beginning, they had me ah just the cinematography is so crisp and so beautiful and the camera angles. It was just, I think within the first five minutes, I was just what the hell is going to happen next?
00:04:50
Speaker
um it's yeah the as far as for story and then the plot it was something i was not expecting i was expecting it to be another type of kind of like jonathan was saying like a b-horror oh they went into the woods type situation like usual there's like a monster and then that's the end of it but this movie was so deep and uh yeah it was just incredible that the turn that it took and fantastic man yeah i was really big
Emotional Depth and Realism
00:05:16
Speaker
into like the emotional aspect of because like you know the four friends or sorry five friends starts out five friends yeah and then one of them ends up dying in a in in a robbery in little shop when they're getting alcohol and you luke the one friend who's there with rob seeing him die and having done nothing and like the guilt that eats at him from it and then yeah things get really dramatic in the woods when the friends go on their little tribute hike to him
00:05:45
Speaker
and how like emotions come out and real thoughts about what they feel about what went down in that situation on top of the horror that they're in the fear that they're dealing with in those woods. Man, that was awesome.
00:05:56
Speaker
That was maybe veryary I thought would be. So what you're saying, I have to say, and this technically would fall into script category the way I score, but I'm going to say it now before I forget about it, is that the way the guys behave in this movie is 100 the way i would behave in that situation yeah like i'm watching it i'm going yeah dude our friend's injured if we cut through those trees we can probably he's talking like shaving off a day of the hike he's like we can probably head due south cut a day off in the hike that way we're not carrying him back we can get this safety they're waiting for us at the lodge i'm like check that makes sense
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah, that makes sense. Then they're wandering through downpour coming and they see shelter and they're like, let's crash here for night. I would 100%. Yes, the little effigy in the attic would weird me out. But to be fair, it looks like 100 years old.
00:06:53
Speaker
It looks like it's been there for a very long time. And do I want to be cold and wet in the rain outside or would I take the dry of a cabin?
00:07:04
Speaker
that like there's no dead bodies in it. So yeah, I probably would give it a shot in there. And then when they are debating like, dude, I'm not, he's losing his mind. He's injured. Why don't you go ahead?
00:07:18
Speaker
You go ahead of us. send somebody back like all of these things check out like it makes sense the way these guys are behaving so technically i might put that in with the way the movies were in in the script but for the story too there's not a moment in this film where i'm going this doesn't make sense.
00:07:39
Speaker
They're being stupid. You know, I'm not having that dialogue with myself while I watch the movie. I'm going, yeah, yeah. I would probably try to cut a day off the hike too, rather than listening to Dom complain about his foot the whole time. Oh, it's fucked.
00:07:56
Speaker
It's fucked. Like, ramaniscu too in a dude it I agree with you, man. um Well, those there's certain there's two parts where see my mind would have done something a little different.
00:08:08
Speaker
Like instead of just from experience from hiking and reading and watching kind of watching watching Mr. Ballin's YouTube channel of all those people getting lost. I was like, you know what, man, like that moment where he got hurt, I would have been like, all right, two of us stay behind and two people go ahead because obviously the buddy system go get help and then they'll either bring a helicopter or a truck or something but when i saw the density of that forest the thickness i was like man there's no way you're going to go in there and especially get out before nightfall and then the whole situation after they stayed in that cabin
00:08:43
Speaker
I do got to say that when they all had those nightmares and all that stuff, that would have been a turning point for me where I would have been like, you know what? We've seen enough shit. Let's get, let's turn around and go back the way we came. Yes. But they're like, let's keep going deeper. And that's just, we're almost there. It's like, no, I think if we all, like if somebody pissed their pants and then somebody else is like praying to a DD and all that. Yeah. Yeah, dude. I would be like, let's turn around. Like it's okay at this point. And, Like, yeah, yeah. like So ultimately the story begins as an emotional retreat honoring their friend who died and it slowly turns into a nightmare.
00:09:24
Speaker
You have a strange, strange symbols that gutted elk that might've been that gutted elk early on might've been enough for me seeing it strung up in the trees and still bleeding.
00:09:37
Speaker
Like when he points out like that's fresh, i would have been like, Nope, Nope. That's not a bear. ever just the have bear Whatever did that can do it to us. We're gone. that That was a flaw. That was a flaw in the story for me that that part in particular, because it's true. It's like when they said a bear, i was like, dude, have you seen national geographic or discovery channel?
00:09:57
Speaker
There's no way a bear would launch something like that in the air and for it to hang so perfectly. Yeah. I was like right then and there, let's just turn it around, go get some s'mores and Where the rest nod bits of the body that a bear would normally go for. too Seriously.
00:10:11
Speaker
Yes.
Creature and Horror Elements
00:10:12
Speaker
So the other part of the story that I really like is how this creature, i give it, I appreciate it not going to Blair Witch route where we never see the creature.
00:10:23
Speaker
I think that's, I think this stands, I think this separates it from becoming that movie again. uh i also i don't think this creature is disappointing whatsoever but we'll get to that at cgi um yeah we'll get we'll get to that later but it separates from that but i also like that for most of the movie the creature appears as a vision he's like the creature is the guilt following uh luke
00:10:57
Speaker
through the woods because when the creatures close luke gets flashbacks of the night he basically watched some would argue in his mind he's saying he let his friend die he did nothing he sat there and so that creature is kind of the guilt following him through the woods and i love the way it's very subtle very eerie and for the first three quarters of the movie the creature is that guilt there those images i think it is one of the
00:11:34
Speaker
You can simplify this and say the story is a getting lost in the woods story. But I think there's a lot more going on here than that. And so for me, it's a four.
00:11:48
Speaker
I'm on a four. Same here. i gave I gave it a four because um it's true. It's like it it goes beyond like just getting lost. It was like the mysticism behind it where the woods kind of start um widening. Like there's those shots where it kind of just starts becoming something where it's like there's just no way. It's not that you're lost. You're just kind of trapped in there in this type of like other parallel reality type situation.
00:12:14
Speaker
um I appreciated the creature itself. Like it's true. I loved the way they showed the actual creature. um and Especially it kind of reminded me of um not lep kind of like Wishmaster type. I forgot the name of that of the creature itself, um the the lore behind it, but it kind of hypnotizes you.
00:12:35
Speaker
<unk>s been a long time since i thought wishmaster not not a gn i think is it like a gin a gin yeah it reminded me of like a type of gin the way it had this hypnotic effect but man it was so fantastic um i mean and it's true like the way the guilt was following luke the entire time um i do just want to talk about the when he was getting those flashbacks Could we all talk about the fact that the way they were able to recreate those scenes in the in like those force so beautifully?
00:13:06
Speaker
Yes. Like it was incredible the way they were able to just pull walls. It felt very. um what is that movie Leonardo DiCaprio um inception I feel very inception like yeah man incredible the scene the final time it does thing from the creature at the end and you see the creature crashing behind the shelves and then through them dude awesome awesome work so Jonathan where were you on the story Dude, I said days there was a good mix of of of multiple elements in this film that I really appreciated. And just that that kind of dream mind trip and how it affects all of them at first in the cabin. And then how you see it progress with how it messes with their minds as they go all through as the Easter egg picked off.
00:13:56
Speaker
Man. and Yeah, just the like in in Luke saving himself. The way he he was able to, like, but he seemed like he was chosen to become part of the cult. You know, yeah by the marks in his chest, the way that one lady was like, oh, yeah, you're one of us now kind of a thing. he's like, fuck this. I'm not part of this shit. I'm out, bro.
00:14:16
Speaker
Fighting hard for it. Confronting, you know, the the the minor deity. Elk god Loki bastard son thing. Man, um there was such a great combination of things. with Him coming out on top. So rad.
00:14:28
Speaker
This was a completely different set that I would normally see for for story, especially something that's out in the woods. I gave it a five. Hey, walking up I like the story. I like the way this is headed.
00:14:40
Speaker
So let's examine the character arcs of the guys here. We have Luke is the emotional core. He's the one struggling guilt from rob's death it's crushing him his friends we learn through some arguments and passive aggression that they kind of resent him for letting it happen but the movie also tells us that they can't resent him more than he already resents himself
00:15:14
Speaker
he is already beating himself up about it but the forest kind of forces him to confront that like i said the creature is kind of representative of that guilt because as far as we know he's the only one who gets visions and i don't know if that's because he was chosen or what but he's the one with the with the visions and those awesome nightmare landscapes uh But he's the one who ultimately finds redemption.
