Ritual (2002 film)


Tales from the Crypt Presents: Ritual is a 2002 American horror comedy film and third and, so far, latest film based on the HBO television series Tales from the Crypt, following Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood. The film was released in select countries in 2002, the Philippines in 2003, and released direct-to-DVD in the US in 2006. It stars Tim Curry, Jennifer Grey, and Craig Sheffer with Avi Nesher directing. It is based on the film I Walked With a Zombie.

Plot

Crypt-Keeper intro

The Crypt Keeper is in Jamaica wearing his hair in "deadlocks" as he states that one of his favorite things about Jamaica are the "eye-popping honeys" as it shows different bikini-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 nurse in Jamaica caring for Wesley Claybourne, a young man apparently suffering from encephalitis. 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 killed Caro's mother and rejected Caro as his daughter, denying her an inheritance. Caro attempts to paralyze Alice and turn her into a zombie, 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 the post-credits, there are bloopers of the Crypt Keeper's intro as the credits for the Crypt Keeper's intro are shown.

Cast

A third Crypt movie was planned on the release of Bordello of Blood, but due to the low box office take in on the film, references to the Tales from the Crypt franchise were removed until the DVD release.

Release

This movie was originally released for foreign countries in 2002. The movie saw release in the Philippines in 2003, and was also released in Japan on January 25, 2006. It was not released in the United States and Canada until May 2, 2006 on DVD. It was later released on Blu-ray on December 4, 2012.