The first trailer has arrived for The Ritual, the latest horror from David Bruckner (The Signal, V/H/S, Southbound) based on the novel by acclaimed author Adam Nevill. The excellent Rafe Spall leads the cast and it looks like a promising blend of horror and dark humour.
Spall stars alongside Robert James-Collier (Downton Abbey, Spike Island), Arsher Ali (Remainder, Line of Duty, Four Lions) and Sam Troughton (Robin Hood, Alien Vs Predator), and Joe Barton adapted Nevill’s book.
“After the death of their friend, a group of old college friends embark on a hiking trip through an unnerving Scandinavian forest. They should have gone to Vegas …”
We’re big fans of Bruckner, who was attached to the doomed Friday The 13th reboot for a long time, and it’s interesting that it’s difficult to get a precise sense of the tone from the trailer. On the one hand it looks like a tense, scary, Blair Witch/cult-y thing, and on the other hand there’s some genuinely funny dark comedy beats in there. That cut from the thumb break to the snack-sharing in particular is wonderful.
There’s also the first poster:
The Ritual is released on 13 October in the UK. Keep up with the latest horror news with the new issue of SciFiNow.