00:15:47
Speaker
And it's not through, I think this is one of the powerful storytelling things. If you dig into this movie a little bit, he finds redemption not through being a hero, but through persevering.
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, he doesn't save anybody. And that's not it. I think the movie is about him dealing with his guilt and it is about him coming out on the other side and breaking free from his guilt.
00:16:17
Speaker
I think, yeah, the other guys are there. They have decent personalities to serve the story. But I think this movie is about Luke struggling with his guilt and breaking free.
00:16:28
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that's like that. core story for Luke is fantastic I love it and we get we have Dom we have Hutch we have Phil are the other three guys Dom is the abrasive one who injures his meniscus uh Hutch he at first comes across as is he's the leader He's the he at first comes across as the leader, the one who's like, all right, why don't you go back, Luke? I'll stay with these two guys. You go get help.
00:17:03
Speaker
And then he is the first to die.
Character Arcs and Dynamics
00:17:07
Speaker
Gutted like the elk in the tree. And then there's Phil who who doesn't really have enough.
00:17:15
Speaker
character to him. No, there was, a um, so that's the thing with this, um, I think with the character development in this film that it's not, you don't have to say a lot in the film for it to kind of show this show like his arc because, um, like when he's marked, cause one thing you mentioned earlier, I do want to say before I talk about the marking part, um, so we didn't see flashbacks from the other characters because this movie it seemed like it focused mostly on luke but they all had the same um the same dreams and the same nightmares the only difference is that for them they actually saw their deaths and that's why they were so scared because with dom he explains this but you don't hear about the rest from hutcherville exactly yeah and then if you notice it too um which is and i i just forgot you just said the name of the guy that was like the the leader um but with much like he he's he pisses his pants and and for him that was something where like since he's like kind of like the leader of the alpha for that to happen you know that he was like scared shitless and then literally
00:18:26
Speaker
And then the other guy, which is kind of more of the you can't bend me, you know, I follow my own will and this and that when he was praying to it, it goes to show like it broke his character as wanting to be that strong, independent type to kind of just bowing down and accepting his fate or trying to like get his way out of from dying.
00:18:47
Speaker
But with with Dom, it was just fantastic because he does. He realizes he's like, you know what? um Like this is a vision. I saw myself dying. I saw my wife. At least he got to see his wife, but he lets him know. He's like, hey, man, you know, i forgive you.
00:19:00
Speaker
And it's a story that goes to show because it's true. It's like Luke doesn't save anybody. But I think the moral of the story was that and that everybody had a choice and his friend Robert they didn't have to follow him in there.
00:19:15
Speaker
So it wasn't Luke's fault that he died because he had a choice to help him or not. But also Robert had a choice to fight back or to run or to not even go in there.
00:19:26
Speaker
So I feel like Luke kind of at the end of it, he realized he forgave himself because he felt like he didn't do anything. But then he realized that you know it was everybody had has a choice and in this situation he fought in the forest like he tried to take care of everybody to the very end and then when he just realized he's like there's no way we're all getting out of here and then dom told him like dude there's no way i'm getting out of here like you need to go i saw it in my vision you need to leave um but yeah that was amazing the arc like it was phenomenal that's a great analysis yeah
00:20:02
Speaker
Yeah, it it's hard to follow up when that yeah so spot on that. Yeah, with with the way that you see how they're impacted with their with their nightmares, and with their own thing, like I really wish I could have seen some kind of glimmer of what what Hutch and Phil saw.
00:20:18
Speaker
yeah Because, I mean, Phil was pretty fucked up about you coming to and being naked, praying to that nasty thing, and upstairs that cabin. And it's like, you see his hand doing the twitch thing throughout, because he's like, okay, I'm worried, I'm freaking out. He's a little anxiety setting in.
00:20:32
Speaker
He said hand twitch. And it's like, man, you know something's really messed him up. But... as far as character arcs go, man, it's, yeah it's hard to really say anything about the rest of the guys. Cause most of it focuses on Luke, you know?
00:20:49
Speaker
I mean, yeah, Rob, and GC, you're right. Rob could have just given up the ring and got a new one, but he chose to stand his ground on that shit. Yeah. Stand on principle. And, Frankly, if I'd have been Luke, you see him grab that bottle of vodka thinking like, man, maybe I could do something with this.
00:21:04
Speaker
I would have been chucking fucking bottles. There were so many lined right there. I would have been liquor bombing and pulling out a lighter. You want some of this shit? You want this fire? You better fucking get it, dude. But it didn't go that way, unfortunately, sadly, but it is what it is.
00:21:19
Speaker
But the fact that Dom you know kind of busts it out there and brings it out in the open to make everyone kind of address it just because they're in a high stress situation where they don't know really what to do oh tensions are so hard yeah it's kind of good I think that you know even though he's an asshole about it bringing it up does kind of help I think Luke kind of like deal with that shit especially when this this entity is like making it relive it over and over every time he goes to sleep and like these kind of waking day visions
00:21:53
Speaker
and man i just was crazy and i just loved how he just kind of took his time was just kind of waiting to see what happened he didn't rush he wasn't being brash about shit you know he was really taking stock of his situation and once you really see the villain this this this bastard son of loki um and how he really handles his shit, man, I got to give a lot of credit to it. I just wish there had been more to see at the end as he comes out of the forest.
00:22:21
Speaker
Yeah. Overall, I do like how it went for the most part. I gave it a four on character. okay Okay. Dude, I gave it a five because one thing I missed was Dom definitely had a massive character development.
00:22:35
Speaker
Because I mean, if you if you see him from the beginning, he's kind of like the whiny, like crybaby of the bunch. Because even you even you even see Luke talking about it in the beginning. They're amongst themselves. They're like, oh, here we go. Now the princess, you know, he sprained his ankle. We're going to have to carry him like a pharaoh.
00:22:50
Speaker
ye And it was it was just one of those situations where when Dom... like from from the beginning to hating luke and and criticizing him and being kind of weak to the end of being so strong and brave and literally sacrificing himself he's like hey they're gonna sacrifice me like it's your time to escape and him accepting his fate and being tough about it um compared to crying up about just an ankle thing like it was just um he had incredible arc and yeah that's why gave it a five because it was it was very fantastic to see that closure at the end
00:23:23
Speaker
So i actually i actually gave it a five as well. And that is one like I juggled with it a little bit. But because I do want to see like Jonathan said, I wanted to see a little bit more, but I don't know why.
00:23:40
Speaker
Like I wanted to see him get to the lodge that they were reserved at and like tell them like, dude, I lost the others, whatever. But I don't know what purpose that serves. Yeah.
00:23:51
Speaker
Even though it's like my selfish desire, I want to see that. But also there's symbolism in that ending of him escaping the the God and he gets out of the woods and he screams back at it and turns around to the sun on his face.
00:24:08
Speaker
Yeah, and there's just beautiful symbolism of him like breaking free. And so I can't fault it for that because he comes full circle. Like you said, Dom is a little shit through most of the movie.
00:24:22
Speaker
And he is the one who starts calling him out like you're a coward, whatever. And he comes full circle like, Dude, this is your shot. Go. So I I think it goes If you pay attention to this movie, if you're willing to give it the chance to follow the story, because you could easily put this on in the background and think this is a boring movie.
00:24:45
Speaker
But if you pay attention, there is a deeper story here happening with these characters. So I am also ah five. And before we get to music and sound design, we've talked about the scene in the cabin multiple times.
00:24:59
Speaker
And the first time I put this on, In 2017, it was one of those on Netflix that popped up that I was like, that looks good. Let me pop it on. I was watching it in the background until the scene in the cabin.
00:25:15
Speaker
And that freaked me out. Like those guys waking up the Phil praying to the whatever that was. in the attic space naked messed me up that was that whole scene is so well done i was hooked it it didn't really hook me at first i thought it was going to be a shock value killing the friend at the beginning i was like okay what are we gonna see that scene sucked me in that scene is so well done
00:25:48
Speaker
You don't want to be dirty and naked praying to an effigy? and No, thanks. An ancient one that literally looks like it's 100 years old. So music and sound design. The score is by Ben Lovett.
00:26:02
Speaker
And... it kind of walks the line between atmospheric and gets a little bit aggressive when it's appropriate. But this movie also uses just silence and woods, the sounds of the woods.
00:26:20
Speaker
And we'll talk about this. I think we literally have, i say it every episode we record out of order. um So tomorrow you're going to see us talk about The Blair Witch Project with After Hours and Steven from After Hours.
00:26:36
Speaker
And we talk about how that one uses the sounds of the woods. And so does this. The difference is this one is not a found footage film, so it's kind of polished and it's still just.
