An Exercise In Nonsense

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This starts off like a rather poor taste slasher flick with two damsels kidnapped and tortured, one of them shortly being murdered, then branches out into an entirely different type of film and plot, with a group of miscreants invading the home of a wealthy businessman in search of a king's ransom. Then the two meet, and when they do, the film packs a punch, certainly there is an enormous twist when the person who helped set up the home invasion is revealed.What else can be said about the plot? Well, Frankenstein and his monster meet Bonnie and Clyde it may be, but there is no proper resolution, we are never quite sure if there is a true supernatural angle or if the thing in the hole in the ground is entirely human, but this film doesn't deserve the bad reviews it has received. Much of the action takes place in the dark, but considering it was obviously made on a low budget, it doesn't shape up badly when compared with other, far more lavish productions.

Following a kidnapping-gone-wrong, a group of thieves stumble upon a young woman intended to be sacrificed to a deadly creature as part of a ritualistic tradition and get caught up in the fight to survive against the being.On the whole this one was a pretty disappointing if still overall enjoyable effort. Among the better efforts here is the fact that this one manages to really let loose and get enjoyable during its second half by featuring some enjoyable elements here from its' turn-over into more of a slasher film which requires this one to let loose with the best aspects here quite nicely. The main location itself is well utilized as the abandoned school is given a great, grungy look that reeks of disuse and disrepair that always works in these kinds of films, gives off plenty of tight, cramped rooms and endless corridors perfect for stalking and ambushing and really makes for quite an enjoyable time here with these forming the best part of the film with the endless chases, stalking and attacks that come of being there. As well, the main facet of what works here is the killer itself, which looks creepy and cool with the flesh-mask and scarf wrapped up around up it's lower half of the head but the weapon allows for plenty of graphic kills, it's main stalking tactic of appearing off in the distance behind the unsuspecting victim and then galloping at full-steam towards them to deliver a strike without let-up is insanely original and provides this with tons of suspense while also giving him a rather disturbing air about him due to the rather chilling ceremony that must be enacted to appease him that comes about providing this with plenty of solid, enjoyable times here. That this all comes in the later half means the first half is where the problems are, and it starts with the kidnapping ploy here that really serves no purpose other than to give the creature more of a body-count by slashing his way through the gang regardless of their motives. This is agonizingly slow, doesn't really offer much value to anything here and comes off incredibly confusing by intertwining the group pulling off their getaway with the preparations of the first girls for the ceremony to be taken place that later intermingles the two stories. This is entirely hamfisted and cliché how this goes about mixing the two together as well and simply serves to make the story even more lame with all the confusion offered here. These hold it down while the other efforts make it watchable.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and children- in-jeopardy.

A ransom scheme turns into a nightmare for a group of kidnappers who become victims of a horrifying secret that must be paid every spring.Horror fans will instantly recognize AJ Bowen, the current independent horror go-to actor. Beyond that, many faces appear on screen that we may never see again. There is particularly terrible acting from the father character, which might take some viewers out of the movie.This might appeal to some people, but it never seems to quite capture what it was going for. While it starts as a kidnapping film, it turns into something like a poor man's "Jeepers Creepers". And even then, there is an undercurrent that is not far removed from "It". At no point does anything seem quite original enough to merit respect.

I wasn't sure what to make of Rites of Spring before I saw it. i think i might have seen an obscure trailer for it at some point, I don't remember hearing a lot of buzz about it, only seeing some very cool artwork for the film. Well I'm pleased to say I was pleasantly surprised. What starts of as a run of mill chiller quickly turns into a sort of creature feature of sorts. As the film opens two young women are taken captive and awake to being prepared by an old man talking about something getting fed. As we move along another group of characters are introduced who kidnap the young daughter of a rich gentleman and his wife. Things go very bad when the crime goes awry and ends up in casualties and they cross paths with one of the women who has escaped their captive. The movie works best as an overlong chase scene for the most part. But it's cinematically engaging in that it builds a nice old fashioned 70's tension not seen in the genre it quite some time. Technically it's a polished film competently made. The lead performance from Anessa Ramsey leaves much to be desired. But a now genre standout AJ Bowen makes another solid mark on his horror resume and he's cute too. As for the main villain of sorts the creature design is mostly uninspired but it moves quickly and doesn't leave you a lot of time considering it. The only downfall of the film is although a nail biting, edge of you seat ride it doesn't build to any sort of explanation or complex storyline. Still for what it is Rites of Spring is a solid, well made slasher film with a nice clean cut finale I very much appreciated.