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“The Ritual Killer” is a thriller movie directed by George Gallo and starring Cole Hauser and Morgan Freeman. It was released on March 10, 2024 by Screen Media. The story follows Detective Boyd, who is struggling to cope with the death of his daughter and goes on a hunt for a serial killer using a tribal ritual called Muti. The only person who can assist him is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist hiding a dark secret. The screenplay was written by Bob Bowersox, Jennifer Lemmon, Francesco Cinquemani, Giorgia Iannone, Luca Giliberto, and Ferdinando Dell’Omo, based on a story by Joe Lemmon, Cinquemani, and Iannone. Filming began in August 2021 in Jackson, Mississippi, and included cast members Peter Stormare, Vernon Davis, Murielle Hilaire, and Julie Lott. Additional filming occurred in Rome, Italy. In September 2021, Redbox Entertainment acquired the distribution rights for the film in the United States and Canada.
The screenplay for The Ritual Killer was written by a team of five writers, including Bob Bowersox, Francesco Cinquemani, Luca Giliberto, Jennifer Lemmon, and Joe Lemmon. Director George Gallo aimed to make a classic, gritty crime thriller with elements of Seven, even casting Morgan Freeman in a supporting role. However, the script falls short of the classics it emulates, and seems to borrow too heavily from past movies. The movie does have some interesting elements, including a flawed lead played well by Cole Hauser and an intriguing serial killer played by Vernon Davis. Morgan Freeman’s presence in the cast also helps keep the audience engaged. The movie is watchable, but not particularly original or satisfying in its ending. The supporting cast, including Peter Stormare and Giuseppe Zeno, is hit-and-miss in terms of performance.
In The Ritual Killer, a witch doctor who mutilates victims for a sinister purpose is pursued by a detective and a professor on two continents. However, the disjointed narrative and awkward storylines fail to connect, and strange flashback scenes serve only as unnecessary exposition and filler, straining the pacing of the already short runtime. The film’s only saving grace is former NFL star Vernon Davis as the merciless antagonist.
The film’s set-up has potential, with the killer being an African witch doctor who believes that killing young victims and taking their body parts has turned him into an invincible warrior. However, the execution falls short, and the film fails to deliver a satisfying conclusion that matches the killer’s supposed invincibility.
Despite limited screen time, Morgan Freeman delivers a solid performance, while Cole Hauser carries the film as the flawed but necessary detective. The film’s darker themes and disturbing content may be appealing to some, but overall, The Ritual Killer falls short of its potential
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