00:26:48
Speaker
Like the branches snapping, the wind howling, the wars in the distance. So good. I really. yeah it's this movie is more about the sound design than it is about the score yeah it's one of those movies where i'll be honest like a lot of the times don't even remember what type of score or music or anything there was because if you've been out in nature you'll know that there's nothing scary that when you're in like the woods or in a forest and it's dead silent and when there's nothing around
00:27:26
Speaker
Like you don't hear no birds or none of the small critters. Normally that means there's something bigger out there hunting and everybody's hiding. And they even emphasize that a few times in the film. I think at the very beginning when they're there and then halfway through, they're like, it's very quiet.
00:27:41
Speaker
They're like, have you noticed it's very silent in here? And they're like, oh yeah, whatever. um But even when it rains, right? Like it's like raining and pouring. There's a silence. There's this like subliminal silence behind that. Like you hear water.
00:27:56
Speaker
But it's like, that's it. You know, and normally you would hear a lot more things. You, especially with these giant trees, you hear them moving with the wind branches breaking. Um, but yeah, man, I mean, and the, the sound was fantastic.
00:28:09
Speaker
Um, I would just so sucked into the cine cinematography, like how beautifully it was shot that that's kind of what distracted me from the sounds. Like it's crazy. We'll get there. You'll get, you'll get your chance to talk about that. Uh,
00:28:23
Speaker
You mentioned the rain and I that was something watching it that I wanted to bring up because when you are out in the woods raining like I was just out hiking yesterday, but it was a beautiful day. No rain.
00:28:35
Speaker
um When you have that kind of sound, it creates this audio matrixing effect where you don't know where other sounds are coming from because you just have this rain kind of cacophony, even though it's soft, that You can think sounds are coming from in front of you that are actually behind you. It just creates this eerie sound bubble, really.
00:29:01
Speaker
And this movie uses that to great effect. See, I'm big on music-heavy movies because I'm just a tunes kind of guy. Not so much focused on sound design. But the fact that there's a lack of music in this isn't a bad thing for me.
00:29:15
Speaker
i mean, I really appreciate like the emptiness and the desolation that you kind of feel from the lack of other sounds when you just hear the faint sounds of nature in the distance. you know That in itself has a nice kind of effect.
00:29:27
Speaker
And once you start hearing the the sound of the creature out there, that entity, you know that it really starts to hype things up. um Other than that, i i did the rest of it just kind of blends for me. And you usually usually when it comes to like sound design, everything else just kind of blends. I mean, if it does a good job, then I don't really notice it. And I feel like that's kind of what happens in here.
00:29:49
Speaker
But I do appreciate like those segments where Luke is having his kind of nightmare replays. But then you have that kind of whoosh back to reality that kind of comes back and forth with those. I kind of like that a little bit.
00:30:01
Speaker
um But the overall the sounds of ah that that that ah demigod was just kind of weird creepy, but kind of awesome at the same time. So I had a good appreciation for the type of sounds that they put together for for that for that monster of the movie.
00:30:19
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a four on the sound design. Not as much the music. That's why they're lumped together because there's not a lot of music to this one, but there is great sound design. So I'm a four on this.
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah. Same, same here. I gave it a four. Um, just because you know, when the story is so good and when like cinematography and all that stuff is so good that you just don't even notice too much.
Sound Design and Cinematography
00:30:45
Speaker
And the fact that there was a lack of music for me, made me feel like I was in the woods.
00:30:49
Speaker
Like, like you mentioned Jonathan, the swooshing and all that did it was so good, man. Like all those little things, like those little small things, like really made, made it feel like a dream skate and all that stuff. So yeah, definitely a four.
00:31:02
Speaker
And if you got a good sound system to really kind of enhance that, really pump it up for you, it just makes it all the better. And yeah I always try to check my my stereo settings, like, am I set right for this movie? Am I getting the max out of the sound on this? Because there have been some movies I've watched where, like, we've talked about certain sound effects that I just totally didn't pick up. And i'm like okay, maybe I didn't set my sound right. But it's fine for this. and it was good. But like said, everything just kind of blended for me well.
00:31:25
Speaker
So I don't really have any big hype over this. so I'm at a three on this part. Okay. I've got the, I think I have three point... or 4.1 surround sound and this is one of those movies that like twigs are snapping behind you on the surround sound that really helps it really helps get you like good sound design if you got a good stereo setup to really hear all that stuff all around you who give you some goosebumps especially especially the bass man like though during those specific scenes where like walls are being pulled and you hear like that what that the thumping and all that stuff um and then with the rain it really feels like it's raining around you
00:32:01
Speaker
it's so good man so immersive it is so let's jump editing and special effects talking about it was edited by i can't say this name pedreg collins that's my best version of it uh the editing is tight and yet it allows the cinematography to breathe to where we feel like we're in a vast expanse.
00:32:29
Speaker
But i don't feel like a second of this movie is wasted on shots of the woods. Each shot of the woods that is there serves some kind of purpose of telling them the isolation or the you're almost to the end type feeling.
00:32:45
Speaker
But I guess, so the creature is, I believe the name is actually a Jotun, Jotun. is the name for the creature by motor okay that's on that's what what's a wikipedia wikipedia says motor so i don't know well well the internet is full of lies so uh damn you internet either way either way cool get one of the we already mentioned one of the best
00:33:18
Speaker
I want to see how they did it. I want behind the scenes. Curse you Netflix. um I want behind the scenes of how they did the fluorescent lights and the liquor store aisles in the woods.
00:33:33
Speaker
Dude, you you're in my head and I need you to stay there because ah we we need second sight to this is the type of movie second sight would pick up like yeah this is it this would get a nice book like the the all the razzle dazzle with the making because i need i i kept thinking the entire film when i saw those scenes was like how the hell i i could imagine when extension cords and like power generators or something but i want to see the magic that was incredible yeah fluorescent lights It also said it only fit naturally into the setting with the way they had everything structured in those woods.
00:34:09
Speaker
It looked awesome. It looks so I even love like in the sound design. But there's that moment where Luke kind of turns around because he hears the fluorescent light clicking.
00:34:21
Speaker
Yeah. and he hears that and then turns around and you see the aisle and it's so effective from the sound design to the editing to the effects all of it and i just want to note like it doesn't look cgi it looks like they built this thing in the woods because it's reflecting off the trees as well like it looks so good and it happens a couple times so i do want like our greatest hope in this world, because you know what Netflix has had some good stuff, but curse them for making you pay a monthly fee to watch any of it and not be able to pick up physical copies to watch at your own leisure.
00:35:04
Speaker
I'm I'm I am no fan of that. They curse them for ruining the streaming world like. becoming all of that. And now we don't get these things that I would love to have even when Netflix is gone one day.
00:35:19
Speaker
Yeah. Like, you know what they're doing, too? It's funny because they Blockbuster did that to them where they were like, oh, streaming can exist. And then they came in and took physical they took Blockbuster out. Right. And now they're Blockbuster. And now people are like, we want physical media and they're doing the same thing Blockbuster did to them.
00:35:37
Speaker
And they're following that kind of pattern of sort of demise because their people are only subscribed to them because they either don't know any better or it's because affordability. But the second they realize it's like it's a whole other world out there with special features and better resolution and not having to pay. But ah man, I want to say that.
00:35:58
Speaker
Yeah, the the one thing I noticed about those um because I didn't want to go on that tangent with the streaming, but I had to stop myself. I was going say, I don't even pay for it anymore. It's lumped in with my cell phone and that's the only reason I have it. It is, man. that like they They get you with ah with ah T-Mobile gaming, like free Hulu.
00:36:16
Speaker
Exactly. i have i have an Apple and Netflix through T-Mobile. I did want to touch on that scene, the scenes that you were talking about us when he's having those kind of um reliving those moments when Robert, and obviously what happens to Robert when he dies at the liquor store.
00:36:30
Speaker
um Have you noticed throughout the film, each time he has that flashback, it it's um it's kind of falling apart more and more as you see in the beginning he's perfectly in the liquor store and it's like this whole illusion like a dream and then it happens again and he's more in the woods and then it gets to that point towards the end where it's so much so merged with the woods it's almost like a stranger things type situation like the upside down type situation but man they the way they pulled the walls the way the creature went through the walls I mean that did not if I would be blown away if any of that was CGI besides a creature like everything else if any of that was CGI I don't know how the hell they did that to look so real it looks so good and then the creature itself yeah how do you guys feel about the creature itself
00:37:21
Speaker
I had it was surprised. Yeah.
