The Ritual Killer
Awful serial killer thriller has "witch doctor" stereotypes.
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The Ritual Killer
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Ritual Killer is a thriller about a serial killer who's also a practitioner of Muti (Southern African traditional medicine). A police detective (Cole Hauser) and an African Studies professor (Morgan Freeman) work together to try to stop him. Violence is explicit, with gory corpses (one with its eyes missing), blood spatters, pools of blood, children in peril, severed fingers, guns/shooting, fighting, throat-slicing, and more. Language includes several uses of "f--k," plus uses of "motherf----r," "s--t," "goddamn," "Jesus Christ," and more. There's social drinking, and the main character is seen drinking at home in several scenes.
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What's the Story?
In THE RITUAL KILLER, police detective Lucas Boyd (Cole Hauser) is struggling with guilt over the accidental death of his daughter, so much so that he's willing to shoot a criminal in cold blood. In the midst of this trouble, a new case comes up for Boyd and his partner, Detective Kersch (Murielle Hilaire). It appears to be the work of a serial killer who takes various body parts from his victims. Boyd follows a hunch and goes to Dr. Mackles (Morgan Freeman), a professor of African Studies, for help. Mackles realizes that the killer could be a practitioner of the Southern African traditional medicine known as Muti. As Boyd continues to investigate, things get stranger and more deadly.
Is It Any Good?
Muddled, vaguely irritating, and somewhat offensive, this un-thrilling thriller moves lifelessly through its story and has a bizarre head-scratcher of an ending. The Ritual Killer comes from director George Gallo, who last gave us the agonizingly bad Vanquish. Somehow, after that train wreck, star Freeman was coaxed into working with him again. The best that can be said of the result is that Freeman is quite good here in his early scene as a professor; his lecture is riveting. It's only later, shambling through the plot, that he gets stuck as a cog in this weary machine. Apart from Freeman, certain other actors can barely deliver their lines, while star Hauser simply looks bored. Most infuriating is the awful villain, who's portrayed as a stereotypical African "witch doctor," chanting and performing scary-looking rituals, with no indication as to who he really is. (Hauser doesn't even bother to pronounce the character's name, Randoku, correctly.) Bottom line? It would have been better to watch 90 minutes of Freeman lecturing than 10 minutes of The Ritual Killer.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about The Ritual Killer's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Do Lucas Boyd's good deeds outweigh his bad ones? Is he a hero or a villain? Can someone be both?
Did you notice any stereotypes in the movie? How could these characters have been portrayed differently?
How is drinking portrayed? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?
Why do you think viewers are often attracted to stories about serial killers?
Movie Details
- In theaters: March 10, 2023
- On DVD or streaming: March 10, 2023
- Cast: Cole Hauser, Morgan Freeman, Murielle Hilaire
- Director: George Gallo
- Studio: Redbox Entertainment
- Genre: Thriller
- Run time: 92 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: March 17, 2023
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