Phil Hubbs
The third and last Tales horror flick which is a bit disappointing but judging by this effort I can see why. This time we are introduced to the Crypt Keeper with a Jamaican flavour complete with dreadlocks and bikini clad women at his beck 'n' call. Already the whole feel is wrong.Good cast for the film can't deny that, a solid quirky trio including Tim Curry, Jennifer Grey and Craig Sheffer. There are just a few problems, firstly you know who the bad guys are in the film right from the start, since when does Sheffer ever play the good guy?. Curry who is a marvellous character actor has nothing to do here in any way, complete waste, whilst Grey looks cute but doesn't quite seem comfortable in this genre.The plot is pretty damn near dull as hell actually, its all about voodoo and creating zombies naturally, what else seeing as its set in Jamaica. The thing is nothing much happens in this, lots of flashbacks/dreams with Grey walking around looking all serious trying to find out what's causing an illness that drives people loopy (zombies). I really was quite bored during the entire film, no action, no gore, no monsters or mutants etc...It is also played as a semi serious thriller with no laughs or comic horror like the previous two films. Easily the worst of the trilogy despite the nice cast and nowhere near as cool as the last two films.2/10
Freebirda
As a kid, I was rabid for all things tales from the crypt. I collected all the old issues if the comic book, and the reprints, and would stay up past my bedtime to watch the series in HBO. I even remember watching ABC'S Saturday morning cartoon version, and the game show that was based on it.i loved demon knight and bordello of blood, and had all seven seasons of the series on DVD. Hell, I even liked the old 1970's movie version. I was at the grocery store a year or so ago, digging thru their five dollar bin, and became excited when I saw this in it, because I hadn't seen anything with the tftc logo in years. I bought it, went home, popped it in My DVD player....and was horribly disappointed. It was BORING. Nothing of tales from the crypt remained of what I remembered and loved as a kid. No suspense, no horror. Just boredom. The cryptkeepers intro was less then a minute long, and even he looked like he had seen better days. (even for an undead rotting corpse). A HUGE disappointment, and waste of my time and five dollars.
kelticman
i rarely give a 9 but at a B film, this film ROCKS! by straight to DVD standards this is a must see. i did not see some things that happened coming at all. Jennifer Grey is a vision in this film. TIm curry was underutilized but with the exception of his last scene his acting was GREAT. i was very surprised by this film. it is not a typical tales of the crypt film, but don't hold that against it. i thought the locale was great. the cinematography was top notch. not everyone gave a stellar performance but overall most of the actors were believable in their roles. no one seemed to be sleepwalking through their act. i recommend this for fans of horror and thrillers.
Peter Grunbaum
This turned out all right and looks interesting. However, as it goes on the attempts at creating emotions between the characters is so inept that it really turns the horror off and is an insult to serious viewers. The story this is based on "I walked with a zombie" is probably much better although unfortunately I haven't seen it yet. "Ritual" looks so exciting and could have been a great movie about zombies and voodoo but in reality it has turned out very poorly which is a shame. It's hard to say what is wrong with it. I guess there are just too many inept scenes and it is hard to believe, for example, in the lovestory between Alice (who is called Alice Dodgson like the girl who supposedly inspired Lewis Carrol to call his heroine Alice) and the younger brother. Absolutely nothing has been built up between them and then in the end they get married. Anyway, this looks great, and it was worth a look - but the movie is just so poorly performed. 3/10.
AD