Supernatural Elements and Third Act
00:37:24
Speaker
Because you see the like the part early on where the guys are starting to kind of panic a little and you see them kind of cutting through the woods and then you see through the line of trees and you kind of barely notice the movement if you're not paying attention you can miss it but you see the movement and it just looks like a giant elk at first it's such as a slim shot you can see between the trees it's hard to tell that it's more than just a large animal until later on the film and I loved how they use that kind of distance to kind of parse it out so that you don't get too much of an impression you get a hint of it and you're like okay
00:38:00
Speaker
Is that just something that's out there or is that really something that's hunting them? And you don't know yet until there's film. But the way they designed Joden or Motor Just being a like this giant weird looking elk thing, but with like kind of like a human arm torso thing as part of the head.
00:38:18
Speaker
That's upside down. Yeah. And then you get the eyes staring out from like this little thing inside of the head. Vagina is what that looks like. Weird. Yeah. Just a big open giant gash in the skull with like the eyes just yellow staring out you, trying to memorize mesmerize you and just catch you up in it's bullshit. it Oh my God.
00:38:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's pretty cool. I really liked it. Like how they worked that out and like the movement of it as it's chasing after and trying to reach out and everything that's doing when it's taking Dom and everything else, man, just like crazy movement on that thing. That scene at the end when it kind of like stands up to full height and does this little deal.
00:39:00
Speaker
I was like praying to like Loki for like additional assistance or something. The ritual is the thing. It looked like it was kind of, um it looked at that point, it was full of itself because we all know why it went after Luke, because the reason it marked all those people, one of the ladies there in that hut or that little community, she tells them it's like, oh, because you're full of a lot of pain.
00:39:23
Speaker
but it's not even so much pain what it was it was to me it was she didn't understand that it was called weakness so that creature only preyed on the weak and that's why it killed off all the other people because the other people like them in the beginning it kills off the main the main friend the main leader because knew that he was kind of like keeping everything together and it didn't expect luke to do what he did so that's why at the end when the creature it's kind of like bow before me And kind of standing fully, like, like fully erect.
00:39:52
Speaker
and then yeah And then Luke goes to stand up and he's like, no, no, no, you need to bow to me. And then he again shows his size. That's what bears do too. They get big to show their size when they stand up. And it was kind of doing that where it's like, I'm this massive creature and I'm majestic and you need to worship me.
00:40:09
Speaker
So that's kind of what I love about this creature reveal. I hear all the time and 90% of the time it is true that what we imagine is scarier than what you can show us.
00:40:22
Speaker
yeah And numerous times you can watch a creature feature movie and once the creature is revealed, it's like, man okay, but like that's that doesn't work. i It being the perfect example of once Pennywise is revealed.
00:40:38
Speaker
Okay, giant crustacean in the cave. All right. ah This does not disappoint me. This feels like norse yeah god mythology it feels grounded and realistic like a giant elk that is just twisted with some human like it it works i don't know why but this is one that i once it was revealed on screen i was actually like oh shit not like ah man like it
00:41:18
Speaker
I don't, it didn't terrify me, but it freaked me out. I was like, this is effective. This works. I am still invested in this story and wondering where this is going because this creature design is fantastic.
00:41:30
Speaker
And I want to watch the behind the scenes documentary of how they arrived at this creature design. Is it based on, I'm sure we can find it on a website somewhere, but let me watch the documentary of A, how they made it.
00:41:46
Speaker
Like what kind of practical effects went into this? If any, is it all CGI? I don't think so because it looks really, really good. ah What did they base the design off of?
00:41:59
Speaker
Is this an ancient... norse deity that they kind of went off of i want to know more about it because it is so good it looks like something that would have been drawn up by ancient norse people like it just looks that good so look yeah I kind of get curious, though. I wish I kind of knew more because like when when Luke is finally taken to that cabin before he burns it down, he goes upstairs into that room and finds all those bodies that are like some mummified, but like living mummies, basically. And it's like, how is is is this entity feeding off of that?
00:42:37
Speaker
You know, and so once he burns them all and like the sounds and the screaming and everything and come from it and like everyone's starting to panic. man that was awesome dude and it's just like seeing those small movements and effects when he really was like oh that thing just moved like oh my god you know doesn't she say that the creature prolongs their life yeah yes so i think that is that to me was showing that the creature prolonging their like this is a prison is a death sentence because yeah, your life was prolonged, but then you just end up in that attic going, like for how you're pretty much stuck there, like worshiping in that little like satanic church or whatnot.
00:43:22
Speaker
your long-term feed you're missing long-term feed for this demigod and it sucks and it actually it kind of makes me wonder too because like when they find that stuff in the woods early on the tent and the boot and everything they find that wallet and you see that card for a woman from like 19 expires 1984. it makes me think that one of those that older woman might have been that person maybe oh maybe I didn't look at the photo on that close enough to look at the photo and then look forward.
00:43:50
Speaker
i didn't That's true. I feel like that she might have been that person that they found in that picture, maybe. that can i can't say for certain. he can't tell in the picture, but I feel like story-wise, that's how that plays out. Well, and I was going to comment on how when we pull back, when Dom is being sacrificed and we pull back and they start looking at all the trees around that settlement and it's just bodies on the trees, bodies, bodies, bodies. Yeah. and the The woman's like, we don't touch them. We don't mess with those at all. Yeah. yeah That's that's his. That's that's Jotun saying, you know, that's motor shit right there.
00:44:23
Speaker
It just gets macabre at the end of this movie. It is. Yeah, I want to say I want to talk about the the initial when we finally see this big bad deity and we see Dom tied up and he's just kind of telling them he's like, oh, you guys are idiots.
00:44:40
Speaker
And when you see those trees moving right and at that moment how they do the switch on you because you're staring into these woods and this forest and you're seeing all this moving. and You're like, holy shit, this is like some King Kong type creature about to walk out.
00:44:55
Speaker
and ends up being his wife just slowly like walking out and i loved it i love that they didn't have the creature come out at first and i loved how it was like the wife and he's doing the illusion thing doing the illusion that he's for a little bit but yeah a false sense of security dude all of a sudden the camera pans and it sees and and i love the fact that they went with like those orangey yellow eyes instead of like red eyes because it's always a cop-out red eyes is always like everything's the um demonic this and that but with those like very like uh
00:45:29
Speaker
hypnotic yellowish like orange eyes were just it was perfect and it was pure darkness in there which was even creepier because you can't even see a face it's just eyes oh man and then hands too with the super long fingers like it was just so creepy um it was a great way to like show the creature finally like in its full form Well, and this falls entirely into direction on this one again, but also creature design, all of that, that scene.
00:46:00
Speaker
he sees gail walk all the way up to him and put her hands on his face and then it isn't until we cut to luke's perspective that we're like oh shit those are not gail's hands and that's when it's revealed and just that little that deception that you're describing it's so this movie could have completely fallen apart in the third act And instead, we'll get to the director, but he succeeded. He managed to make it work.
00:46:36
Speaker
i I'm seeing that the creature design was by Keith Thompson. So I don't know much of his work. I'm now very curious and want to find out. but it was brought to life through puppetry practical suit work and cgi believe all that because it that's what it looks like it looks it looks so good i am actually a five on the editing and special effects for this Nice dude. I gave it a four only because, i mean, like you said earlier, the editing was tight. It was perfect.
00:47:09
Speaker
um i never I didn't feel at any moment that there was parts that lingered or that was too over explanation, especially they could have gone like other movies go where they try to use the landscape as cop out for like filler in the film. So they're like, oh, look at this landscape. It's beautiful.
00:47:26
Speaker
they showed you the the landscape that they did the ooh ah type situation but then they didn't just focus on that they're like okay here's established that they're in this giant place in the middle of nowhere and now we're in the forest and everything's nice and tight and um the only problem the reason i gave it a four was because there was i think twice where the creature cgi felt a little like more than cgi like you it felt a little slightly pulled out of it um But then out of auto nowhere, it just goes back to being like, okay, awesome.
00:47:58
Speaker
um But that's only reason I give it a four. um Editing and everything else was just top notch. um But yeah. Yeah. They had really good details in a lot of the stuff, like even like the effigy that was set up and you see like those kind of like mummified hands as feet.
00:48:13
Speaker
yeah That was just kind of really weird, trippy looking, man. I appreciate those kind of small details and stuff. And even when you see like the deer or whatever it is that's already strung up in the wind in the in the trees when you get there, seeing how it's gutted. And then they got that one shot where you see the hoof and it's just dripping the blood. i was like, oh, man, and but maybe that goes a little more towards direction and like how you're like putting feelings into it.
