Right, well I was initially lured in to watching the 2021 horror mystery "Dark Ritual" from writer and director Chris Warren because of the movie's cover/poster, and also because I am an avid fan of horror movies. And since I hadn't already seen "Dark Ritual", of course I opted to give it a chance.

I had never heard about the movie, so I wasn't sure what I was in for, nor what to expect from writer and director Chris Warren with this movie. But I will say that I definitely found the movie's cover/poster interesting enough.

But sadly the cover/poster was actually the best part about "Dark Ritual". Yeah, this movie was low budget and amateurish. So as I sat down to watch a proper movie, then I was somewhat disappointed by what writer and director Chris Warren delivered. Sure, I will say that it wasn't among the worst of low budget horror movies that I have seen. But at the same time, then this was by no means a memorable or enjoyable horror movie. It was just way too bland and generic.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble that were in the movie, and that is something I enjoy in movies. Just a shame that the actors and actresses had very little to work with in terms of an interesting characters, riveting dialogue, thrilling storyline or anything even remotely scary.

Visually then "Dark Ritual" was not top notch. It was low budget, but I will give them a thumbs up on their effort, because they actually managed to make very little look like a lot more than what you would expect. Top of the line special effects it was not, but points scored for their effort.

For a horror movie then "Dark Ritual" was just not cutting it - pardon the pun.

My rating of "Dark Ritual" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

The film opens with Jennifer (Natali Jones) in a padded room screaming about the house. We then flashback 3 months earlier and will have flashbacks in the flashbacks. Her brother Brian (Sean Brison) is missing and she is at his rented house to clear out his belongings. She has a vision of Brian telling her to leave and not comeback. She returns with a friend and we discover the house has a Mayan demon that takes hearts and eats people. The special effects were decent and the film clearly has a Lovecraft influence. For some reason they decided not to tell a simple tale, but rather make it into confused mess of flashbacks and distorted reality that was poorly conceived and edited.

Debbie Rochon was barely in the feature and not recognizable any more. Brian looks a little like Lovecraft with his long face.

Guide: F-word. Nudity (Danielle Jones)