Cinemaniac Reviews

The Rite

Bottom Line: Dumb, demonic, and unintentionally funny. Passing recommended.

Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ciaran Hinds, Colin O’Donoghue

Welcome to the twenty-first century. Or the cinematic era when nearly every horror film HAS to revolve around either “found footage”, blood and guts, ghosts, or exorcisms. THE RITE falls under the fourth category, and there is hardly anything new or inventive.

This film, I must say, was terribly scripted. Scenes depicting a man standing in front of a McDonald’s smiling, and a cell phone ringing in the midst of an exorcism, I do not know whether to say they are intentionally or unintentionally funny. I’ll just say I’ll expect those two scenes to appear in the next SCARY MOVIE.

There was one single reason behind my watching of this film: it was directed by Mikael Håfström, who had delivered some massive chills in 2007 with 1408, an adaptation of a Stephen King story. THE RITE had a sinister, creepy feeling, but it could have easily gone all-out disturbing as did 1408.

This was a disastrously predictable film, and dull horror at some of its best, to say the least. For the majority, the case was that if you couldn’t predict what “scare” was coming in the next five seconds, you clearly haven’t seen a horror film yet. There are some scenes that were unpredictable…such as the scene with the room full of frogs and the suspenseful music playing. I need a lobotomy.