00:48:35
Speaker
yeah Trying to build that tension, but still, I really like that stuff. That's cool. and It looked really gritty, dark. That's some shit you would see out in the woods kind of thing as far as like the gore part of it, like kind of realistic. I sit down at a four.
00:48:46
Speaker
Okay. So the script then, this is an interesting one. i More so that we don't get a lot of explanation for what's going on.
Script and Adaptation
00:49:02
Speaker
which I kind of like. We don't get massive lore dumps of like, oh, this creature, whatever. We get just enough.
00:49:13
Speaker
The cultists at the end are not explained, really, how long they've been there, what they're doing there, how this group, it is all you pulling the pieces from elsewhere and putting it together.
00:49:28
Speaker
And I love that about it. It doesn't over explain anything it's written by joe barton we said it was adapted from adam neville's novel uh but it doesn't lean heavily into exposition at all but what i really like is that these guys lines feel pretty realistic they feel like four guys who've known each other for a very long time uh
00:49:59
Speaker
I mentioned tomorrow in the Blair Witch Project episode that I like how they kind of interrupt and talk over each other because it feels real. These guys do that same thing, the straight up shouting matches, but it feels like real dialogue from guys who've known each other. And I think that's difficult to write. So I got to give it credit there.
00:50:22
Speaker
yeah I I thought the the script was just fantastic man um I think the industry like the kid like the camaraderie like it just felt right off the bat when they're in the pub they felt like real friends like they've known each other for a long time they're trying to decide where to go and as as everything escalates and everything kind of just shit hits the fan I mean it just you could see the the the real panic and it just it didn't like man it i don't know where they went in their head to be able to like be that scared like as an actor because i'll tell you like um i when i was talking about this uh like when it comes to the descent where the director actually had the main character in the descent actually get stuck in one of the scenes where she's in the tunnel and she started having a panic attack because he was saying and she was saying that it's very hard to really pull that off
00:51:14
Speaker
But to really be to get the message as authentic as possible is to actually really be in that situation. And it felt like that in this film, um like the isolation. Like, I wonder if it was really raining when they were filming those certain scenes or if ah obviously it was like Hollywood magic or not.
00:51:29
Speaker
But the story, i feel the only thing that bothered me was because I didn't want to be foonsped. the explanations or anything but i just wish i would have known just a tad bit more on like like if somebody if that lady if he i wish he would have just asked him like how long have you people been here and she would have been like oh thousands of years or something just that like if i would had that extra sentence that would have just satisfied me just more but um not knowing like how long because it's like it preserves them but for how long like 100 years 200 years for eternity but then why are um why are people aging if it preserves them so that's the only thing that kind of um that threw me in a little tiny loop but everything else was just perfect and you know what maybe i'm an idiot for this maybe i should have paid attention to this i just realized so they find the
00:52:27
Speaker
wallet from the eighty s Yeah, fires 84.
00:52:32
Speaker
I always thought it was a throwaway line. But there's that Volkswagen van. That's just game That they make a comment about like, that's a weird place to leave that.
00:52:46
Speaker
And I'm like, Oh, I'm just now going. Wait, was that family in the Volkswagen van? Dude. Or is that a different group? Because if the credit card expired in 84, a Volkswagen van like that was probably from the 60s or 70s. So it's realistic that the family could have been driving that. It's also realistic that that could be saying that there was another group there 20 years before the other group that we know of kind of hinting at
00:53:20
Speaker
they've been here for a long time like yeah people keep adding to their numbers getting lost in the woods that whole group that was at the cabin could have been that family in general for all we know yeah that's been living a long ass time yeah
00:53:35
Speaker
weird so yeah that was just something that just connected in my brain as we we're sitting talking about this i'm wondering too because obviously the creature chooses like it marks the people that it wants to worship it obviously due to certain qualities but now i'm wondering it's like man like there was a lot of people there between that little like satanic church in the in the attic and then everybody else out there so it's like were just people going into the forest and then stumbling into that cabin or like how long in between was that happening or were they kind of mating with each other and having kids and and really like it might have been a little inbred I don't know man it doesn't look they were they were banging around too much because it was very very few people for one yeah uh but I feel like the youngest woman there that was talking to Luke for the most part
00:54:25
Speaker
I think maybe she was just someone who got either she's a child product of that weird shit situation or she's just ah one of the more recent victims who got caught up into the shit. thats yeah It's hard to tell because they don't really give you much back on that. But OK, it's OK otherwise. I mean, and it I like the balance between dialogue and quiet and just watching what's happening.
00:54:46
Speaker
throughout this. It's not too dialogue heavy and you get just enough to tell you what's going on, to initiate certain feelings, and it's it's it's good. um And even when he was like him trying to talk to those people, you don't really need too much. He got the gist and it's like, all right, cool, we're going down. But there is some fun dialogue in there, you know, especially like turn the beginning where and they're talking about trying to like shorten that trip by going through the woods, you know, and Dom's just like, my old scoutmaster used to say if the shortcut was a shortcut, it wouldn't be called shortcut, it'd be called route.
00:55:16
Speaker
You know, you got some other small lines and that like that that come that through throughout there. I like the part, though, where where Phil's like, it was about how bad it is. And Dom's like, there's all it's just character building.
00:55:29
Speaker
And Phil is like, oh, I can lick my bridge. And he's like, what talking about? It's like, oh, you know, your tank, dude. They're like, oh, I mean, the perineum is like, yeah, my bridge, you lick my tank, dude, like this sucks my tank so bad, you know.
00:55:42
Speaker
So there's a little bit of fun in it, even though it's really a very serious and very kind of like traumatizing kind of situation for them. Yeah. But it is cool, man. I like those one-liners too, like like those jokes, because i mean, i've I've said stuff. I literally, I think said that like two days ago,
00:55:57
Speaker
in a voice message to one of my buddies i was like literally saying something about like a boutique label and i was like oh i swear if they mess this up they could do this already said the same thing they can lick my bridge but but
00:56:11
Speaker
that is something that i have picked up on rewatches is the humor in it the one-liners feel like what you would say to your buddies yeah they did they whoever wrote it really kept it as like level as possible and one thing too that you you brought up jonathan about um you were saying about the the woman there that she could have been a product to the pro the woman that was talking talking to luke she have been a product that whole situation if you guys noticed she was the only one that spoke english there and then nobody else spoke english so now i'm wondering was she like a ah modern victim or like what happened there that
00:56:48
Speaker
you know that's what made me wonder if now i want to go back and re-watch that wallet finding scene and see if that looks like her in the photo better yet i should probably just read the book that it's based on maybe that reveals a little bit more i don't know could be but what's the book called is it the ritual also it's called the ritual by adam adam neville oh i'm gonna write that down and i gotta check that out man yeah adam neville's novel so I'm curious, but i and I feel like this is probably one of those movies where the script could be pulled mostly from the dialogue of the book. I feel like you can pull a lot.
00:57:31
Speaker
I wouldn't be surprised. Like one of my wife and I's favorite movies is Rosemary's Baby, which is based on the book. she read, she loves the movie and she's like, I should read the book. And she's like, it's word for word the same. She's like, it is the most faithful adapt adaptation she's ever read.
00:57:47
Speaker
I feel like, I feel like this could be a very faithful adaptation. So, but I need to read the book to find out. So I'm at a point. Oh, sorry. Just, you just cause you mentioned Rosemary's baby. My brain like makes weird connections to stuff.
00:58:02
Speaker
Mike Patton, his sideband, Phantom Moss, director's cut it's called the album is the name of the album. He does a version of the theme to Rosemary's Baby that will creep you the fuck out so hard, but it's good. Because that theme is creepy on its own. i but i Now want to check that out.
00:58:25
Speaker
Yeah, Phantom Moss, Rosemary's Baby. Okay. Amazing cut. I'm a four on the script. Same same. Dude, look at us.
00:58:36
Speaker
All right. Onto the acting. We have Rafe Spall as Luke Archer Ali as Phil Robert James Collier from Downton Abbey, by the way, as Hutch and Sam Troughton as Dom. And that is the main cast of the film.
00:58:56
Speaker
Those are the four that we follow through the woods. i I think they all serve their parts really well. I don't think anybody is earning an Academy Award for it, though.
00:59:08
Speaker
They're the Academy Awards are rigged anyways, but i cancel all tracks
00:59:14
Speaker
i don't think I would be nominating any of them personally. So but none of it is like, wow, that was overacted or wow, they're just ham fisting those lines. No, they do a really good job with what they have and making these guys believable.
