Every month, Rue Morgue screens a vintage horror film at Toronto's Bloor Cinema, a grand old 850 seat, single screen movie palace with a great two tier balcony. I'd been meaning to attend some of these in the past, but could never seem to properly arrange my schedule. However, I made sure to be in Toronto for last night's showing of RITUALS, as it would almost certainly be my only chance to catch it on the big screen. About 200-300 people were in attendance, including co-stars Lawrence Dane (who also produced) and Ken James, writer Ian Sutherland, director Peter Carter's widow (who provided the 35mm print, which had been languishing in her basement for almost three decades), and James' wife, who served as the film's publicist.

From the looks of it, Carter was given the print by Astral Films after the film's Canadian run had concluded. It had definitely played a few markets and was fairly scratched up, most noticeably at the reel changes, but still very presentable. Unfortunately, the colors were starting to turn. Daylight sequences looked more or less normal, but the darker the movie got, the pinker the print got. This was most distracting during the climactic sequence with Hal Holbrook in the cabin. In the Q & A afterward, Dane revealed that the lab (owned by executive producer Harold Greenberg) ruined this footage, causing it to come out nearly pitch black. With Holbrook already back in the U.S., there was no way to re-shoot these bits, hence the horribly brightened look they now sport. That, combined with the spoiled color, made for difficult viewing, though not much worse than the overly dark Astral Video transfer. Occasional sequences tended to look pretty hazy; whether that is also due to the color going, I can't say. Even with these debits, the resolution was still usually quite good (ie you can easily read what is typed on the killer's army medical report) and the proper 1.85:1 framing made some compositions much more focused and effective. There were a few walkouts, but audience response was positive, with the majority presumably already being familiar with the film through its airings on Scream (the crummy Astral transfer, alas).

The Q & A largely reiterated information about the film that has been reported in articles over the years, but it was a treat to get it right from the source(s). Lawrence Dane mentioned that the movie's U.S. rights were purchased by a group of Texans, led by actor James Drury; Dane didn't elaborate, but described the deal as "convoluted." (I'd like to know how the film ended up going from Harry Novak to Terry Levene) The movie's status as a tax shelter production complicates the rights situation, but ownership of RITUALS apparently now resides with an American company called Silver Nitrate, which thus far has shown no interest in doing anything with it, odd as RITUALS is clearly the best movie they control (if the IMDb listing is any indication).

Sutherland talked about some of his inspirations and how he came up with the character of Matthew (after meeting with a number of Canadian WWII veterans who had been captured and tortured by the Japanese after the fall of Hong Kong) and James very vividly remembered the hell everyone went through filming the bee attack.

As for the inevitable remake, Dane has already been approached by Sage Stallone and a group based in Vancouver. No word on whether this will happen, but given the trend during the past few years, someone will almost certainly take a crack at it and invariably fail at duplicating the wit and intensity that makes this movie so special.

Next month's screening is of Bob Clark's DEATHDREAM. Don't know if I will make that, but seeing one of my favorite horror films at one of my favorite theatres hosted by some of its personnel was well worth the 100 mile roundtrip drive.

Even though admirers of RITUALS will decry a remake of the film it's likely obscure enough that you could actually see the validity in wanting to do a new version. Of course, that good intention will likely vanish when it is cast with twentysomethings.

Do you think that the problem with RITUALS' night / low light sequences could be addressed with a proper digital restoration or is this a basically hopeless situation? As it was a lab error I'm guessing that means that any and all prints are affected.

Did either Dane or Ian Sutherland perhaps mention Lee Broker's involvement in the film?

Having only watched the film on television (or video) over the years finally seeing it on the big screen last fall in Vancouver was a revelation, even with its aforementioned video defficiences. It played magnificently. The geography plays a significant element in the movie, just as it does in the prior Peter Carter / Lawrence Dane collaboration THE ROWDYMAN - and likewise that plays just that much better once freed from the visual confines of a television screen.

Someone brought that up last night and with the amazing digital restorations we've been seeing, I'm sure it could definitely be improved. It got me thinking about Synapse, having recently seen how they managed to make ROCK 'N ROLL NIGHTMARE, a Canadian movie shot on short ends for far less money, look so terrific and visually consistent throughout. Hopefully, the original materials for RITUALS have been well cared for.

Dane mentioned that it was Broker who brought Sutherland's script to his attention.

The Vancouver screening you attended was video projection?

No, it was 35 mm at the (fairly) new Vancity Theatre.

Code Red's SWEET SIXTEEN dvd features a trailer for RITUALS. A sign of things to come?

When I got my screener for SWEET SIXTEEN, I emailed Code Red about RITUALS but I haven't heard anything back yet.

This has finally been announced for a Nov. 17th release date on DVD via Code Red.

So does TRAPPED. If Code Red can guarantee me that RITUALS will come out Nov. 17, I'll preorder that sucka right now.