Rituals (film)

Rituals (also known as The Creeper) is a 1977 Canadian horror/thriller film directed by Peter Carter. It centers on a group of doctors who are menaced while on a camping getaway trip in Northern Ontario.
Plot.
Doctors go on a wilderness weekend retreat deep in the bushes of Northern Ontario. Around the campfire, they begin to drink and bicker among themselves about whose field is more intellectually demanding. Suddenly, they all have their boots stolen. And they find out that someone has left a deer carcass hanging by their campsite. The medics soon realize they're being hunted by someone, or something.
Release.
Home media.
"Rituals" was released on VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment in 1985. It was released for the first time on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment on February 7, 2006 as a part of its "Drive-In Movie Classics: 50 Movie Pack". Mill Creek re-eleased the film on April 10, 2007 in its "Horror Classics: 100 Movie Pack". It was released by Code Red on April 19, 2011. On January 24, 2012, it was released by Filmchest under the alternate title "The Creeper". It was last released by VFN on July 9, 2015.
Reception.
"The Terror Trap" awarded the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the film's atmosphere, editing, and Holbrook's performance, calling it "[an] above average journey-into-hell gem".
Brett H. from "Oh, the Horror!" gave the film a positive review, praising the film's characters, soundtrack, suspense, and ending; calling it "a gripping nail biter that will please slasher and horror aficionados immensely, and is one of the key pieces to the puzzle of Maple Leaf Macabre."
Justin Kerswell from "Hysteria Lives!" gave the film 4/5 stars, writing, "Not since "Deliverance" ... has the wilderness held such terror"
John Townsend from "HorrorNews.net" praised the film, writing, "Watching "Rituals" having seen so many of these subsequent films drives home the fact that it is possible to make a taut, tense horror thriller without the need for huge swathes of special effects and gallons of fake blood. There is more character, story and enjoyment to be had in this film and in much of the current franchise put together." Phil Michaels from "The Spinning Image" gave the film 7/10 stars, writing, "On the face of it, "Rituals" is complete rubbish but if you are willing to work at it a little then you might find it rewarding." Stuart Giesel from "Digital Retribution" rated the film 4.5 out of 5, stating, ""Rituals" is another reason why the 70's is, in my mind, the best decade for films: it's brutal, unsentimental, unflinching and utterly compelling."
The film was not without its detractors.
"TV Guide" awarded the film 1/5 stars, calling it "[a] cheap north-of-the-border ripoff of "Deliverance"".
Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film 1.5 out of four stars, calling it "unpleasant".