00:59:32
Speaker
And I've been meaning to say it and I just remembered, so I'm going to say it now. um The other thing they don't really talk about, but it's mentioned is they originally take the shortcut because they think they can finish it in a day if they do that versus the two days of the real trail.
00:59:51
Speaker
And they're on food rations, they end up going through the shortcut for almost four days, I think it's three or four days, three nights that they're on that shortcut, which means these guys aren't just cold, wet, tired and injured.
01:00:13
Speaker
They're also hungry. Yeah. Which would just add to all of that tension and feeling and they don't really come out and say it but i this last rewatch i was like it shows them with food early on and then not as much later and two of them are injured yeah yeah dom that little bastard fuck no eprint and all ah and then the other guy with the boots because he was very he you could tell he was very vain he had a lot of vanity type thing because he even says at one point i go i wore the wrong boots for this yeah so isn't that isn't that hutch
01:00:51
Speaker
I think so. Um, yeah, I think I was like, I wore the wrong boots. Yeah. Yeah. like i I think it was, uh, actually, wait a minute. Was it, you're the one who looked like you have military training, but. Oh no, it was Phil. Phil was the one.
01:01:02
Speaker
It was Phil.
01:01:05
Speaker
But yeah, man, Ikea, like definitely that's that's another thing, being injured. Like, I mean, if you've been hiking and you've worn either brand new hiking boots or the wrong shoes and after like two hours and that type of terrain, man, you'll feel it.
01:01:19
Speaker
Yeah. and then And then it's like three days worth. I mean, where they were already hiking ahead because his feet were bothering them before they even went into the forest. Like he was already complaining about his feet. But to have that being, I mean, freezing cold, like being hunted, um already resentment towards Luke and kind of people are like slightly divided. Because you could tell too, they were very clicky, even though they were all friends.
01:01:43
Speaker
You see Luke in and it was Luke and Hutch. You could tell they were kind of more... come robbery and they were talking about like oh hey you know Dom is like a little girl and this and that but yeah man I mean the acting I do want to say too that the actor that plays Luke which I'm trying to which was Rafe Spall wasn't he also in um what the hell is it called um uh Shaun of the Dead wasn't he in Shaun of the oh my gosh haven't seen that movie in so long
01:02:18
Speaker
i think he was he was a kid that he works with that he's always chewing gum yeah you are the dead yes and holy and hot fuzz yeah i saw life of pie dude and to see him go from that from a comedy to this movie i mean i gotta say that ah anybody in that role the only person that i wasn't too happy with his acting was Robert like the play got actor the place Robert just because of that scene you could tell he was very scared and everything or maybe it was just a character itself I just I didn't I wasn't happy with that decision and the way it was handled yeah but um the actor that plays Luke dude that at that ending where he just screams back and faces that creature instead of continuing to run he just turns around and he looks at right in the eyes
01:03:05
Speaker
I mean, dude, I felt it, man. I got goosebumps when he just started screaming like that. Got to say it with your chest, bro. Yeah. challenge he He let it know, man. He was like, screw you. You're trapped in that forest.
01:03:19
Speaker
Max, that was crazy, too, because like I don't know any of these people. I don't recognize them for anything. And so it's not familiar. I didn't see Downton Abbey or any of other stuff. And now I'm just really surprised to see that that one dude, Rafe Spall, was in like so many.
01:03:32
Speaker
wow Yeah. And I just didn't even notice it. but It's cool, though. But the acting, though, ah it all felt so believable. It didn't feel cheesy, campy, bullshitty. It felt legit. They truly felt like dudes who'd known each other forever.
01:03:47
Speaker
had that kind of friend twist. Cause you know, in any group of friends, you know, there's gonna be like people who have those certain roles. yeah And so they they kind of have that same matching dynamic. You have the people who are more forward, people are more of the followers, people who have more complainers, more whiners, people are tougher.
01:04:04
Speaker
And they kind of get an all around about in those personalities between all these four main guys. And i i can't really find any fault in the acting in this.
01:04:16
Speaker
At all. I think they did a fantastic job at this. So where do you all I can say is I'm a five.
Direction and Filming Location
01:04:24
Speaker
I'm a five.
01:04:26
Speaker
Impressions. I don't know. These dudes are like recognized for much of anything. I feel this was a very solid performance from these dudes.
01:04:34
Speaker
You make a persuasive argument. i I was sitting content at a four, but like, I can't really fault any of them. Yeah, it's hard, man. Because deliver every scene, every scene.
01:04:48
Speaker
every scene But to be fair, though, like, see, for me, I gave it a four because the reason I didn't give it a five because five, it's kind of like um it's like that award winning type like that scene with Will Smith and I am legend with the dog ah like type acting.
01:05:08
Speaker
Like that's for me. That to me is like a five. If im if my eyes are tearing up, that's a five. um So that's why i gave it a four, just because it was phenomenal, but it didn't make me feel like emotional.
01:05:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's fair. That's fair. All right. So we're four, four and five on that one. Okay. So that takes us then to, I believe, direction. Is that where we're at? Direction. Direction. This is one where often gc i often drop in the ah cinematography as well, because the director and the cinematographer, i always think it's the director's vision that the cinematographer is bringing to life.
01:05:53
Speaker
So that's where we talk about us here. But this was directed by David Bruckner, who has done multiple entries in the VHS franchise.
01:06:05
Speaker
Nice. He did the night house, which was the night house was actually surprised me in this beautifully like i don't want to say gothic, but it was like a romance, but a horror movie at the same time. And it surprised me and I really enjoyed it and then I was surprised that I enjoyed it.
01:06:26
Speaker
He also did this movie. Most recently he did Hellraiser reboot on for Hulu. Hulu at least releases they stuff on physical media usually. So you can grab those.
01:06:42
Speaker
ah You can grab Prey. I believe you can grab Hellraiser. They have it already? The movie looks Yeah, the movie looks really good. I'm not going to credit him for the story of Hellraiser. It didn't wasn't one of my favorite stories.
01:06:56
Speaker
ah But he is currently working on the blob remake. What if I believe it's Yeah, it's it's the blob. I don't think it's attack of the killer tomatoes.
01:07:08
Speaker
I believe he will get a remake for that. let Let tomatoes stay where they are. he is currently in production or pre-production on i the blob remake so i'm super pumped about that because every version of the blob is fantastic for its own reasons uh yeah he is the director pre-production of the blob film so i'm excited for that one but yeah he's made his name in kind of direct to streaming horror
01:07:45
Speaker
with VHS to Netflix, Netflix entries.
01:07:52
Speaker
I appreciate he doesn't really do the jump scares in this movie. I don't think there's, there's not really any, it's just kind of a creeping dread. And multiple times that I love this kind of scare when you're just staring into the woods and you don't see it until it moves.
01:08:13
Speaker
and then you're like, oh, shit, it was there the whole time. That was so good. i love when they do that. And he who does that so well in this film because there are multiple times and each time I watch it, I'm like, I'm trying to. Yeah, I see that hand on that tree.
01:08:31
Speaker
ah I love that work. But I also love like we were talking about the nature stuff. Yeah, he makes these woods feel so dense. I can't imagine.
01:08:43
Speaker
i want to know. ah This is a movie that I want to know more about the filming because I actually texted my friend. i have a friend in Norway and I actually texted her and I was like, have you heard of this trail?
01:08:55
Speaker
Because they mentioned the name of the trail, the King's Trail or something like that. Yeah. and I said it's a trail between Norway and Sweden I was like is that a real thing or is it used for this movie and she goes no I think that's a it's a real thing she looked it up she's like most of it's in Sweden not not as much Norway but she's like at least where she said I can Google it myself to find out but I just didn't thought I was trusting her um she said it's a trail through Sweden.
01:09:26
Speaker
And I was like, dude, I kind of want to do that trail. Now. I'm just going to stay on the trail. I'm not going to be. They it made me wonder how much of this filming were they deep in the woods for filming? I don't believe they were i can't believe that that's so impractical and difficult to do. Yeah.
01:09:48
Speaker
But it felt like they were deep in the woods this entire time. Well, can I tell you a little secret that I learned, unless you guys already know this. um So on the Cinema Rewind Descent episode we just did, i found out that the Descent was not filmed in a cave at all.
01:10:09
Speaker
so i So if this type of movie, if for any reason this movie was like on a stage or just. downstage. Dude, I swear to God, man, I will lose my mind because ah i the entire time I thought that The Scent, most of it was filmed because as Above, So Below, almost all of it is filmed underground in tunnels. It's filmed under the parish catacombs.
01:10:33
Speaker
so for this movie it's like one of those they all go good together like if you want to have one of those creepy atmospheric like dark type of um lore movies like this one man like i i don't know like i i need to see some type of making of this movie because like to make those scenes like in the liquor store inside that forest like you know how much of a pain that would be to bring all that equipment with you hu like so good news The film was shot outside of a couple like early stuff in the film.
01:11:08
Speaker
It was shot entirely on location in Romania. Romania. Dude, that's interesting. In the Carpathian mountains. So they did shoot it.
01:11:18
Speaker
Yes. Yes. They're like on the edge of certain properties or something out there where like yeah you've got some room to like have all your equipment and shit and your your base camp. And then it just go like couple yards into the deep part of the woods that's right at the edge of their property. Be like okay, we're going to.
01:11:32
Speaker
They load up the gators and drive in through the woods. Right. Yeah. I'm so happy, man. I'm so happy that like, oh, the director is a saint because but I love that, man. I know it's extra work, but for people like us that we enjoy that type of quality and that type of make it as real as possible for especially for the actors, make something tangible.
01:11:54
Speaker
That's incredible. pays off. So according to the Internet, again, just the Internet. Liars. Liars. Yeah, it was a lot of this movie was natural light shot with natural light to not. So that would that would make sense. to not dragging lighting equipment through the woods.
01:12:13
Speaker
They're going to shoot with natural light. lot of handheld camera work, not a lot of gimbals and cranes and stuff, which works. But that wide the wide framing of so many of those scenic shots that is used.
01:12:29
Speaker
It's a wide shot of the woods, but throughout the film it is used to represent different things. Early on, the wide framing is like, almost optimistic, like it's these four friends out there honoring their dead friend, big open expanse. The world is their oyster type thing.
01:12:49
Speaker
And then it's like, Hey, we're going to take the shortcut and you see the big shot of the woods you're like, Oh, that's dense. And on the shortcut into hell. Yeah. And then it's used throughout to like, Hey, it's a wide shot, but this is costrophobic.
01:13:05
Speaker
and just those wide shots are a beautiful stunning to look at and they also communicate a different message every time they're shown it's i've seen most of david breckner's work actually i think seen haven't seen southbound he did southbound as well uh i haven't seen that one and i will be seeing the blob when it comes out um He just did the segment, The Accident in Southbound.
01:13:37
Speaker
So another, um what are those called? Multiple stories in the same movie. ah So I've seen all of his work and this is my favorite as far as his direction and bringing it all together. This movie just looks sharp.
01:13:57
Speaker
He was firing on all cylinders with this from the pacing story elements, the way he incorporated decided to like, hey, let's incorporate those flashback segments instead of just doing straight flashbacks.
01:14:12
Speaker
let's have the woods like you described spread it apart take it over like genius moves for this i and like we said earlier the third act could have and in lesser hands might have just fallen apart and destroyed the movie if you had a monster reveal that doesn't work it kind of takes most of the steam from this movie away, but this one works.
01:14:40
Speaker
And a lot of that is to a credit to a director who knows the vision. has it and it's clear in this film that there's stuff at the beginning that pays off at the end it is all connected to the finest detail from claws on the chest in the first end of the first act to what that means in the final act like it's all there he was paying excellent attention Can I also add that the director was so good in creating the character of Luke, like, or at least making sure that he was portrayed properly to the point how we were talking about earlier in the podcast episode that at the end, we wanted to see more of Luke, like what happened to him.
01:15:22
Speaker
And that's due to the fact that he became such a lovable guy. Like you, you felt his pain and he went through so much that you just wanted this guy to win. um even though in the beginning it's dude i went through an emotional roller coaster in the very beginning hating him to like throughout the movie kind of having a little bit of sympathy but still being like annoyed with him for what he did till the end of it where being like dude you're a good dude and like you deserve to win and get the hell out of here and the director did a great job literally directing that cowardly bitch to boss man dude seriously man very extreme opposites here for that guy for his for his development but i with direction though man i i really appreciate the use of the landscape yeah
01:16:08
Speaker
You know, just from like that feeling that almost feel like, oh, there's some deep, dark woods. Then they get into it and then the shit starts getting crazy. But then you get those moments where when things are most tense, the woods seem most dense.
01:16:23
Speaker
and with some of the angles and the way they shot it like that one part where after they leave that cabin with the effigy in it they they're looking up and like oh there's a ridge you know we're in this dense part of the woods it's light up there it's maybe there's some hope you get to the top of the ridge and luke's like shit it's just more woods it's thinner it's more woods and then you hear the sounds and then like tim was saying you see that hand on the tree and then like he's like what was that shit and then it slides away he's like oh no oh and you're like oh what is happening like this oh I'm I'm starting to freak out a little bit and you start to really feel for him really draws you into that sense of tension and the drama it's like oh no this sucks really bad and Dom's a little bitch it looks like kind of still coming to turn with his shit feels freaking out Hutch is like next thing he's taken out
01:17:13
Speaker
I just like the way they put it all together overall, man. So yeah, yeah, they did a great test. Man, I I surprised myself on this score. i don't think I would give David Bruckner this score for any of his other movies.
01:17:29
Speaker
But for this movie, I do give him a five. Just pulling this movie together the way he did. It's fantastic. I gave him a five on this one.
01:17:41
Speaker
Dude, i so originally I gave him a four, but you know, I want to go ahead and on record because of the findings you did with the stuff you found on the internet, as far as for actually using natural light, which I'm a big fan of when it comes to filming or photography.
01:17:59
Speaker
like the least photoshop the least editing and just keeping as natural as possible and doing it right that first time i'm a huge fan of it the fact that it was on all these locations especially somewhere like romania um i changed my score to a five because yeah he earned it man like a hundred percent ah See, I have a buddy from high school, my buddy Mitchell, who actually lives in Sweden.
01:18:21
Speaker
um I should give that dude a holler about that trail thing. but Yes, you should. Let's find out. So you guys brought up some good points, and I was a three, but now I'm changing myself to a four.
01:18:33
Speaker
Yeah. I love See, this is why our tagline is the real review happens with your friends, because the other thing that streaming has taken away from us is the communal experience of sitting there watching a movie and then talking about it.
01:18:48
Speaker
That's why there are 7000 different movie podcasts on every platform because we miss talking about it with our friends. Let's be honest.
01:19:00
Speaker
All right. So that moves us. To the cultural significance, this is a tough one for this film. This is a tough one.
01:19:11
Speaker
So it was released on Netflix. It had a limited theatrical run in the UK. It went basically under the radar at release, but it has become an underground favorite for horror fans.
01:19:28
Speaker
the one of the things that I'm kind of leaning into the way Jonathan normally looks at cultural significance here but we get very few horror movies that focus on a male lead ensemble dealing with trauma emotional paralysis it's it's masculine vulnerability without being action heroes.
01:20:01
Speaker
We get, i can't think of another movie that is like that.
Male Vulnerability and Emotional Depth
01:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. I'm trying to think right now, like when you were saying that, and it's hard to find a film that puts men into that realistic, because I mean, i mean, that's a societal thing, right? We all grew up with even from back in the day, where it's like you look at a guy and he's like in charge. He can't get nervous. He can't be scared. He can't cry.
01:20:24
Speaker
and in this film, you get all of that. You see, and you see a lot of these facades break down. where specifically where and i'm pulling up his name or phil for example he's like he comes off at this tough guy this and that but then you see him breaking down and you see him like on his knees praying to this thing kind of trying to like survive and then you have people like dom which is the opposite where he's like the cry baby of the group this and that but then he ends up being the toughest one and then you And then obviously we have Luke where he's like sitting there just by himself, smoldering, smoking a cigarette and trying not to show weakness.
01:20:59
Speaker
But then like he's like on the inside, he's just a broken man. And the way they portrayed it in such a way where it was not just so like on brand with the realism of how a lot of guys deal with things.
01:21:12
Speaker
But it was just um it was a good message. It was a good message when it comes to just communication, camaraderie and accepting certain things. And it's yeah, it was great, man.
01:21:24
Speaker
I really appreciated that. Yeah.
01:21:27
Speaker
I don't really have much really put it on it factor because this is one of those films where this isn't something is it's not very typical story wise in what you usually get. with anything like this especially when it comes to like anything that's folk horror kind of situation so i don't really know what kind of impact it really has it's almost got its own kind of small i feel like its own small niche kind of setting to it you know um so i'm not really sure where it takes us with this
01:21:59
Speaker
I feel like maybe I probably should have scored lower, but I felt like was such a good movie, even though I had like limited list going straight to like Netflix, you don't get much call out on it. So is this is kind of a tough one to score for me um because of how much I like the movie.
01:22:19
Speaker
I feel like maybe it gave too much of a score, on it but I was sitting like in a three, it's serviceable, it's good, but I don't know what kind of over far reach it's gonna have otherwise in horror film industry or anything that released a folk horror.
01:22:33
Speaker
So I can help you maybe feel better about that. ah Other than the fact that this is one of the few, the only that I can think of off the top of my head that treats a male cast like this.
01:22:47
Speaker
All male, no, there is no damsel in distress in this film. And I love that. ah Other than that, I don't hear people talk about this movie.
01:23:02
Speaker
I don't, and not enough. Certainly not enough. That's why I'm kind of I'm glad we're doing this and having this conversation and that all three of us watch this and they're like, this movie great.
01:23:16
Speaker
It needs to be talked about. People need to see it and realize this is not some Blair Witch Project knockoff. Yeah. And if you're not paying attention, you might think it is for people wandering through the woods, getting lost while something stalking them.
01:23:32
Speaker
Yeah. I can see where you'd think that, but it's really not. But to make you feel better, the fact that it's not really being talked about, the fact that you don't see a buzz about it, I can't, I haven't seen a single podcast address it. I can Google it while we talk, but there's not enough talk about this film.
01:23:54
Speaker
And that makes me give it a two on the culture of significance. There's not I don't think it has much of a cultural impact other than the way it treats the men and being unique in the horror world for that.
01:24:10
Speaker
And there's not enough people who have seen it to acknowledge that and bring it to the forefront. I, man, like see, so for me, I gave it a, um, I gave it a three, but not because I thought it wasn't like, like it it was cultural significant.
01:24:27
Speaker
It was more of a, because of not people knowing about it. So if this movie had a theater release or it had a physical media release, or it was in other platforms, like i it's Amazon prime and stuff like that.
01:24:41
Speaker
i feel like it would be way more known because the thing with netflix you have so many things that they don't really promote like they they're trying to promote their own personal stuff first and then all the other like adam sandler stuff like the mainstream type of stuff but i feel like if this movie was like on amazon prime and it was on like the main page it would be different um i think the film itself is very It's one of those cautionary tales.
01:25:05
Speaker
Like to me, there's so many in the woods horror movies, B movies that are like, okay, that's fun for what it was. Obviously, like the hills have eyes, right? Like that's creepy as shit or like wrong turn.
01:25:16
Speaker
Like it makes you not want to go into the forest. um This was one of those movies for me where if I was in a different country, and they had these type of like beliefs and stuff like that i'd be a lot more cautious going into woods that i have no idea of because that was so believable to me um it was so realistic i was like man this could happen like i mean it's not that far off you never know i mean we've seen weirder shit so so i mean i gave it a three um i would love to give it a four but yeah the three is just because unfortunately the poor marketing
01:25:49
Speaker
Yeah, I just listened to a podcast yesterday while i was on the road about a ah area of woods, I think in the Grand Titans that people apparently go missing all the time. And I'm like, yeah, that all over the world, there's woods like that. yeah So bunch of shitty hikers.
01:26:10
Speaker
They still want to hike right. Use a compass. All right. So that brings us we're going to do our final scores now. Well, we'll give our out of 10.
01:26:21
Speaker
How much do we enjoy it? The one a lot you see most common. um So how entertained were you out of 10? And then our final scores and we'll see where the average places this for your next social gathering.
Film Ratings and Rewatchability
01:26:39
Speaker
The whole point of our show. I feel like this was a very surprisingly entertaining movie for me. Just like just what you get right out of the gate at the start of the film and the brutality and the guilt and the pain you know And then just everything and the suffering as it goes through it. And then Luke coming out just despite having lost all his friends and shit. Still trying to be like, fuck you, Jotun. You motor piece of shit. you know Whatever.
01:27:07
Speaker
I like this movie. I will tell people about it. It's not something I want to watch again right away. But it's something that's definitely on my list of films that I think are worth a good watch for people.
01:27:19
Speaker
um So I think that puts me at a seven. All right. Nice. All right. Oh man, I guess I'm going to be the odd one out possibly. Hopefully Tim's here with me, but I give it a 10. You want to go or you want me?
01:27:32
Speaker
Huh? You're 10. Yeah. Yeah. yeah I was, um, I went with a 10 because dude, it it, I mean the entire time I could not stopped watching and they had me all the way from the, from the first five minutes all the way to the bitter end.
01:27:47
Speaker
Yeah. This for me, ah this is an eight for me. I love this movie. I normally say, I say it every episode, dang it. I'll just like, I'll just put it in the title. The difference between a nine and a 10, 10 means I would turn it on again immediately.
01:28:05
Speaker
and nine means I liked it the same. I just don't want to watch it again. yeah This is just a hair below that. I don't want to watch it again immediately because I am at the point where I've watched this movie so many times that the scares are kind of gone.
01:28:24
Speaker
And it's now just atmosphere. It's just beautiful, fantastic atmosphere. But I still love bringing this movie to people who haven't seen it. Like, let's watch this together and experience it together. It's a great time. It's a great movie.
01:28:41
Speaker
ah Yeah, I am an eight. So all together, our total scores. I changed mine. I was at a 38, but with that change in that one category, I'm at 39 now.
01:28:55
Speaker
Nice. I'm 43. And am 41. 41 plus 43 plus what were you, Jonathan? 39. 39. All right. So divide that by three. That's 100% Rotten Tomato. thirty nine thirty nine right so divide that by three that' hundred percent run to me
01:29:16
Speaker
Speaking of Tomatoes, though, if if they ever did a remake of Revenge of the Killer Tomatoes, I would like it to see it get more of like the treatment that Toxic Avenger is getting for the reboot.
01:29:30
Speaker
I would like to see kind of like a trauma version of that. Man, that thing would be pretty sick. Yeah. Yeah. So our average together is 41 or four stars out of five, which I think is very accurate representation of this film.
01:29:45
Speaker
I also think it's a very accurate representation of our our thing is movie reviews feel social settings so if you put this movie on at a halloween party most likely a good choice yeah it is most likely gonna work for your crowd so it would be technically a 41 puts it as an amazing choice for a halloween party so and i agree probably more so than a lot of the other ones we've done with full core i think
01:30:16
Speaker
full core is such a unique genre you have movies like Midsommar bright and sunny also natural lighting for that film great Midsommar which is just so different than this and yet they are both folk horror movies so yeah uh this one comes highly recommended from this group here so any final words on it GC Yeah,
Final Thoughts and Farewell
01:30:41
Speaker
um I do. ah My final thoughts, which I had written in down here, I'll read them um yeah this movie This movie pulled me in from the very beginning.
01:30:49
Speaker
It's original. It's creepy. It makes you think twice about going into the woods. Wasn't expecting that ending at all. And it was nice for a movie to not be predictable. the music the editing was fantastic and like tim said i mean watch this with friends watch it alone but just watch this movie give it a chance it's just it's something different it's it didn't it felt like a quality cinematography and i mean the the stories are the characters stay with you they make you they definitely make you feel something um so just check it out
01:31:21
Speaker
Fantastic analysis, Jeezy. Thank you. Genuinely. Genuinely. No, we definitely appreciate that. Yeah. So that wraps up the ritual, a chilly modern entry into the folklore canon that proves grief and guilt can be just as terrifying as anything lurking in the woods.
01:31:38
Speaker
huge thanks to our guest gc from face the movies always a blast having you on the mic glad we could get you from dread broadcast to a review episode and your insight into this film made it even more fun to unpack dude thanks guys oh sorry sorry no no jonathan go ahead buddy i'm sorry
01:32:04
Speaker
If you're still with us, drop your own rating for the ritual over on our Instagram using one of our scoring systems and let us know what you would do if you found that runic symbol nailed to a tree. And hey, if you're looking to really scratch that found footage itch this October, ghost hunters, cursed woods, terrifying footage left behind, check out my book, like, comment, survive.
01:32:27
Speaker
my new horror novel perfect for fans of Blair Witch Project or the Hell House movies or dark side of YouTube ghost hunting so remember to like follow and share the show it helps more horror fans find our haunted little corner of the internet we'll be back tomorrow night with another Descent in the Madness we've already spoiled it we're talking the Blair Witch Project with Steven from after hours VHS or video.
01:32:55
Speaker
um You got it. No after hours video. Okay. But until then stay out of the forest and trust your gut.
01:33:05
Speaker
Oh yeah. So this is the average where the real review happens with your friends.